“We got into Seoul and all of a sudden I grew up.” - Dr. Stanley Wolf
“I enlisted in the Navy when I graduated from medical school in Georgetown in 1948. I had been deferred during World War II to go to medical school and at that time they were threatening all of us that had been deferred with the doctor draft …
And I figured it was peace time and I would rather be in the Navy,” Dr. Stanley Wolf shared with a United States Navy Memorial Film Crew at a Veterans Conference. Dr. Wolf spoke as if his experiences had happenend yesterday. His early months working in the medical field had gone well, he recalled, “I was thinking on making the Navy a career so I shipped over...and all of a sudden I was in the Marines. They sent me up to Camp Pendleton, California and my basic training for combat was two weeks of calisthenics.” It was at this time when the Korean War broke out and Dr. Wolf’s medical experience would be called upon to treat soldiers in combat who were on the front lines.
Commenting on his experiences during the Korean War, Dr. Wolf took the film crew back to his first moments in Korea, “We landed at Inchon and we arrived on the 20th. Our Regiment, the 7th, was the reserve.” Upon arriving he was part of an American Force aimed at halting the spread of Communism in the region. At first, North Korean and later Chinese troops would oppose the men he would work to keep alive. Dr. Wolf shared a life changing moment that he recalled with vivid memory, “We got into Seoul and all of a sudden I grew up. It was no longer fun and games and we went across the Han River in Seoul and it was like Dante's Inferno. The sky was lit up, the ambulance jeeps coming back with the wounded.” From that moment on, Dr. Wolf would take part in a number of operations and amphibious landings. He would witness the events of the Battle of Chosin Reservoir and work tirelessly to save American lives from Communist forces and harsh weather.
From the harsh weather conditions following the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, Dr. Wolf also shared the moment in his service career that would lead to him receiving the Purple Heart. Dr. Wolf’s incredable service stories have been archived at the United States Navy Memorial for future generations to learn about the key moments in time that shaped our world.
The United States Navy Memorial honors Dr. Stanley Wolf, featured within a new series titled, Tales from the Navy Log, Story of the Month. Each month, this series honors a Veteran’s story recorded by the Stories of Service Program at the Navy Memorial. To learn more about his story, you can view his four part interview on the Navy Memorial Stories of Service site.