World War II Honoree

Clifford M. 'Cliff' Bassett, M.D.

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Cushing, Oklahoma

Honored By

Renee Bassett Willis

Relationship

Daughter

HE LEFT A THRIVING CIVILIAN MEDICAL PRACTICE AND A COMFORTABLE LIFESTYLE TO JOIN THE MILITARY IN THE AFTERMATH OF AMERICA’S ENTRY INTO THE WAR. HE FELT AN OBLIGATION TO DO HIS PART AND ADD HIS PROFESSIONAL SKILLS TO THE WAR EFFORT. HE BELIEVED HE COULD MAKE HIS GREATEST CONTRIBUTION WHILE IN UNIFORM. RECEIVED HIS INDUCTION PHYSICAL EXAMINATION ON JULY 10, 1942 AT AGE 38 AT WILL ROGERS FIELD, OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA. COMMISSIONED A CAPTAIN IN THE U.S. ARMY MEDICAL CORPS ON SEPTEMBER 1, 1942. HIS 8-MONTH SERVICE IN THE AMERICAN THEATER WAS A COMBINATION OF BASIC OFFICER AND MILITARY TRAINING, AND MEDICAL INSTRUCTION AND EDUCATION. ASSIGNED TO AND JOINED THE 103RD STATION HOSPITAL AT CAMP JOSEPH T. ROBINSON AT LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS ON SEPTEMBER 17, 1942. ATTENDED A 12-WEEK ANESTHESIA COURSE AT BROOKE ARMY HOSPITAL IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS IN JANUARY, 1943. UPON HIS RETURN TO HIS UNIT, HE DISCOVERED IT HAD BEEN ALERTED FOR MOVEMENT OVERSEAS. WITHIN WEEKS, HE AND HIS UNIT STAGED AT CAMP PATRICK HENRY AT ORIANA, VIRGINIA AWAITING OVERSEAS DEPLOYMENT. SAILED FROM THE HAMPTON ROADS PORT OF EMBARKATION ON MAY 10, 1943 AND ARRIVED IN TUNISIA ON MAY 23, 1943. SERVED AS A MEDICAL DOCTOR, SURGEON, AND MEDICAL UNIT COMMANDER OVERSEAS IN THE EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN THEATER IN THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS, INITIALLY WITH THE 103RD STATION HOSPITAL IN NORTH AFRICA ON JUNE 2, 1943. FIVE DAYS AFTER HIS ARRIVAL, HE WAS DETACHED FROM HIS UNIT AND ATTACHED TO THE 2ND AUXILIARY SURGICAL GROUP NEAR MATEUR, TUNISIA. FOR SEVERAL WEEKS, HE CARED FOR PATIENTS WITH BATTLE WOUNDS FROM THE RECENTLY CONCLUDED NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN, UNTIL REJOINING HIS UNIT. THE 103RD HOSPITAL RELOCATED OUTSIDE OF NAPLES, ITALY ON JANUARY 5, 1944, INITIALLY OPENING A CONVALESCENT HOSPITAL IN AN ITALIAN VILLA. THE UNIT ADDED A REGULAR STATION HOSPITAL IN SCHOOL BUILDINGS A FEW BLOCKS AWAY ON JANUARY 13, 1944. PARTICIPATED IN THE NAPLES-FOGGIA, ROME-ARNO, AND NORTH APENNINES CAMPAIGNS IN ITALY. SERVED AS ASSISTANT CHIEF, AND THEN IN SEPTEMBER, 1944, AS CHIEF OF SURGICAL SERVICES OF THE 103RD STATION HOSPITAL. PROMOTED TO MAJOR IN NOVEMBER, 1944. THE HOSPITAL RELOCATED TO FLORENCE, ITALY ON JANUARY 11, 1945, AND ON MARCH 5, 1945 ASSUMED THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR TREATING GERMAN PRISONERS OF WAR (POW). THE 103RD HOSPITAL MOVED TO PISA, ITALY ON MARCH 23, 1945. HE REMAINED WITH HIS UNIT UNTIL AFTER THE ALLIED VICTORY IN EUROPE (V-E DAY) WAS ANNOUNCED ON MAY 8, 1945. HE SUBSEQUENTLY SERVED WITH ARMY OF OCCUPATION FORCES IN ITALY. HE WAS PRESENT WHEN A MASS GRAVE WAS UNCOVERED NEAR AMEGLIA, ITALY. THE BODIES OF 15 AMERICAN SOLDIERS WERE RECOVERED WITH THEIR HANDS BOUND BEHIND THEIR BACKS AND WITH TRAUMATIC HEAD WOUNDS. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THEY WERE TAKEN AS PRISONERS OF WAR OF THE GERMANS, WHO THEN BRUTALLY BEAT THEM TO DEATH, AS THERE WERE NO BULLET WOUNDS EVIDENT ON THE BODIES. HE WAS REASSIGNED TO THE 99TH FIELD HOSPITAL IN NORTHERN ITALY WHEN THE 103RD HOSPITAL WAS SCHEDULED FOR REDEPLOYMENT TO THE ASIATIC-PACIFIC THEATER. HIS NEW UNIT WAS A LARGE MEDICAL FACILITY PRIMARILY FOR GERMAN POW. THERE, HE WORKED ALONGSIDE GERMAN DOCTORS CARING FOR THE PRISONERS. HE ASSUMED COMMAND OF THE 99TH HOSPITAL AND SERVED IN THAT CAPACITY FOR SOME FIVE MONTHS. HE ALSO WORKED AS A SURGICAL CONSULTANT WITH THE 61ST STATION HOSPITAL IN LEGHORN, ITALY WHERE HE PERFORMED THEIR SURGICAL PROCEDURES. HE WAS AWARDED THE BRONZE STAR MEDAL FOR MERITORIOUS ACHIEVEMENT WHILE SERVING AS COMMANDER OF THE 99TH HOSPITAL IN CARING FOR GERMAN PRISONERS. WHEN THE 99TH FIELD HOSPITAL WAS INACTIVATED, HE REMAINED AS A CONSULTANT WITH THE 61ST HOSPITAL IN LEGHORN. IN MARCH, 1946, HE WAS DESIGNATED AS THE COMMANDING OFFICER OF THAT UNIT TO FIX MULTIPLE ADMINISTRATIVE AND MEDICAL PROBLEMS THAT HAD SURFACED. HE ACCOMPLISHED THAT TASK AND WAS SUBSEQUENTLY AWARDED THE ARMY COMMENDATION MEDAL FOR MERITORIOUS ACHIEVEMENT. HE THEN ASSUMED COMMAND OF THE 336TH MEDICAL DETACHMENT BEGINNING JUNE, 1946. HIS DETACHMENT PROVIDED STAFF FOR THE 9304TH GENERAL HOSPITAL GERMAN SERVICES UNIT, AND FOR A HOSPITAL TRAIN FOR GERMAN POW. HE SIMULTANEOUSLY PERFORMED SURGERIES AT THE GENERAL HOSPITAL. HE DEPARTED ROME, ITALY ON SEPTEMBER 28, 1946 TO RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES. HE ARRIVED ON THE EAST COAST ON OCTOBER 7, 1946, WAS PROMOTED TO LIEUTENANT COLONEL, THEN HONORABLY DISCHARGED AFTER SOME FOUR YEARS SERVICE AND ISSUED THE HONORABLE SERVICE LAPEL BUTTON. ALSO AWARDED THE, EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN CAMPAIGN MEDAL WITH 3 BRONZE SERVICE STARS, WWII VICTORY MEDAL, AND ARMY OF OCCUPATION MEDAL.