This year marks the hundredth anniversary of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine's involvement in World War I. It was during the time of World War I that the U.S. military began to recognize the importance of veterinary involvement. The war had a significant impact on the Veterinary School.
After the Surgeon General requested in 1917 that veterinary students between the ages of 21 and 31 years enlist in the Veterinary Corps of the Army, forty-one students responded by immediately enlisting. Upon graduation, these students were called into active service following their State Board Exams.
Beginning in the Fall of 1918, Penn dormitories were converted into Army barracks. Veterinary students drilled daily, in addition to their academic obligations. (Pictured here: the Student Army Training Corps in the Quadrangle.)
In the Veterinary School yearbook, the Scalpel, Veterinary School students wrote of the disruptions to their normal lives during the war. As students and faculty entered military service, there were changes in the school environment.
The Class of 1920 recalls in the Scalpel: "The University dormitories were converted into Army barracks. We were given cots, blankets, uniforms and rifles. We drilled for one hour each day. Some of our officers were more enthusiastic than discreet, with the result that some of us spent some time in the hospital. The marches to the mess-hall were always well attended. Guard duty on cold nights was one of the unpleasant features."
Notable figures from the Veterinary School were directly involved in the war efforts, including Clarence J. Marshall, V.M.D., a member of the Veterinary School faculty from 1910 to 1938. In 1916, Marshall went to France to study the role of veterinarians in European armies. The information obtained by Marshall was of great value to the Surgeon General’s Office in organizing the Veterinary Corps of the U.S. Army. In 1917, Dr. Marshall was commissioned as a Major in the Veterinary Corps and later promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.
The fourth dean of the Veterinary School, Louis A. Klein, V.M.D., was part of the Army Veterinary Advisory Board, which organized the Veterinary Corps of the U.S. Army. Later, Dr. Klein took a leave of absence from the Veterinary School when he was commissioned as a Major in the Veterinary Corps.
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