Editors Note: This letter from an Army Captain resident physician in our emergency department was first sent earlier this month to a retired special forces friend in Dallas in response to an email about “Saving Private Ryan,” his response has been forwarded around the globe, civilian and military alike, including some of the top leadership of the Army and Air Force.
Biography: Captain Stephen R. Ellison, M.D. is a resident physician specializing in Emergency Medicine in the joint Brooke Army Medical Center - Wilford Hall Medical Center Emergency Medicine Residency in San Antonio, TX. He is a native of San Marcos, TX and a graduate Jack C. Hays high school in Kyle, TX. He received his B.S. in Biology from Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. He then enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving in the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, GA. He was the Enlisted Honor Graduate of his Ranger School class and participated in the parachute assault of Torrorrijos/To en Airport, Panama during Operation: Just Cause. He attended medical school at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio on a U.S. Army scholarship and received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1995. His transitional internship was performed at Brooke Army Medical Center. He then served as the initial company commander and program director for the new Joint Special Operations Medical Training Center, Ft. Bragg, NC. He currently resides in San Antonio, Texas with his wife Marta and his two children.