Samuel Klauber, age 101, A Doctor with a Heart

The Boston Globe ran an obituary on Samuel Klauber yesterday, who died at age 101.   Certain clues to his longevity were his resourcefulness and having an adventurous life.   He ate peanuts stuffed in his pockets when he couldn’t get a meal when travelling.  Sounds like a low calorie diet person to me.  Dr. Klauber would treat poorer patients and, if need be, not charge them a traditional fee. Good deeds are a measure of success as well as long life.

The Globe gave vascular dementia as one cause of his death. I had to look that up.  This form of dementia is usually the result of stoke or a series of strokes.   The Globe ran a photo of what I presume to be Dr. Sam Klaber’s 519 Medical Detachment in a landing boat, either practicing or taking part in the D Day invasion during World War II.  Some are smiling, so perhaps it was practice.  Their helmets had a semi circular stripe in the front.   I presume the stripe  identified them as medical personnel to others. I hadn’t seen images of those stripes before.