War Hero and Doctor. Dr. Frank S. Adamo, a hero who so distinguished himself as a World War II surgeon that the city named a street in his honor, died Friday (June 24, 1988) at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital. He was 95.
Dr. Adamo was captured by the Japanese in the Philippines at the Battle of Corregidor and held prisoner for 2 1/2 years. While treating wounded soldiers, he discovered a treatment for gangrene, which saved countless lives. In 1943, while still a prisoner, he was awarded the Legion of Merit, one of the nation's highest decorations.
Hundreds of thousands were on hand to give him a hero's welcome April 27, 1946. The city of Tampa celebrated Frank Adamo Day and changed the name of First Avenue to Frank Adamo Drive. He was pictured in Life magazine. He resumed the position he held before the war, county medical director, but resigned to return to private practice two years later.
Born in Ybor City's Little Italy in 1893, he was the son of Italian immigrants. He apprenticed in the local cigar factories, but found himself out of work during the 1910 cigar workers' strike.
A few months later, he traveled to Chicago in search of an education, working in a cigar factory during the day and attending night school. It was there, at the age of 17, that he learned to speak English.
He graduated from the University of Chicago
and received his medical degree from Rush Medical Institute in Chicago.
Returning to Ybor City to practice medicine in the 1920s, he encountered diseases - including typhoid, yellow fever and malaria - in the area's Latin immigrants never seen in middle-class communities.
He was appointed medical director of Centro Asturiano Hospital in 1932 and became the county's medical director in 1937. He retired from medical practice in 1975.
He was a life member of the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, the Retired Officers Association and the Air Force Association. A member of the Florida and American medical associations, he was past president of the Hillsborough County Medical Association.
Survivors include his daughter, Mary Frances Robertson, Coral Gables; eight grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends from 7 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Curry and Son Funeral Home, 605 S MacDill Ave. A funeral, with the Rev. Dr. Kenneth Shick of Hyde Park Presbyterian Church officiating, will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Curry and Son. Burial with military honors in the Garden of Memories Cemetery will follow.
TAMPA - June 25, 1988
War Hero and Doctor. Dr. Frank S. Adamo, a hero who so distinguished himself as a World War II surgeon that the city named a street in his honor, died Friday (June 24, 1988) at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital. He was 95.
Dr. Adamo was captured by the Japanese in the Philippines at the Battle of Corregidor and held prisoner for 2 1/2 years. While treating wounded soldiers, he discovered a treatment for gangrene, which saved countless lives. In 1943, while still a prisoner, he was awarded the Legion of Merit, one of the nation's highest decorations.
Hundreds of thousands were on hand to give him a hero's welcome April 27, 1946. The city of Tampa celebrated Frank Adamo Day and changed the name of First Avenue to Frank Adamo Drive. He was pictured in Life magazine. He resumed the position he held before the war, county medical director, but resigned to return to private practice two years later.
Born in Ybor City's Little Italy in 1893, he was the son of Italian immigrants. He apprenticed in the local cigar factories, but found himself out of work during the 1910 cigar workers' strike.
A few months later, he traveled to Chicago in search of an education, working in a cigar factory during the day and attending night school. It was there, at the age of 17, that he learned to speak English.
He graduated from the University of Chicago
and received his medical degree from Rush Medical Institute in Chicago.
Returning to Ybor City to practice medicine in the 1920s, he encountered diseases - including typhoid, yellow fever and malaria - in the area's Latin immigrants never seen in middle-class communities.
He was appointed medical director of Centro Asturiano Hospital in 1932 and became the county's medical director in 1937. He retired from medical practice in 1975.
He was a life member of the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, the Retired Officers Association and the Air Force Association. A member of the Florida and American medical associations, he was past president of the Hillsborough County Medical Association.
Survivors include his daughter, Mary Frances Robertson, Coral Gables; eight grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends from 7 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Curry and Son Funeral Home, 605 S MacDill Ave. A funeral, with the Rev. Dr. Kenneth Shick of Hyde Park Presbyterian Church officiating, will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Curry and Son. Burial with military honors in the Garden of Memories Cemetery will follow.
TAMPA - June 25, 1988
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