Medical lessons learned during wars, along with perpetual advances in civilian
treatment, have fueled an ever-improving system of military medicine. During
the past 150 years of major conflicts—from the Civil War through the
recent war in Iraq—American military medicine in particular has evolved
from a pre-antiseptic, pre-antibiotic age when disease was the greatest killer,
drugs did more harm than good, and surgeries took place wherever possible, to a
state-of-the-art military healthcare system that boasts the highest survival
rate of any modern army's medical apparatus. Here, take a tour
through military medicine's history and see if you can interpret archival
photographs shot on and off the battlefield. To launch this interactive,
click on the image at left.—Lexi Krock
