On Sept. 19–21, the Frederick Seventh-day Adventist Church in Frederick, Md., will host the 35th anniversary/reunion of Operation Whitecoat. During the 1950s, hundreds of Seventh-day Adventist men, aged 18–26, were drafted into military service. They wanted to serve their country and cooperate with compulsory military service but still be obedient to the Scriptures, which as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian included Sabbath-keeping and noncombatancy. In late 1954, the U.S. Army Medical Unit (USAMU) and the Office of the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army met with officials of the Seventh-day Adventist Church with a highly unusual request. The two entities wanted to see if the Seventh-day Adventist Church would support an Army proposal to use Adventist draftees as volunteers for human trials of defensive vaccines and antibacterial medicines.
A subcommittee was formed, and within weeks a favorable endorsement was given and entitled "Statement of Attitude Regarding Volunteering for Medical Research" and was forwarded to the USAMU. The four-paragraph statement concluded that "any service rendered voluntarily by whomever in the useful necessary research into the cause and treatment of disabling disease is a legitimate and laudable contribution to the success of our nation and to the health and comfort of our fellowmen."
Thus Operation Whitecoat was born. Soon after, USAMU personnel began to interview draftees for Operation Whitecoat during the basic training at Fort Sam Houston; meetings were held that gave an overview of the research program along with a description of its benefits and risks. Seventh-day Adventist Church representatives were also on hand to describe its relationship with the Operation Whitecoat program. USAMU based selections of the draftees on overall general health and skills acquired in civilian life. Most who were chosen to participate had also completed one or more years of college and 27 percent had completed a bachelor's degree. Operation Whitecoat members were then assigned to Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, or to the Center Annex in Forest Glen, Md., as medical research volunteers. Their duties included medical technicians, medical corpsmen, clinical aides or animal caretakers.
During its 19-year-long existence, Operation Whitecoat members were tested with some of the world's most dangerous biological agents such as Queensland (Q) Fever, Tularemia, Sandfly Fever, Typhus Fever, Typhoid Fever, Rift Valley Fever, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Yellow Fever, Plague and Eastern, Western and Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis. The "Eight Ball," a huge, spherical chamber at Fort Detrick, was a chamber in which scientists would discharge bacteria or viruses.
Operation Whitecoat volunteers wore a breathing apparatus that allowed them to inhale the affected air. USAMU records maintain that although the volunteers were made seriously ill, none died during the studies nor was there documented permanent health damage.
Approximately 2,300 Seventh-day Adventist Army veterans served as Operation Whitecoat volunteers. Each year at the Frederick Seventh-day Adventist Church, fellow Operation Whitecoat members come together for a reunion/celebration of their service to their country and to their God. Many of the servicemen were active members of the Frederick Church during those years as Operation Whitecoat volunteers. The Frederick Church served as a church home for other members who were not from that area.
George Johnson Jr., associate director, Office of Communication, Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America
