Treating Civilians and Soldiers Under Fire

While serving in Italy, Caldwood treated many American servicemen, but many of the encounters that remained most memorable to him involved Italian civilians. 

One such incident occurred shortly after Caldwood joined the unit. He observed a mortar crew registering their weapons—firing test rounds to adjust their aim—on terrain near a farm below their position.  After several rounds were fired, Caldwood was informed that an Italian civilian had been wounded and several farm animals injured by the mortar fire. He told the mortar section sergeant that he was going down the mountain to treat the wounded man and help move his animals to safety. The sergeant allowed him to go but made it clear that the mortar fire would continue. Caldwood warned him that if the firing continued while he was down at the farm and did not kill him, the sergeant had better make sure to leave before Caldwood returned. A lieutenant standing nearby immediately reprimanded him, but Caldwood went down the mountain anyway to render aid. 

Not long afterward, Caldwood had another encounter with the lieutenant who had reprimanded him, this time with a very different outcome. After diagnosing a soldier suffering from shingles, Caldwood informed the lieutenant that the man needed to be sent to the rear for treatment. The lieutenant resisted, citing the unit’s lack of manpower at the front and for patrols. Caldwood sent the man back regardless. When the next patrol was formed, Caldwood removed his medical gear, donned combat gear, and volunteered to take the sick man’s place. Seeing Caldwood’s willingness to put his life on the line for his fellow soldiers impressed the lieutenant. From that point forward, the officer treated Caldwood with respect and even offered him the use of his M1911 .45-caliber pistol and shoulder holster. 

On another occasion, Caldwood and a fellow medic were approached by an Italian civilian seeking help for a sick friend. The patient lived in a village scheduled to be shelled by a British artillery battery. Caldwood was told he could provide treatment, but needed to leave the area before the shelling began at 2:00 p.m. By the time he and the other medic departed, the deadline had passed. As they left the village, Allied gunners mistook them for German soldiers. A rain of artillery fire immediately fell around them. One shell detonated just yards in front of Caldwood, the force of the blast throwing him several yards through the air.  He laid there thinking that he was dead. Off in the distance he heard the voice of his fellow soldier calling his name. Laying on his back, he slowly opened his eyes to the sunlight. Yet again, God had spared his life. He escaped serious injury with only shrapnel that had lodged in his arm when he had covered his face from the exploding shell. He was treated in a nearby aid station, and soon returned to his unit.