Dr. James Robert Judd (1876-1947)
Dr. James Robert Judd (1876-1947) was the son of Albert Francis Judd, the Hawaii Supreme Court Justice under the Kingdom, Republic, and Territory, and the grandson of Dr. Gerrit Parmele Judd who had come to Hawai`i with the 3rd company of ABCFM missionaries in 1828. He married Alice Louise Marshall in 1908. When World War I broke out he and Louise went to France to serve in the American Ambulance Corps. The United States wouldn’t officially enter the war until 1917. He and Louise joined up with the American ex-patriots living in Paris that operated the “American Hospital.” They spent just over a year in France as part of the American Ambulance Corps. Dr. James Judd wrote a book about their time in France, but interestingly the book was not about him. It was a collection of the experiences and memories of those that he treated during the war. The profits from the book went to help the many fatherless children in France that had been orphaned by The Great War that was supposed to end all war because it was so horrible. “With the American Ambulance in France” can now be found in digital form on GoogleBooks, in the University of Hawaii Hamilton library Hawaiian D640 .J69, and in the
Hawaii State Library catalog no. H B JUDD.
“The first sensation of a civilian doctor on starting to work in a ward of French soldiers is one of bewilderment. There is a mass of wooden frames, pulleys and weights holding shattered bones in comfortable positions. The awful looking wounds make one wonder how a man ever survived such an injury and then how will it be possible to save these shattered limbs. At once one is impressed by the courage, cheerfulness and patience of the French soldier. Some are mere peasant boys of 18 to 20, others are educated men, merchants, school teachers, law and medical students. The majority are country boys, sons of the soil. They all expect to get well and most of them do. The worst cases are kept out on porches, where they have the benefit of the fresh air and sunshine. At present all the patients are "old cases" and the operations performed are for the removal of pieces of shell and dead splinters of bone. The patients are carefully X-rayed and the pieces of shell located. Then there is an electrical apparatus invented by Professor Bergonie of Bordeaux by means of which one can feel a piece of shell vibrating in the flesh. Even with these aids, the pieces of shell are very elusive and sometimes surprisingly difficult to find. The work consists of morning rounds with Dr. Blake, afterwards operations if there are any to be done and then the dressings. L. [Louise] has been assigned to a small ward, where she makes beds, helps at the "pansements," takes temperatures and pulses, helps with the meals and in many other ways. She looks real business-like in her French Red Cross uniform and enjoys the work thoroughly. The food served to the wounded is very good and the blessés are very appreciative of what is done for them. The approximate cost of maintaining the hospital is $1,000.00 a day, and this is entirely a matter of subscription.”
--Dr. James R. Judd in With the American Ambulance in France
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