MALARIA DISCIPLINE

[Music] [Applause] this is Corregidor we're in May 1942 soldiers of the United States Army were humiliated as never before in their history prior to this surrender 85% of our men nine out of ten had already surrendered to a different enemy who was that enemy the same enemy that successfully attacked the Air Force personnel of this convoy in September 1942 in spite of eluding the Japanese in crossing the Pacific 50 percent of these fighting men never saw action in October halfway around the world general Montgomery started the El Alamein offensive that broke the back of Rommels Afrika Corps at one point he urgently needed 35 American fighter planes to protect his advanced positions eleven of our planes did not leave the ground their pilots had met the enemy and she had conquered yes she was at Guadalcanal the same enemy who strikes in the dark who obeys no rules of warfare or hides where she can't be seen now look at her and laugh the malaria carrying mosquitoes the female Anopheles mosquito this is your enemy remember her perhaps you'd like to know your chances of being sent to a combat area where there aren't any malaria bearing mosquitoes here are your chances this is where your enemy spreading malaria strikes seven continents and this is where the air forces are fighting faces and transport routes in every Center of infection India here two million die of malaria each year West Africa eighty-five percent of the population have malaria the soldiers in Burma had it so did the Chinese the same death stalks New Guinea the Solomons the middle-east Madagascar the world over now do you know your chances of getting malaria then perhaps you'd like to know how the Anopheles mosquito the carrier of malaria attacks you on how you can defend yourself let's take a look at this newly hatched female mosquito only the female carries the disease right now she's limbering up for a career of wholesaling malaria simply because of an overpowering first for human blood and less than a mile away she finds it it makes no difference to her whether she gets her drink from a healthy person or from this native already sick with malaria so she jabs our beacon to his skin and pumps up the blood swarming with malaria parasites now she's had a full meal and loses no time flying back to a cool shady spot to rest while she's digesting the blood the parasites are busy they develop in a stomach in two weeks they've worked their way through the stomach wall and now in a form dangerous to humans have moved up to the mosquitos salivary gland the Anopheles got infected when she bit a malarious person now she's ready to do a little infecting herself all she flies in search of another drink of blood this time choosing a healthy person she injects a little saliva full of malaria parasites they get busy in this fliers bloodstream and it isn't long before another name is erase from the operations board to combat this enemy an effective program of malaria control has been put into action to protect Army Air Forces personnel its purpose is simple eliminate the mosquito or prevent her from getting at the soldier first come collective measures before a camp site has chose a narrow landing strip or airfield medical officers with the survey squad are sent to find out the malaria situation in that area initially a thorough investigation must be made of the native population to establish the percentage of inhabitants in that area who are infected next comes investigation of hospital disease and death records if available because malaria and certain kinds of climate go together rainfall and other weather data are studied water is scooped from ponds and the tell-tale Anopheles larvae are identified marshes pools rivers all possible mosquito breeding places are manned the survey squad starts the adult mosquito on its favorite haunts native huts caves hollow trees almost any cool shady place from captured adult mosquitoes medical officers determine the most prevalent species the percentage already infected by malaria their flight range breeding rates and habits and their appetite for human blood once the survey squad has gathered its facts they can plan their blitz against the Anopheles the commanding officer acting on a medical officers advice orders that crews be detailed to work on collective malaria control after the campsite is selected at least one mile upwind from infested native villages and as far away as possible from Anopheles breeding places the engineers use heavy equipment to attack the breeding grounds directly ditches and ponds are drained others are filled others are sprayed with oil which spreads in a film over the water and it isn't long before the mosquito larvae are out of business they don't like Paris green either it means sudden death weather dished out by a single soldier or by specially equipped airplanes removing shady vegetation destroy some breeding grounds but remember not all mosquito habits are alike some breed in fast running streams others in stagnant pools fresh water or even brackish water but you can depend on this spraying will kill any adult mosquito spray everything airplanes that do no more than refuel in malarial areas trucks buses buildings and especially nearby native villages this is one type of sprayer an aerosol bomb when the aerosol bomb is not available a hand sprayer is used however bombs and spray guns would do little permanent good of buildings were not screamed door should open outward to shoo away the mosquitoes and all cracks are opening such as ventilators should be protected but the protection of these collective measures is only a part of the general program devised by the Army Air Forces for combating malaria on any South Pacific island such as this the individual measures are far more important so important in fact that upon a man's sense of responsibility and integrity may depend his length of service his usefulness to his country and his life these two fighter pilots lieutenant Graham and Wald were veterans they knew the dangers of carelessness this night as always they've been out checking over their p-40s for the morning patrol and night is the time the mosquitos come out in force so Graham and Wald wore gloves for a bite on the hand as as dangerous as anywhere else and head nets loosely draped to prevent a mosquito from feeding through them even if she couldn't crawl through the openings no bare skin was exposed and if any had to be why here were bottles of GI insect repellent to smear on they were careful they were sensible prominently displayed on their tentpole was a copy of the general orders regarding malaria control and they knew those paragraphs by heart Graham and Wald observed a regular routine and going to bed at night it didn't involve wine ami alarm clock or throwing out the cat but it was just as punctual one step was an inspection of the bed netting for holes like every man in malaria country wall knew the foundation of all control measures was the bed netting without it the rest of the work was a waste of time Wald found a hole this night which was nothing unusual patching it was no trick a strip of adhesive tape little pressure and patience the repair of course was temporary but it assured safety for the time being Grahame also had his share of the routine his job was spraying the tent with an aerosol bomb which he did thoroughly killing off any uninvited guests who were hopefully hanging around the dark corners were his special meet his last move with the aerosol bomb was to carefully sprays on bed net plenty of the stuff went on walls bed net - he had no more desire to share his GI cot with a mosquito than Graham both of these men as children had probably been tucked in at night by their parents but their parents were back home now waiting for them and in the South Pacific you tuck yourself in and carefully a netting is no good if it isn't secured and tied down a mosquito can come under as well as come true [Music] undressing was a pretty simple problem shirts and pants and shoes off the candle blown out and then into bed for a little last tuck ahem no cleaning of teeth no Pleasant shower no idle conversation and if you said your prayers you included a short prayer that no mosquito bitch'll there was still one more item graham and wall could not afford to forget the final interior inspections of their netting with flashlights that was essential and it couldn't be hurried one little speck on that netting might be the difference between success and failure well that was that aside from stifling heat and the restlessness caused by a long hard day there was nothing to prevent them from going off into dreamland nothing except a [ __ ] air raid no time for dressing just what they had on plush shoes and helmets a foxhole was a lot better than a tent when they opened up on you as he left Wald remembered something the bottle of repellant they were getting close now and wal took the first foxhole at hand [Music] Walled immediately put the repellent on his exposed skin knowing that the enemy above was no more dangerous than the hidden enemy below an aerosol bomb or a spray gun would have afforded the same protection as the repellant had they been handy Graham was saved to in another foxhole reasonably safe but that was the funny thing about malaria or any other kind of discipline it had to be complete to be effective and Graham had forgotten something he didn't know it then but he was hit that night and much more effectively than anything the Japs hit the following evening the squadron lined up for their regular dose of a debrief they all knew including the CEO who was watching them that though atabrine was no substitute for other protective measures it's suppressed symptoms of malaria and Helder disease at bay until it could be treated some hated the bitter taste and some like Graham didn't like the idea that had occasionally turned their skins yellow temporarily two weeks later Graham was given a special mission a long reconnaissance flight over enemy territory there was no reason why you should remember up there that he'd been in a foxhole 14 days ago slapping had a little sting on his neck or remember the hata brain that he should have taken but didn't he had a headache of course and a stomach felt upset but he thought he had a cool then he had a severe chill that confirmed it nothing but a simple little cool since he fell mousy didn't keep watching the way you should so when he finally saw had company and that same patch of sky he was close enough to recognize them zeros [Music] too many the flight officer your dacum but you don't talk enough when you're sick you don't tie the wings off the zeros you don't turn inside of them you don't get right down on the ground and run a bowlegged you just get filled full of twenty millimeters in 303 [Music] Grahame was lucky they didn't get him before he went over the side and they didn't get a Messi parachuted down and there was land instead of salt water under him a tree even broke his fall and he got to the ground with no broken bones he didn't have a bad setup considering he knew where he was and how to get back to the base he could walk and he had a jungle kit with the essentials for traveling but gram was a guy who believed in traveling light he thought they were exaggerating a little bit about the jungle kit just as they were about the a Tiberium the head net he could use and the D ratio and the machete the matches and iodine goodbye atabrine again along with the horn and the fishing tackle the compass of course was essential and now gathering the stuff together he was already ready to travel light and fast he'd be right home of it a nice setup nice except for that headache and dizziness that persistent sensation of sickness that cold again but once he got moving he'd be alright the jungle stretched on hot and tormenting forcing him to fight every step of the way the green depths closed and he seemed lost and avoid he realized he was going to have to pull all his horsepower for this trip but he didn't do so well the malaria was burning in him now and nausea ranked his stomach empty and the map blurred before his eyes when he tried to read it night brought little relief except a brackish jungle stream where he could wash his aching head and try to satisfy a desperate thirst another day but the fever was having its way now and he had lost all sense of direction he was even denied the chance of keeping what little strength ahead his stomach exhausted by constant vomiting refused the food he tried to eat but he could still go on somehow and all fours like an animal crawling blindly into the jungle night came again Grahams last night he was on his feet in a final flare of energy and then merciful blankness the unconsciousness from which there is no recovery another man had died who needn't have died from such apparently small things as a few minutes carelessness in a foxhole and a refusal to accept a protection of atabrine which would have enabled him to reach his base despite being infected with malaria his mistake can be made again and again and almost every theater in which the Army Air Forces operate the one defense against that mistake is malaria discipline well sir that's the case history of lieutenant Graham I picked it as an example of what you'll face when you get to the spot you're shoving off for what I'll face yes red what you'll face you're the CEO you're responsible for the effective employment of malaria discipline by every man in your command all right and it's my responsibility but I know that malaria isn't always fatal and its results aren't always as far-reaching Harry I think you've been exaggerating just just to scare me I intended to scare you but I have an exaggerated true malaria isn't always fatal when properly treated it's sometimes very mild but in spite of the best treatment known to medical science today we can never guarantee a total cure didn't realize that and not only is it far-reaching to the individual who gets malaria for instance take the tail gunner in a bomber he may only have a mild case but that bomber is grounded until a replacement arrives the bomber summation is - a plain and vulnerable possibly one a two plane shot down 10 or 20 lives lost so that single mild case of malaria can count for 10 or 20 deaths yeah yeah I'm beginning to see what you're driving at but don't take that only flies get malaria come along for it I want to show you something but any man in the outfit contracts malaria he breaks up the team just as effectively as the men who fly look at those men victims of mosquitos that man in the first bed sergeant hennemann he went to the latrine one night dressed on in his underwear a mosquito got him he got malaria adilyn's a cook his job was to feed the other members of his team but he failed they had to wait five days for a new cook to be flown in five days 15 indigestion in competent substitute their morale was shot their digestion was shot and Hanuman was too sick to even be sorry I take the man in the second bed sergeant fry one of the best crew chiefs in the South Pacific his plane was scheduled for an important mission he sweated over an all-night with loving hands but he neglected to use repellent on those loving hands and on all his other explored skin bingo malaria sergeant fry let his team down just as surely as though he had put sand in the carburetor now the man in the third bettors is a private Joe Welch he thought that helping load the freight on cargo planes wasn't much of a job so Welsh broke rules Ian's attraction fly were not souvenir hunting in a native village were practically 100 percent of the natives had malaria well thought that he'd put one over on the CEO but he came back an ocular dude with malaria he wasn't on hand to help load caliber 50 ammunition when it was urgently needed yes we'll put one over on the sea or I didn't so did his friend a mosquito got him to the man in the fourth bed as to intelligence he could figure out the doings of a jack but he didn't use the brains he was born with when he came out of headquarters about tucking his pant cuffs into his leggings I'm convinced Harry I'll give my medical officer and the engineers free rein as soon as we land well that's hold of the good Fred but it can't all be done by them if the individual doesn't follow through every malaria preventative they set up will be wasted don't worry I'll give orders that's not enough why not well for two reasons first you've got to set an example for your officers and men to follow you know the mosquito has no regard for rank second well before I could count on you to enforce malaria discipline I had to show you the dangers of laxity I think the same thing holds true for the rest of your team it probably does but how can I help on that score tell your officers and men that you're behind the medics policy on malaria press the point home to each man that unless he's constantly on the alert and uses all protective measures available he'll be a victim of the malaria mosquito that's good I've had each precaution Illustrated to serve as a constant reminder your medical officer should do the same take your a debris no ifs ands or buts it's best taken immediately after a meal and take plenty of water with it check your bed net check it for holes patch up any bit you'll find tuck it in well once inside make sure you're having a mosquito for company you shall net no matter where you sleep even if it's in your plane and apply repellent before you get in bed try to keep from tossing if you touch against the bed net the mosquito can get you through the netting spray regularly use the aerosol bomb or spray gun at dusk and again at dawn mosquitoes hunt the dark so take extra precautions in the corners and spray under your bed and table don't take chances dress properly head net gloves long-sleeve shirt with collar and sleeves buttoned pants tucked into leggings or mosquito poops but that's not all use repellent shake a liberal amount into the palm of your hand rub your hands briskly together spreading the repellent on your palms fingers and the back of your hands next rub the excess thoroughly over the back of your neck your ears and your face taking care to avoid your lips and eyes then rub your hands across your shoulder blades the small of your back the seat of your pants your waistline elbows and knees any place your clothing is tight when you've got your head net in place in your gloves on have someone spray your clothing until it's thoroughly permeated with repellent I know you're right Harry I believe those precautionary measures are absolutely necessary but something I bet will be hard to convince that's a lot of work that's your job you've got to make them and more under certain conditions were sweating is excessive a man on light duty will have to be sprayed again with repellent after several hours the medical officer will determine the time limit of its effectiveness in simple words if you want to fight Japs or Germans you'll first have got to fight mosquitoes in some areas the heaviest casualties in this war have been caused by mosquitoes not by the axis and remember this science today has found no total cure for malaria oh that's really rugged but you want to protect your team so never lose sight of the fact that you've an enemy who's deadlier than the [ __ ] an enemy all men have got to guard against all of the time and that enemy is the Anopheles mosquito [Music]