Thomas A. Dooley
Thomas A. Dooley was a prominent figure born in 1927 in St. Louis, Missouri, known for his medical humanitarian efforts in Southeast Asia during a tumultuous period marked by the spread of Communism. Despite facing academic challenges at St. Louis University Medical School, he served as a lieutenant at a navy medical college and later became involved in the Vietnam conflict as a translator for the United States. His experiences during this time led him to provide medical care to thousands of North Vietnamese refugees escaping Communist rule. Dooley authored several influential works, including "Deliver Us from Evil," which advocated for American intervention in Vietnam and highlighted the region's political instability.
In addition to his writing, he founded the organization Medico, which established hospitals in Asia, and he was recognized as a humanitarian, earning him the affectionate title Thanh Mo America, or Dr. America. However, after his untimely death at age thirty-four in 1961, his legacy faced scrutiny. Attempts to canonize him faltered, revealing complexities in his character and professional conduct. Critics questioned the quality of care at his hospitals and the motivations behind his humanitarian efforts. Despite the controversies surrounding his life and work, a charitable foundation was established in his honor, indicating a lasting impact on medical philanthropy.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Thomas A. Dooley
Physician
- Born: January 17, 1927
- Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri
- Died: 1961
- Place of death: New York, New York
Biography
Thomas A. Dooley was born in 1927 in St. Louis, Missouri, into an ardently Roman Catholic family. He was a poor student at St. Louis University Medical School, where he had to repeat his senior year, but he eventually gained admittance to a navy medical college as a lieutenant. In 1954, after the French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam, Dooley traveled to North Vietnam to work as a French translator for the United States. He traveled aboard a ship with two thousand North Vietnamese refugees who were trying to escape the Communists, and he provided many of the refugees with needed medical treatment for disease and malnutrition. He also wrote articles for American newspapers describing North Vietnam as a volatile threat to the United States and to America’s strong anti-Communist sentiments. His book, Deliver Us from Evil: The Story of Vietnam’s Flight to Freedom (1956), recounted his experiences in Vietnam and urged American involvement to prevent the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia. In his travels, he was named an honorary member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate order in Rome and nicknamed Thanh Mo America (Dr. America), a title that stuck with him.
While living in Southeast Asia, Dooley provided medical services in Vietnam and Laos. He chronicled his time in Laos in The Edge of Tomorrow (1958). Dooley also worked with Medico, an organization he founded that opened three hospitals in Asia during his lifetime. Dooley died in 1961 at the age of thirty-four.
Initially hailed as a saint and humanitarian, attempts were made to canonize Dooley, but they failed when it was revealed that he was wealthy, a poor student with even poorer discipline, and possibly a homosexual. Some critics also argued that Dooley was not a progressive doctor and his hospitals failed to provide first-rate medical care. Considered a sham by the medical establishment and thousands of Church followers, Dooley’s legacy as a humanitarian was severely tarnished after his death. However, a charitable medical foundation was created in his honor after the collapse of Medico.