Lecture: The Gory Truth: Weapons of the Civil War & Their Impact on the Body

Author: ITP News Desk | Published: 08/01/2012 | 204 Views | Short URL: http://itpwv.com/local/n/9020

HAGERSTOWN, MD - Dr. Lawrence Jones of Smithsburg, Maryland will be the first of eleven featured speakers in the year-long Civil War Lecture Series presented by the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts.  Offered monthly from August 2012 through July 2013, the lectures are offered in conjunction with the Museum’s headline exhibition Valley of the Shadow that commemorates the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War in Maryland and Southern Pennsylvania.  Speakers for the Thursday Evening Series are drawn from a wealth of regional experts, historians, authors and preservationists.  Enjoy an elegant dinner under the evening sky in the Museum’s Kaylor Atrium at 6:00 p.m. followed by the lecture in the Museum’s Bowman Concert Gallery at 7:00 p.m.

On Thursday, August 2, 2012, Dr. Jones will present his illustrated lecture, “The Gory Truth: Weapons of the Civil War & Their Impact on the Body.”  In addition to ballistics, weapons and wounds, Dr. Jones will also review the technical advances of the 19th Century and their effect on military weapons and tactics.  Comparisons will be made with the weapons and the characteristics of wounds of World War I, World War II and Vietnam.  The audience is cautioned that graphic descriptions and illustrations of war wounds will be presented.  Dr.

Jones draws upon his own experiences as a combat surgeon in Vietnam during 1969 to expand his knowledge of wound ballistics and has used this expertise to better understand the volumes of Civil War medical records he has combed through during his research.  His wartime knowledge, his private collection of Civil War artifacts and relentless research merge well to provide a one-of-a-kind telling of these many wars.

Dr. Jones joined the United States Navy and served as a radarman on a destroyer for three years before starting his undergraduate education at George Washington University in 1955.  An advanced selection for George Washington University’s medical school in 1958 provided him with an opportunity to complete his course work and internship at Bethesda Naval Hospital in 1963.  Between 1963 and 1964, Dr. Jones served with the second Marine Division at Camp LeJeune as a regimental surgeon.  He returned to Bethesda Naval Hospital in 1964 to complete his residency in Urology and General Surgery by the end of 1968.  In January of 1969, he was shipped to a combat evacuation hospital in Vietnam and worked as a surgeon during the second Tet offensive through 1969.  Dr. Jones saw first-hand, the damage soldiers suffered from munitions during war and expanded his unique understanding of wound ballistics.  With his service in the Navy completed in 1973, he moved to Hagerstown after serving as Assistant Chief of Urology at Bethesda Naval Hospital and joined the private practice originally set up by Dr. Joseph Crisp.  In 1975, the four primary physicians practicing in this group, Dr. Jones, Dr. William Plavcan, Dr. John J. Donoghue and Dr. Hugh Talton were all ex-Navy.

Tickets for this unique event are available by calling the Museum at 301-739-5727.  Tickets for dinner and the lecture are $25 for non-members, $20 for Museum members.  Tickets for the lecture only are $5 for non-members and free to Museum members.  Special group rates are available by calling in advance.  For more information and a complete list of speakers for the Thursday Evening Civil War Lecture Series please visit the Museum’s website, http://www.wcmfa.org.  Dr. Jones’ lecture is sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. William G. Plavcan.