Gordon Seagrave

Gordon Stifler Seagrave born 18 Mar 1897 in Yangon, Myanmar; he died March 1965 in Redlands, CA. His parents were American Baptist missionaries Rev. Albert Ernest Seagrave and Alice Vinton. Seagrave followed their path and became a missionary and medical doctor in Burma. He was sometimes referred to by the title of his book, "Burma Surgeon", or as Gordon Surgeon Seagrave. His first language as a boy was Karen.[1][2]

He was married on 11 Sep 1920 to Marion Grace "Tiny" Morse. They had 4 children: Leslie Mae, b. 1921 in Baltimore, MD; Weston M.; John H.; and Sterling V. The latter is a journalist and author of "The Soong Dynasty" and "Lords of the Rim".

Seagrave graduated from Denison University in 1917 and Johns Hopkins University in 1921. He practiced medicine and surgery on the China border of Burma for nearly 20 years. He joined the US Army Medical Corps in 1942, worked with Gen. Joseph Stilwell and served with the Chinese New 6th Army through the Burma Campaign in the China-Burma-India Theater. He helped Stillwell's walking retreat into India in 1941.[3] He walked back in to work in 1945. He served as chief medical officer for the Shan States of Burma with the British military government from 1945-46.[4]

He was arrested and charged with treason by the newly-independent Burmese government in 1950.[5] He choose to stand trial rather than be perceived as fleeing.[6] He was sentenced in January 1951 to six years at hard labor, on charges that he wrote a letter that helped Karen rebels arrest a government commissioner, and that he gave medical help to the Karen rebels. The sentence was later reduced to six months, and in November 1951 the verdict was overturned by Burma's three-man Supreme Court and he was declared not guilty. He suffered dysentery and malaria in part from his time in jail.[7][8]

Seagrave wrote six books: "Waste Basket Surgery" 1930 (ISBN B00085KS2C); "Tales of a Waste Basket Surgeon" 1939/1942 (ISBN B000N2D88Q); "Burma Surgeon" 1943 (ISBN 9780103000664); "Adventure in Burma told in pictures" 1944 (ISBN B0007F3I5C); "Burma Surgeon Returns" 1946 (ISBN B0007DM8VY); and "My Hospital in the Hills" 1955 (ISBN B0007DN35Y); and he co-authored "The life of a Burma Surgeon" with Chester Bowles 1961 (ISBN B0007E0X1A).

External links

• Burma, Buddhism, Neutralism CIA Archives, 1957 film