A day at Fort Dix and Lakehurst, NJ

On May 6^th, I (Collections Manager and Educator Tom Frezza) traveled to Fort Dix to give a presentation on Civil War Medicine to military medical personnel.  Before making my way to New Jersey, I was asked if I wanted to tour some of the installations and see some of the training that is provided there.  I politely agreed, not knowing what an eye-opening experience I was in store for.

The large hanger in the center is Hanger One.

I left Frederick at about 4 AM, with a hot cup of coffee and plenty of National Museum of Civil War Medicine handouts.  I arrived at the restaurant where I would be speaking around 8 AM, and was then picked up by my host, Captain Michelle Imlay.  She asked if I wanted to go to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JB MDL) first, to see the hangers and exhibits.  “Of Course!” was my answer, trying to contain my excitement.  I had read about this base long before I ever started working for the museum and before this day was unsure that I would ever have the opportunity to see it.  Before being named Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JB MDL), this area was known as Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst.  The United States Navy purchased the property in 1921 for use as an airship station and renamed it Naval Air Station Lakehurst.

Inside Hanger One.

The Navy's lighter-than-air program was conducted at Lakehurst through the 1930s. NAS Lakehurst was the center of airship development in the United States and housed three of the U.S. Navy's four rigid airships, (ZR-1) Shenandoah, (ZR-3) Los Angeles, and (ZRS-4) Akron. A number of the airship hangars built to berth these ships still survive. Hangar One, in which the Shenandoah was built, held the record for the largest "single room" in the world.

It is also the site of the May 6, 1937 LZ 129 Hindenburg airship disaster. Despite the notoriety and well documented nature of this incident, today there is a simple memorial that denotes the location of the crash at then-NAS Lakehurst in the field behind the large airship hangars on base. A ground marker, painted black, and rimmed by a bright yellow painted chain, locates where the gondola of the German zeppelin Hindenburg hit the ground.

The Memorial with Hanger One in the background.

We toured the hanger and museum, and went to site of the memorial, where we realized that we were at the site on the anniversary.  The guides asked if we wanted to go to the wreath laying ceremony that evening. Who among us would want to miss something like that?  I, of course, said that I would come back that evening for the chance to see the ceremony.

After touring the hanger, we went back to Sebastian's Schnitzelhaus, the restaurant that I would be giving the talk at.  The German food was great, and the talk went really well.  It was more of a discussion than a presentation, with the attendees asking a lot of questions creating a dialogue between us..  They were able to learn where the some of the current policies and procedures originated from during the Civil War, and were educated about the difference between civil war medicine myth and fact.

Captain Imlay and Tom.

Captain Imlay then took me to the Medical Simulation Training Centers (MSTC).  There, I was able to observe a class of soldiers who were training to be first responders on the battlefield.  At the MSTC, they deliver effective medical training with a standardized training platform for both classroom and simulated battlefield conditions. The MSTC training components include a computerized bleed-breathe mannequin that is weighted and airway equipped, partial task trainers and associated equipment. Enabling technology includes audiovisual enhancements, camera surveillance capability, computer labs, and control rooms with a remotely managed training platform.

The MSTC program supports training for medical and non-medical personnel including Active Duty, Reserve, and National Guard, with priority given to deploying units. The MSTC’s goal is to better prepare Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines for the application of medical interventions under combat conditions.

Tourniquet training.

What really amazed me was that they were learning some of the same things that were developed during the Civil War, just modernized.  Some of the students even asked me if there was even training like this during the Civil War.  I pulled out my phone and pulled up the photo of the famous ambulance drill, where they are not only using an ambulance, but bandages and splints.

 

  

As the evening drew to a close we went to the ceremony honoring the lost passengers and crew from the Hindenburg disaster. It was an honor to witness.  There were descendants of those lost, people who had ridden on the airships, members of the ground crew, and those who had helped design her.  To hear their stories and to be on the exact spot, at the exact moment, left me in awe.

Disasters like the Hindenburg tragedy and the readiness of the first responders who delivered aid brought me right back to the Civil War.  , The aid system that the soldiers were learning the day I visited, the aid system that the ground crew gave to the wounded from the Hindenburg 78 years before, were all developed during the American Civil War, Over 150 years ago through the pioneering efforts of men like Major Johnathan Letterman.

I want to thank my host, Captain Michelle Imlay, for taking her day to show me numerous great sites, and for showing the same level of excitement to see all of the extraordinary things Fort Dix has to offer. 

~T. Frezza