Eugene Curnow (8 February 1925 – 9 April 2010[1]) was a veterinarian who pioneered the Mobile Pet Clinic concept in Portland, Oregon.
[2][3][4][5] He served as a medical corpsman with the Fourth Marine Division during World War II and survived the invasion and battle for Iwo Jima.
[8][9] He grew up in various towns in California, including a gold mining claim in the small settlement of Poverty Flat, population 12.
In February 1944, he was sent to Mare Island Navy Hospital at Imola, California, where he cared for returning combat veterans who were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
He was transferred in October 1944 to Astoria, Oregon, and was assigned to the USS Sanborn, APA 193 as a member of the ship's crew.
As he was deciding what to do next for a living, he said, "I recalled that during my years of hospital practice, I would receive at least five phone inquiries a week asking if any veterinarian in the Portland area made house calls," he stated in a 1975 interview.
It was equipped with a 110-volt auxiliary electrical generator, roof air-conditioning, thermostatically controlled propane heat, refrigerator, sink with hot and cold water, cooking range and oven, counter space, surgical and medical tables, bathroom with a shower, seating for four, and storage space for a well-stocked pharmacy, equipment, and supplies.
He wrote a 25-page "how-to" monograph and sold more than 6,000 copies by putting a small advertisement in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
[10] Dr. Curnow didn't talk about his war experiences with anyone for nearly 60 years, when he suddenly began experiencing violent nightmares.