Morrell Atkins
ASN:14099557
Photo Gallery
B-Battery 319th Field Artillery 82nd Division, Camp Claiborne - May 1942
Corporal Morrell Atkins - Camp Claiborne - 1942
Corporal Morrell Atkins - Camp Claiborne - 1942
Photos courtesy of the William Kick family
STL Archive Records
CLINICAL ABSTRACT
Clinical History: Patient is a 31 year old Cpl. in the Airborne Field Artillery with 2-4/12 years service. Patient states that he has always been rather nervous in civilian life but not excessively so. He had no nervous breakdowns and never saw a physician because of his condition. During basic training, he had some difficulty in that glider basic training is much more difficult than ordinary training, but he states that he does not believe he had any more difficulty that his comrades. After going overseas, he was no more nervous than anyone else. He was in Africa, Sicily, and in severe battle combat in Italy. In September 1943 a shell exploded near him and he was knocked unconscious for about 1 hour. Following this, he was quite hazy for a 24 hour period and remembers little of what happened during that period. Memory of the events leading up to the incident is quite clear. He states that following the incident he was quite hazy for a long period of time. However, he volunteered to go back into combat and was allowed to do so. But he states that during this period he felt as though he was acting on instinct. Following this incident, his nervousness became quite severe. He developed anorexia, tremor, and aches and pains all over his body. Several times after that he was in severe shelling but was never unconscious again. The patient has had severe battle dreams. He was hospitalized for the first time on 18 Oct. 1943. While in the hospital, he was quite sensitive to noise. He was evacuated from Italy to Africa, and then to England and the zone of interior. On admission to the hospital here, he had symptoms of nervousness, severe headaches, and marked depression.
Morrell Atkins, 43, died June 26, 1956. God bless this hero