After completing his medical school and an internship at Charity Hospital, New Orleans, Dr. Gary Cumbie joined U.S. Army Medical Corps. He was sworn into the rank of First Lieutenant on July 3, 1943. For training, he was sent to Camp Barkeley in Texas. On July 4, 1943, he wrote to his mother: “Please excuse my writing, as I’m sitting side-by-side on the bed and using an Apple Box for a table.” We don’t have enough space for a desk because there are five of us here… We bathe, shave, and eat somewhere else… All in all, it’s a very nice setup…Several fellows from Charity are also here.”


Camp Barkeley was Cumbie’s first stop. He had assignments to Camp Polk in Louisiana, Fort Lewis, Washington, and Fort Meade in Maryland. Cumbie was then sent halfway around the globe to Burma by the 5307th Composite Unit [Provisional] from Fort Meade. Some of the veterans of the Pacific Campaigns at Guadalcanal or New Guinea, were part of this unit. Some of the volunteers were from the Panama Canal Zone garrisons, while others came from the Caribbean. The rest came from Army correctional institutions. They received jungle training, and were sent to the China Burma-India [CBI] theatre of operations to fight the Japanese. The 5307th was the first unit of special forces in the U.S. Army.

The 5307th was eventually made up of three battalions, which were called the Galahad Force. One journalist called the unit “Merrill’s Marauders”,after Brigadier General Frank Merrill, the unit’s commanding officers. To divert Japanese forces from General Joe Stillwell’s Chinese/American forces fighting against China, the Marauders trekked 800 miles through Burma’s jungles. Their objective was to capture Myitkyina’s Japanese-held airfield.


To transport supplies and equipment across the most difficult jungles and mountains, the Marauders used packmules. After fighting the Japanese for four months in the leech-infested jungles of Burma for four months, the Marauders were able take Myitkyina with its airbase. After a reduction of around 2,750 men to 200, the original force was still able fight. The Japanese had killed 272 and wounded 955 men. Nearly 1000 men were evacuated to escape disease like malaria, amoebic dysentery, and other tropical diseases.

William Gary Cumbie was the son of Emma Gary and James Lewis Cumbie. He was born in Morris, Georgia, on August 6, 1916. Emma Gary Cumbie and James Lewis Cumbie were his parents. James Lewis Cumbie, Jr., a younger sibling, also died just a few months prior to the death of his father, who was born in 1928. After her husband’s death, Mrs. Cumbie moved their family to Troy, Alabama. She took a job with the Baptist Children’s Home. Frank, Gary’s younger brother, died in an accident shortly after moving to Troy.

Gary graduated from Troy High School, in 1935. He enrolled at University of Alabama in 1938 and received his pre-medical degree. He was accepted to the University of Alabama Medical School, which was then only the second year. He was then inducted into the Gorgas Society, which is the highest honor bestowed on a student at the School of Medicine. After completing his 3rd, 4th and 5th year, he was admitted to Tulane School for Medicine. He received his MD degree May 1942. He began a year-long internship at Charity Hospital in New Orleans in July 1942. He received a request from the War Department in December 1942 to ” after your internship is completed, please submit your name and address to the Surgeon General, United States.” It seems that all doctors were “volunteering for service. On June 30, 1943, he completed his internship. He joined the Army three days later on July 3, 1943.

Dr. Cumbie was trained at Camp Barkely in Texas, Camp Polk in Louisiana, Fort Lewis, Washington, and Fort Meade in Maryland.

Cumbie was still stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington and assigned to the Medical Department Replacement Pool of the 44th Infantry Division. The same group was also assigned to Fort Meade in Maryland before they left for the CBI theater, May 1944. Cumbie did not tell his family his travels until he arrived in India. ” It’s not my intention to tell you about where I have been, where it is, or where I’m going.”On his voyage, he wrote to his mother “We’re riding high on the seas, and I’ve fed fish a few.”

After he arrived in Burma, Dr. Gary Cumbie continued to write letters to Betty and his mother, Betty.

Cumbie’s unit was dispatched to Burma on June 1. Cumbie wrote that he was in Burma and that he had seen many patients. He also wrote on June 19: “I wish the people back home could see and understand just how hard our boys work on the frontlines…I have done more surgeries here in seven day than I did in six months as an intern.”

He wrote on June 27 that “We sleep in Foxholes at Night.” The water can get quite deep when it rains. It’s not too bad when the generals do the same.” He wrote a June 30 letter, saying, “I’m now attached at a Surgical Portable Hospital doing lots of surgeries…The situation changes quickly and you never know where you might be assigned tomorrow…I spent many hours last night treating a wounded Japanese soldier, who to our amazement seems much better today He is the only living Japanese soldier I have seen. They are treated the same way as we treat our own.” He added, “Some patients are now coming in now by ox wagon and I must return to work…We usually know when it is time to prepare for work when the guns start to sound in the distance.”

He wrote on August 4 that “Things were very quiet now, as our current mission has almost ended.” We will return to camp in a few days. We are, as you may know, the only American ground force at this theater. We are part of General Stilwell’s ‘Merrill’s Marauders’. This is the China Burma-India theater.

He wrote that he had been on special duty from his unit many times in a letter dated August 22. I can assure you that I have had the opportunity to practice real medicine. It isn’t difficult and there are no fox holes in this area. We are far from any enemy, in fact. However, we had a lot of fun in the Battle at Myitkyina, which is now over.

He wrote on August 27: “Once more, it is Saturday night at ‘dear old Burma’, the land of jungles. A couple of men were preparing to go on a tiger hunt. There are wildcats, elephants, tigers and deer. It’s also a hunting paradise. It rains almost every day. Cows are also present by the thousands, but they are sacred to some degree and no one would dare injure them.

Cumbie writes August 30 that he mentions a medical missionary who he met. “Did you tell me about the U.S. medical missionary, Col. Seagraves? Author of ‘The Burmese Surgeon’? I spent several days in his hospital. He has been here for about 20 years. I would like to read his book.

Starting October 6, Cumbie began sending letters to the following address: “Detachment of Patients,” 20th General Hospital, and the usual Armed Forces post office. Cumbie shared some bad news on October 6. “I mentioned in the last letter that it might take some time before you can write again, as I was about to leave for a trip that I believed would take me to China. However, things did not go as planned. I fell ill the first day. I was taken back to a field medical facility, and then flown to India the next morning. I was fortunate to meet Captain James Donald, a Pineapple, Alabama, medical officer. James offered to write me ….. You might be wondering what is wrong with me. It’s typhus fever. Although it’s a terrible disease, most people recover within three weeks. I am now over the danger, but very weak.”

Dr. James Donald also wrote Dr. Cumbie’s mom, “You might have heard Gary mention Me in the past years.” We were good friends in college. I am James Donald, from Pineapple in Alabama. I am a hospital ….Gary. He came in about a week ago with a high fever. He has been feeling miserable since then…His disease is quite common in this region…He asked me to write him because he is still weak and shaky. He may now be at peace. He has cooled down and is now ….Recovery is assured.

Cumbie wrote to his mother on October 15: “This is my 25th day with typhus fever.” I am now much better but still weak as a mouse… It’s just a matter time before I can fully recover, which will most likely take two to three months.

Cumbie, in his October 22 letter, wrote that Col. Seagraves was a missionary friend. “The war situation is slightly better in Burma, but there’s still more to do. Seagraves is a man of many faces. I don’t know how much he does missionary work. He takes care of both the Chinese and natives, as you can see. There have been up to 100 people waiting in the dark for their operation. These are not civilian casualties. Only a few nurses and other support staff are available to him. His hospital is small and only has a few tents. Sometimes the ground can get to his knees. Because the Japanese find his hospital from the air, they bomb it. He must move it around every few weeks. It’s a long life, but he seems to be able to manage it in a matter of days. Although he looks tired and worn out, I believe the Lord gives him strength. [End of Part 1].


John Vick

[Sources: To be listed under Part 2]

The post William Gary Cumbie M.D., Capt, U.S Army Medical Corps, WWII Merrill’s Marauders-Part 1 was first published on The Andalusia star-news.