John Samuel Moffitt was born on 9/26/1924 in Altoona, PA, the only child of Earle Lindsay and Helen Boyd (Dietrich) Moffitt. His father Earle Lindsay was a farm management extension specialist for Pennsylvania State College.
John graduated from State College High School in the spring of 1942. He started Penn State College as an organic chemistry major until called to active duty. He was drafted in the army in October of 1942 but did not actually enter into active service until May 1943. The army decided that it needed college educated officers and sent him to Drexel University to study until the Army decided he should become a physician and off to Johns Hopkins University he went for pre-med classes. He finished his pre-med work in the summer of 1945. In the fall of 1945, John entered Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia, PA. John often joked that he was the only one in his medical school class who had never graduated from college. In the 1980s in his retirement John attended Shepherd College, Shepherdstown, WV taking business and accounting classes to finally earn a Regents Bachelor's degree.
He and his high school sweetheart Phyllis Lang eloped to Philadelphia, PA on March 15, 1944. John and Phyllis eventually had three children, John, Lynne and Judith.
After medical school, John was commissioned as a First Lieutenant (physicians are never commissioned as second lieutenants) and did his internship at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. Two weeks before he finished his internship the Korean War began and the army sent him in August of 1950 to the Far East, where he first served as chief of medicine at the 8041st Station Hospital at Sasebo, Japan and then in the Department of Orthopedics at the Tokyo army hospital. In July of 1951 he was assigned to Korea, where he commanded the 618th Medical Clearing Company which handled all evacuations from the First Corps by rail and the Ninth and Tenth Corps by air. He also served as liaison officer to the Italian Red Cross hospital there.
Dr. Moffitt, who held the rank of captain in the Army Medical Corps, returned to the United States on April 29, 1952.
From there he was sent on to Korea, where he commanded a medical company near the front lines.
After returning from Korea, he did his residency in OB/Gyn at the Pottsville Hospital in Pennsylvania. Eventually he was in general practice in Port Carbon, PA in Centre Hall, PA. He then had the opportunity to take over a general practice in State College, PA from 1953-1958. In 1958, John joined the Veterans Administration as a physician. He was first stationed at Minot, ND for a year. He then did a 3-year residency in Radiology at Hines Medical Center in Chicago, IL. He then went to the Martinsburg, WV VA Medical Center where he spent the rest of his career as a radiologist and then Chief of Outpatient Services, before taking a medical disability in the early 1970s.
He played basketball and soccer as a youth. While at Penn State, he was invited to join the Penn State soccer team but he declined as he didn't know how long he would be able to attend Penn State due to the war.
He was involved in amateur theatrical productions from high school until when he and his family moved to Martinsburg, WV. He even acted in professional summer stock while in high school during one summer.
John was a devoted duplicate bridge player. He was also an avid reader and purchased around 10-20 books a week.
Around 1969, the family was in the back yard of the house next to the VA, when a plane flew over prompting John to suggest to his daughter Lynne that if she wanted he would pay for her to undertake flying lessons. She challenged him knowing he had always wanted to be a pilot that if there was enough money for flying lessons he should be the one to take them. And he did. He flew for several years before his health problems grounded him. He truly enjoyed flying and fulfilling a lifelong dream.
He died on August 24, 1992 in Martinsburg, Berkeley Co., West Virginia.
John graduated from State College High School in the spring of 1942. He started Penn State College as an organic chemistry major until called to active duty. He was drafted in the army in October of 1942 but did not actually enter into active service until May 1943. The army decided that it needed college educated officers and sent him to Drexel University to study until the Army decided he should become a physician and off to Johns Hopkins University he went for pre-med classes. He finished his pre-med work in the summer of 1945. In the fall of 1945, John entered Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia, PA. John often joked that he was the only one in his medical school class who had never graduated from college. In the 1980s in his retirement John attended Shepherd College, Shepherdstown, WV taking business and accounting classes to finally earn a Regents Bachelor's degree.
He and his high school sweetheart Phyllis Lang eloped to Philadelphia, PA on March 15, 1944. John and Phyllis eventually had three children, John, Lynne and Judith.
After medical school, John was commissioned as a First Lieutenant (physicians are never commissioned as second lieutenants) and did his internship at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. Two weeks before he finished his internship the Korean War began and the army sent him in August of 1950 to the Far East, where he first served as chief of medicine at the 8041st Station Hospital at Sasebo, Japan and then in the Department of Orthopedics at the Tokyo army hospital. In July of 1951 he was assigned to Korea, where he commanded the 618th Medical Clearing Company which handled all evacuations from the First Corps by rail and the Ninth and Tenth Corps by air. He also served as liaison officer to the Italian Red Cross hospital there.
Dr. Moffitt, who held the rank of captain in the Army Medical Corps, returned to the United States on April 29, 1952.
From there he was sent on to Korea, where he commanded a medical company near the front lines.
After returning from Korea, he did his residency in OB/Gyn at the Pottsville Hospital in Pennsylvania. Eventually he was in general practice in Port Carbon, PA in Centre Hall, PA. He then had the opportunity to take over a general practice in State College, PA from 1953-1958. In 1958, John joined the Veterans Administration as a physician. He was first stationed at Minot, ND for a year. He then did a 3-year residency in Radiology at Hines Medical Center in Chicago, IL. He then went to the Martinsburg, WV VA Medical Center where he spent the rest of his career as a radiologist and then Chief of Outpatient Services, before taking a medical disability in the early 1970s.
He played basketball and soccer as a youth. While at Penn State, he was invited to join the Penn State soccer team but he declined as he didn't know how long he would be able to attend Penn State due to the war.
He was involved in amateur theatrical productions from high school until when he and his family moved to Martinsburg, WV. He even acted in professional summer stock while in high school during one summer.
John was a devoted duplicate bridge player. He was also an avid reader and purchased around 10-20 books a week.
Around 1969, the family was in the back yard of the house next to the VA, when a plane flew over prompting John to suggest to his daughter Lynne that if she wanted he would pay for her to undertake flying lessons. She challenged him knowing he had always wanted to be a pilot that if there was enough money for flying lessons he should be the one to take them. And he did. He flew for several years before his health problems grounded him. He truly enjoyed flying and fulfilling a lifelong dream.
He died on August 24, 1992 in Martinsburg, Berkeley Co., West Virginia.
John Samuel Moffitt was born on 9/26/1924 in Altoona, PA, the only child of Earle Lindsay and Helen Boyd (Dietrich) Moffitt. His father Earle Lindsay was a farm management extension specialist for Pennsylvania State College.
John graduated from State College High School in the spring of 1942. He started Penn State College as an organic chemistry major until called to active duty. He was drafted in the army in October of 1942 but did not actually enter into active service until May 1943. The army decided that it needed college educated officers and sent him to Drexel University to study until the Army decided he should become a physician and off to Johns Hopkins University he went for pre-med classes. He finished his pre-med work in the summer of 1945. In the fall of 1945, John entered Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia, PA. John often joked that he was the only one in his medical school class who had never graduated from college. In the 1980s in his retirement John attended Shepherd College, Shepherdstown, WV taking business and accounting classes to finally earn a Regents Bachelor's degree.
He and his high school sweetheart Phyllis Lang eloped to Philadelphia, PA on March 15, 1944. John and Phyllis eventually had three children, John, Lynne and Judith.
After medical school, John was commissioned as a First Lieutenant (physicians are never commissioned as second lieutenants) and did his internship at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. Two weeks before he finished his internship the Korean War began and the army sent him in August of 1950 to the Far East, where he first served as chief of medicine at the 8041st Station Hospital at Sasebo, Japan and then in the Department of Orthopedics at the Tokyo army hospital. In July of 1951 he was assigned to Korea, where he commanded the 618th Medical Clearing Company which handled all evacuations from the First Corps by rail and the Ninth and Tenth Corps by air. He also served as liaison officer to the Italian Red Cross hospital there.
Dr. Moffitt, who held the rank of captain in the Army Medical Corps, returned to the United States on April 29, 1952.
From there he was sent on to Korea, where he commanded a medical company near the front lines.
After returning from Korea, he did his residency in OB/Gyn at the Pottsville Hospital in Pennsylvania. Eventually he was in general practice in Port Carbon, PA in Centre Hall, PA. He then had the opportunity to take over a general practice in State College, PA from 1953-1958. In 1958, John joined the Veterans Administration as a physician. He was first stationed at Minot, ND for a year. He then did a 3-year residency in Radiology at Hines Medical Center in Chicago, IL. He then went to the Martinsburg, WV VA Medical Center where he spent the rest of his career as a radiologist and then Chief of Outpatient Services, before taking a medical disability in the early 1970s.
He played basketball and soccer as a youth. While at Penn State, he was invited to join the Penn State soccer team but he declined as he didn't know how long he would be able to attend Penn State due to the war.
He was involved in amateur theatrical productions from high school until when he and his family moved to Martinsburg, WV. He even acted in professional summer stock while in high school during one summer.
John was a devoted duplicate bridge player. He was also an avid reader and purchased around 10-20 books a week.
Around 1969, the family was in the back yard of the house next to the VA, when a plane flew over prompting John to suggest to his daughter Lynne that if she wanted he would pay for her to undertake flying lessons. She challenged him knowing he had always wanted to be a pilot that if there was enough money for flying lessons he should be the one to take them. And he did. He flew for several years before his health problems grounded him. He truly enjoyed flying and fulfilling a lifelong dream.
He died on August 24, 1992 in Martinsburg, Berkeley Co., West Virginia.
John graduated from State College High School in the spring of 1942. He started Penn State College as an organic chemistry major until called to active duty. He was drafted in the army in October of 1942 but did not actually enter into active service until May 1943. The army decided that it needed college educated officers and sent him to Drexel University to study until the Army decided he should become a physician and off to Johns Hopkins University he went for pre-med classes. He finished his pre-med work in the summer of 1945. In the fall of 1945, John entered Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia, PA. John often joked that he was the only one in his medical school class who had never graduated from college. In the 1980s in his retirement John attended Shepherd College, Shepherdstown, WV taking business and accounting classes to finally earn a Regents Bachelor's degree.
He and his high school sweetheart Phyllis Lang eloped to Philadelphia, PA on March 15, 1944. John and Phyllis eventually had three children, John, Lynne and Judith.
After medical school, John was commissioned as a First Lieutenant (physicians are never commissioned as second lieutenants) and did his internship at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. Two weeks before he finished his internship the Korean War began and the army sent him in August of 1950 to the Far East, where he first served as chief of medicine at the 8041st Station Hospital at Sasebo, Japan and then in the Department of Orthopedics at the Tokyo army hospital. In July of 1951 he was assigned to Korea, where he commanded the 618th Medical Clearing Company which handled all evacuations from the First Corps by rail and the Ninth and Tenth Corps by air. He also served as liaison officer to the Italian Red Cross hospital there.
Dr. Moffitt, who held the rank of captain in the Army Medical Corps, returned to the United States on April 29, 1952.
From there he was sent on to Korea, where he commanded a medical company near the front lines.
After returning from Korea, he did his residency in OB/Gyn at the Pottsville Hospital in Pennsylvania. Eventually he was in general practice in Port Carbon, PA in Centre Hall, PA. He then had the opportunity to take over a general practice in State College, PA from 1953-1958. In 1958, John joined the Veterans Administration as a physician. He was first stationed at Minot, ND for a year. He then did a 3-year residency in Radiology at Hines Medical Center in Chicago, IL. He then went to the Martinsburg, WV VA Medical Center where he spent the rest of his career as a radiologist and then Chief of Outpatient Services, before taking a medical disability in the early 1970s.
He played basketball and soccer as a youth. While at Penn State, he was invited to join the Penn State soccer team but he declined as he didn't know how long he would be able to attend Penn State due to the war.
He was involved in amateur theatrical productions from high school until when he and his family moved to Martinsburg, WV. He even acted in professional summer stock while in high school during one summer.
John was a devoted duplicate bridge player. He was also an avid reader and purchased around 10-20 books a week.
Around 1969, the family was in the back yard of the house next to the VA, when a plane flew over prompting John to suggest to his daughter Lynne that if she wanted he would pay for her to undertake flying lessons. She challenged him knowing he had always wanted to be a pilot that if there was enough money for flying lessons he should be the one to take them. And he did. He flew for several years before his health problems grounded him. He truly enjoyed flying and fulfilling a lifelong dream.
He died on August 24, 1992 in Martinsburg, Berkeley Co., West Virginia.
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