Dr. Paul Stoddard and his wife, Helen, on their wedding day. They married just before he was sent overseas during World War II. / Provided photo
DR. PAUL M. STODDARD
Age: 91
Born: Nov. 15, 1918
Hometown: Peacham, Vt.
Residence: Palm Springs
Military branch: U.S. Army physician; 2nd Armored Division; 67th Armored Regiment
Years served: 1942-1946
Rank: Captain
Family: Wife Helen; four children, Mary Hendler of Palm Desert, Bonnie Doulas of Salt Lake City, Utah, Paul Stoddard Jr. of Palm Springs and Candy Stoddard of Palm Springs; four grandchildren; four great-grandchildren.
About this series
Staff writer Denise Goolsby will profile desert veterans from World War II through the end of 2010 — the 65th anniversary of the end of the war. Contact her at (760) 778-4587 or via e-mail at denise.goolsby@thedesertsun.com
Coming tomorrow
U.S. Army Air Corps veteran Adolfo Gonzalez of Cathedral City.
LEARN MORE: Read about other Coachella Valley residents who served in World War II at mydesert.com/wwii.
More
Dr. Paul Stoddard, a U.S. Army physician attached to the 2nd Armored Division, risked his life rushing to the aid of wounded tank soldiers pinned down by enemy fire near the Rhine River in Germany during World War II.
For his actions, Stoddard was awarded a Silver Star — the third-highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy.
The Silver Star citation was issued to Stoddard by Brigadier General J.H. Collier, commanding general of the division:
“For gallantry in action against an armed enemy of the United States in Germany on 31 March 1945. After being notified that there (were) some wounded soldiers one mile northeast of Ahlen, Germany, Captain Stoddard was advised not to go to their aid until the enemy fire subsided. With utter disregard for his personal safety, Captain Stoddard went up to the front with his half-track ambulance. He was forced to halt about 100 yards from where the wounded men were, due to increased enemy artillery fire. Proceeding on foot, he reached the wounded tankers, administered first aid and supervised their evacuation”
“It was such a shock to me,” to be awarded the Silver Star, Stoddard said.
Stoddard, now retired, was a longtime Palm Springs physician who witnessed the horrors of war and the harsh reality of treating wounded men with limited medical supplies — sometimes performing surgeries without anesthesia in life-or-death situations.
“When ‘M*A*S*H' came out years and years ago he was incensed,” said daughter Mary Hendler, referring to the TV series about a team of doctors and support staff working at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in South Korea during the Korean War.
“For him, there was no playing around, there was no making martinis,” said Hendler, of Palm Desert. “It was a serious job, day after day.”
The 2nd Armored Division, nicknamed “Hell On Wheels,” fought in eastern Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge, “blunting the German Fifth Panzer Army's penetration of American lines,” according to historic reports. “The division helped reduce the bulge in January, fighting in the Ardennes forest in deep snow and freezing winter conditions. After a rest in February, the division drove on across the 1,153-foot-wide Rhine River on March 27, 1945 in an unprecedented seven hours while under mortar fire.”
Four days later, Stoddard rescued and treated the wounded soldiers.
The division continued to penetrate into German territory and, according to historic accounts, “On April 11, 1945 the 2nd Armored Division was the first American division to reach the Elbe River. On orders, the division halted on the Elbe. In July, the 2nd division was the first American unit to enter the German capital city of Berlin.”
Stoddard's selfless service continued after completing his tour of duty and his honorable discharge from the U.S. Army in 1946.
“We moved to the coal fields of West Virginia,” said his wife, Helen Stoddard.
The couple married in the spring of 1943, just days before the doctor went overseas.
“He called and said, ‘We're shipping out — there's no way I want to leave without marrying you,'” she said. “I said, ‘Honey, I'll be right there.'”
The soon-to-be Mrs. Stoddard made the trip from her hometown of Charleston, W.Va., to Camp Sibert in Alabama, where the couple married.
“Two days later, he was gone,” she said. “I lived with my mom. I worked and saved up my money for us.”
After the war, Stoddard set up a medical practice in West Virginia, where his main clientele included coal miners and their families.
The coal miners paid the mining company $2 a month for medical benefits.
The money went to Stoddard, who was the physician for all the miners and family members in the area.
“It was early socialized medicine,” Helen Stoddard said. “He was the only doctor. There was no hospital, no pharmacy . He drew his own blood. He did all the testing of blood. He delivered babies in the home. He was on call 24/7.”
His grateful patients would bring the doctor freshly canned vegetables from their gardens and other homemade gifts, including handmade quilts, she said.
Helen Stoddard said that even though the miners' medical payments were paid through the company to the doctor, he didn't hesitate to testify against the mining companies about black lung disease, contracted by the prolonged breathing of coal mine dust.
The couple spent 11 years in West Virginia before moving to the desert in 1959. Stoddard retired from medical practice in 1980.
