"My dad served as a supply sergeant in the U.S. Army in the South Pacific theater in World War II. He served mainly in Australia, New Guinea, and the Philippines. In the Philippines he served with General Hospital unit. It was a medical unit that was smaller than a M.A.S.H. unit and closer to the front lines than a M.A.S.H. unit. It was comprised mostly of medical personnel.
During World War II, medical personnel were not sent to a full basic training course as they are now. They weren't taught to shoot weapons or use hand-to-hand combat, because they were to "do no harm" and it was not expected that they would ever be put on the front lines.
However, on December 10th, 1944, the 44th General Hospital (just a few days before nurses were to be assigned to them) ended up behind enemy lines due to a signal corps SNAFU, and the unit ended up holding down an air strip in the Philippines until it was "re-captured" by the U.S. military. It was called The Battle of Buffalo Wallow, and each member of the unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation medal for fighting it…"
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