[3] Close enrolled in Harvard College in 1941, leaving the school two years later to marry and to become a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.
[3] Following his military service, he attended the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and he trained in surgery at Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan after receiving his medical degree.
He served President Mobutu Sese Seko as his personal physician, pilot, director of security, and was Surgeon General of the nation's army.
Medical research at the Mama Yemo Hospital was very important to the understanding of the HIV-AIDS disease, and changed the worldwide practice of always repeating C-Section deliveries.
The disease, which was characterized by severe sore throat, rash, abdominal pain, and bleeding from multiple sites, had killed 11 of the 17 medical staff at the hospital, forcing it to close.
After providing protective equipment for hospital workers, sterilizing medical supplies, and quarantining patients, the team was able to break the chain of transmission of the virus, with almost 90% of the 318 people infected left dead.