AIHP last November posted an article on its website highlighting a new book published by longtime Institute member Dennis B. Worthen, PhD, that identifies and provides brief biographies of 165 pharmacists and pharmacy students who were killed in action, or died while on active duty, during World War II. The book, We Remember Them: Pharmacy’s Fallen, is available at this link.
Dr. Worthen had spent decades conducting research to identify these now largely forgotten casualties of war, and he thought his efforts had left no stone unturned. However, publication of the article led to the discovery of four additional pharmacists who should have been included. Two more names were uncovered through another source.
These discoveries have prompted Dr. Worthen to ask us extend a special request to all AIHP members. If you are aware of any pharmacist or pharmacy student killed in World War II who was not included in the book, please email Dr. Worthen at dbworthen36@gmail.com. Dr. Worthen is planning an updated edition of the book to add the missing biographies.
We invite all of you to take a few minutes to recall family stories, or stories from your hometown, about pharmacists killed in the war. And then check any names you uncover against those listed in the book. If they have not been included, please email Dr. Worthen.
These fallen pharmacists deserve to be remembered and honored. We hope you will do your part to identify anyone who may have been missed.
The American Institute of the History of Pharmacy is documenting and preserving pharmacy stories and experiences during the COVID-19 global pandemic for the benefit of future historians and scholars. We seek to record the effects of this public health emergency on all types of pharmacy experiences. We invite you to share your pharmacy stories, photos, videos, artifacts, and other documentation of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.