by Nick Gier, Professor Emeritus, University of Idaho
In October 2024 Cheryl and I flew to the East Coast for a family reunion. Cheryl’s mother was the oldest of 10 children, and there are now four surviving uncles (88, 98, 99, and 101 years-old) and 26 cousins. Going over family pictures, those present were able to identify 40+ grandchildren.
The seven uncles pursued careers in the ministry, finance, medicine, dentistry, building churches and nursing homes, agriculture, the food preparation industry, and general construction. Cheryl’s mother and two aunts are now deceased, but Cheryl’s mom was a registered nurse, and one aunt became a teacher and the other a businesswoman.
The Damazo family were Portuguese immigrants from the Azore Islands, and they struggled but thrived in New Bedford, Massachusetts where they found themselves socially situated between Irish and the Blacks. They were enterprising and resilient, and as teenagers, three brothers—starting with five-gallon cans—built a successful heating oil delivery business.
The Damazo Brothers’ War Experience
As Seventh-day Adventists the men, other than two who received deferments, gladly enlisted in the army during World War II. Five became non-combatant conscientious objectors, or “cooperators,” as they preferred to be called. Cheryl’s father, also an Adventist, served as a medic in England and the Aleutian Islands at the end of the war.
When Uncle Dave arrived for basic training, he refused, stating his religious beliefs, to take the rifle that was issued to him. For two weeks he was confined to barracks while a court martial hearing was scheduled for him. Fortunately for him he was told to report for training as a medic instead.
When he arrived in Europe, Uncle Dave was assigned to the 63rd Infantry Division, which was positioned on the southern flank of the Battle of the Bulge. On February 6, 1945, Uncle Dave and his comrades were subjected to intense artillery and machine gun fire, and he attended to as many of the wounded as he could. Eventually, his company made an advance across the line where they found 30-40 dead German soldiers. One of them appeared to be still alive and Uncle Dave crawled to assist him, but he was quickly dissuaded by renewed gunfire. Later that day Uncle Dave stepped on a landmine, and after an arduous evacuation and emergency operations, he was sent home to recover. To this day he has always had to wear a specialty shoe on his left foot.
Uncle Paul did not have to experience battle, but he kept thousands of troops well fed. When he reported for basic training at Camp Berkley in Abilene, Texas, his commanding officer had a surprise for him. He told Uncle Paul that “I’m short one cook. We’ve checked all 200 service records and you’re the only one with cooking experience. I would like to make you an offer. If you cook for me, you have every other day off and I’ll give you a Class A pass.”
Uncle Paul served on many troop ships, and, on his first trip, at the age of eighteen, he was responsible for the night shift when he and his crew baked for 3,000 troops. During his service, he had five promotions culminating in master sergeant.
In between assignments most of Uncle Paul’s fellow GIs played sports and spent the evenings out on the town. He worked odd jobs instead (one involved 12-hour night shifts) and by the end of the war he had a nice nest egg for marriage to his sweetheart Norene back home. His military service led him to a distinguished career in the food services of the Adventist Church.
Uncle Frank received an exemption during World War II as he attended medical school at Loma Linda University. In May of 1951 he was drafted into the U.S. Army Medical Corps as a first lieutenant. After basic training in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, he was shipped to Korea for one year where he treated Korean and Chinese prisoners of war. He was then transferred to Osaka, Japan, where he treated American soldiers injured in the war.
In October of 1952, Uncle Ray reported for basic training at Camp Picket in Virginia. After a four-month stint at the Meat and Dairy Hygiene Inspection, he spent the balance of his two-year military term inspecting meat and dairy products in Baltimore, Maryland. After his service he received a B.S. in Zoology and Dentistry and finished his dental training at Howard University.
Uncle Ray and his wife Gail decided that they would offer dental services to the indigenous peoples of Southern Africa. They converted a Land Rover into a mobile dental clinic, and, on one trip alone, they travelled 18,000 kilometers over the rough roads of Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and South Africa. In 2009, they donated the mobile unit to the Kenyan government and, the next year, they established Maasai Dental Clinic where Kenyan dental assistants continued their great work. In 2010, Uncle Ray was chosen Washington State Dentist of the Year, and in 2014, he received the national American Dental Association Humanitarian Award.
Uncle Milton, the youngest of the brothers, was inducted into the Army in 1959, and he trained as a medic at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. After eight weeks he was transferred to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. His most memorable patient was a young girl whom Jackie Kennedy brought from Greece for heart surgery. On two occasions he had the opportunity to shake hands and speak with then President Eisenhower.
Formation of the “Whitecoat” Unit
In 1954, the U.S. faced the potential threat of the Soviet Union’s use of biological weapons. The army research units had identified dozens of viruses and chemical agents, and they had already done tests on animal subjects. They realized that human testing was also necessary.
The army was not satisfied, as one account reported, with its “pool of research subjects—civilians, prisoners, and unhappy draftees.” Some of the enlisted men participated in a sit-down strike because of concerns about the experiments.
Army officials then contacted the headquarters of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and it was agreed that the nation’s goals and Adventist principles of “service to God, country, humanity, disease prevention, and health preservation” were consonant. Adventists abstain from tobacco, alcohol, and drugs and their vegetarian diets made them perfect controls against non-Adventist volunteers.
Biodefense Testing of Adventist Volunteers
Of the thousands of Adventists drafted for the Korean and Vietnam Wars and 2,300 volunteered for the biodefense tests. Over a period of 19 years these brave men were involved in 153 projects to determine the safety of vaccines and antibiotics for the prevention and treatment of 10 deadly diseases.
These experiments now have the name “Operation Whitecoat” and according to the Whitecoat Foundation in Loma Linda, California, “a tremendous amount of knowledge was gained as a result of the testing . . . and it has saved the lives of millions of humans and animals throughout the world.” At Fort Detrick, Maryland the research group there “developed 13 new and substantially improved vaccines.”
From 1958-68 Whitecoat volunteers participated in tests to produce a vaccine for Rift Valley Fever. In 1978, there was an outbreak of this deadly disease in Egypt. This was the time that former President Jimmy Carter was trying to bring Egypt and Israel together at Camp David.
Egyptian officials believed that the Israelis were using Rift Valley Fever as a bioweapon. The Fort Detrick lab was able to produce enough vaccine to provide mass inoculations such that both sides felt that they were safe from the disease. The Whitecoat volunteers made a significant contribution to the success of the Camp David Accords.
Finally, Whitecoat volunteers participated in tests for the Apollo program. Working 5-6 days a week Adventist pilots were trained on Apollo capsule flight simulators until as one said: “We could do it in our sleep.” Then, after being injected with the Sand Fly Fever, they were taken to their posts—some with high fevers, some in wheelchairs—to determine whether they could still perform the necessary tasks. They all passed with flying colors.
Uncle Frank and the Whitecoat Foundation
Cheryl’s Uncle Frank resides in Frederick, Maryland and he is on the board of the Whitecoat Foundation. In a 2018 letter to Whitecoat veterans Dr. Frank reported that health surveys of 848 Adventist subjects concluded that although some became very ill (some with temperatures of 104 degrees) “no adverse impact on the overall health of Project Whitecoat volunteers could be conclusively attributed to their participation” in the biodefense tests.
In 2023, for his work with the Whitecoats and organizing annual ceremonies for them, Dr. Frank was awarded a medal from the Commander of U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.
Dr. Frank Damazo is very proud of his part in the production of a video “Operation Whitecoat” that can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAjchKYKRpc&t=24s. The Adventist Church is concerned about charges in the comment section that claim long-term health problems among the volunteers. The church will soon respond to this criticism.
Nick Gier taught religion and philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years. Email him at ngier006∂gmail.com.