Wheeler Bryson Lipes
Wheeler Bryson Lipes was an officer of the United States Navy. As a pharmacist's mate in September 1942, he performed an emergency appendectomy aboard a submarine. Although he did not have proper medical equipment or formal surgical training, the operation was a success. After the war, Lipes remained in the Navy and later received a Medical Service Corps commission in 1951. He retired as a lieutenant commander.
Background
Lipes was born on July 12, 1920, in New Castle, Virginia. He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1936 and served on the USS Texas (BB-35). He began serving on the USS Seadragon (SS-194) on December 10, 1941.Emergency surgery
In September 1942, while aboard the Seadragon, Lipes performed the first major surgery aboard a submarine when a shipmate showing symptoms of acute appendicitis required an emergency operation to survive. Positioned in enemy waters and lacking standard medical equipment, Lipes performed a successful appendectomy using kitchen instruments such as spoons and tea strainers. "Doc" Lipes, as he was called, had no formal surgical training and just three years of medical experience as a hospital lab technician at the time of the surgery. The Navy medical establishment was angered by the occurrence, and there was talk of a court-martial.In popular media
On December 14, 1942, the Chicago Daily News published an article by George Weller about the surgery. It won the 1943 Pulitzer Prize for Reporting. The events documented in the piece were incorporated into the film Destination Tokyo starring Cary Grant.Lipes' heroic surgery was the basis of an episode on Cavalcade of America, a long-running radio series featuring historical dramas. The episode, titled "Pharmacist's Mate, First Class", aired on NBC's main Red Network on May 24, 1943. Michael O'Shea starred as the sailor based on Lipes in a program written by Stuart Hawkins. Lipes made an appearance at the end of the show.
It took a lttle over fifteen years, but Lipes' story finally made it to the small screen via "Operation Seadragon," a second-season installment of the entirely submarine-focused docudrama anthology series, The Silent Service. Premiering in the fall of 1958, the episode featured soon-to-be famous sitcom straight man Richard Deacon as Lipes.
Personal life
Lipes was married twice, first to Myrtle Peterson from 1939 until her death in 1997; he was married to his second wife, Audrey, at the time of his death.After his military service, which lasted until 1962, Lipes worked in civilian hospitals; he retired in 1991 as president of Memorial Medical Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. He eventually received official recognition for the submarine surgery over 60 years after the event; in February 2005, he was awarded a Navy Commendation Medal at a ceremony at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Lipes died in April 2005 of pancreatic cancer; he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, section 64 site 3897.