108th General Hospital Unit
A brief history of the 108th Base Hospital
The 108th General Hospital unit was established on 15 August 1918 under the sponsorship of Mercy Hospital, one of Loyola's affiliated training hospitals. It was organized at Camp Greenleaf with training at Fort Snelling before transfer to Camp Upton on 31 October 1918. Upon arrival at Brest (France) on 9 November 1918, it was billeted at the Pontanezen Barracks before being sent to the Hospital Center at Mesves near Bulcy, Department of Nievre. The 108th had handled 2,210 patients by the time is was deactivated on 16 May 1919.
108th General Hosptial Coat of Arms
In July 1923 Base Hospital 108 was integrated into the 6th Service Command as an organized reserve unit. In 1932 it was reconstituted and consolidated with the 108th General Hospital, following the Army Base Hospital model developed during World War I. This organizational model stipulated that base hospitals be created from established hospitals, thus enabling the units to quickly mobilize and provide quality care for military personnel. It was considered the optimal practice because the physicians and nurses from established hospitals had similar training and experience working together.
In 1932 the unit was given an official Coat of Arms, one of the few units to have one. It was worn by all officers and enslisted personnel during World War II while in pre-deployment training in the United States.