I have returned to the subject of Lawson General Hospital again and again. It is intriguing to me that during WWII this hospital was located in Chamblee, adjacent to Naval Air Station Atlanta. Also, the people involved were sometimes from Atlanta, Chamblee or other nearby towns, but most of the people who worked, trained, or were treated at Lawson General Hospital were there for a brief time. They went home or to another hospital after being treated or they received their orders and left to serve their country using the skills received as part of the MDTS, Medical Department Training School.
The pictures below, which are sections of the same photograph because it would not fit on my scanner, are of the Surgical Section Night Class, MDTS Lawson General Hospital, January 1943. I purchased this photo and have learned a valuable lesson from that purchase. I should stick to photos where the individuals are listed on the back of the photo.
So the new discovery is this photo, which is fantastic! But it brings up more questions, because I do not know the names of anyone in the photograph.
Another great find was this Graduation Exercises program from Lawson General Hospital MDTS, June 1943. The front of the program has a seal and a stamp with the names Harry F. Strattan as a trainee and Henry D. Chipps as instructor of the Laboratory Technicians School.
There are also photos of the various groups including the Laboratory Technicians School, which I assume includes Harry F. Strattan. Just like my large photo of the Surgeon Night School group, the photos in the Graduation program do not have names.
A search online uncovered a Harry Ferguson Strattan born in Strattanville, Pennsylvania in 1914. He died in Wichita, Kansas in 1998. His record on FindaGrave indicates he was a World War II veteran.
I’d like to know more about the journey of Harry F. Strattan and if I find more, I will share it another day. Like I said, new discoveries lead to more questions.