"First the surgeon would cut off the blood flow with a tourniquet. After that he would take a scalpel and slice through the outlying tissue and flesh. Then he would use a hacksaw-like tool called a capital saw to saw through the bone. It had replaceable blades. After the bone and flesh was all sliced off, the surgeon would take silk sutures in the North, and cotton sutures in the South, and sew the major arteries and veins together. The limb would be dropped on a pile that was higher up then the table and the pile got thrown out after the day. Time was of the essence, so the soldier would be carried off of the platform and another soldier would be placed on the platform. This would take about fifteen minutes."(Amputations)
             It wasn't much different to be killed in World War II then it was during the Civil War or World War I. However, if the World War II GI was wounded by a bullet, shrapnel or taken down to disease such as malaria, or anything else that did not kill him, his chances for survival were much greater then his ancestor in the Civil War. During the Civil War, 50 percent or more of the men admitted to hospitals died, during World War I, it was 8 percent, World War II, 4 percent. (Encarta)
             Throughout the many wars that America has faced, it has always needed the use of medics. However, in the Civil war the technology was not established to the point where lives could be saved easily and quickly. Fortunately, there have been many medical advances throughout the past few wars causing the casualty rate to be greatly lowered. The few advances that this paper shall grasp are the increase of speed to rescue a patient, development of penicillin during World War II, and the advances of training medics.
             In the civil war transporting was hectic in the beginning and eventually became more organized with collecting and dispersing patients and medics. In time for Antietam, the Army of the Potomac, under its medi...