Vietnam veteran Barclay Shepard explains his service as Navy surgeon
Retired Dr. Barclay Shepard was the featured speaker at Southport Memorial Library’s Veterans Day ceremony. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
The following veterans attended the Nov. 11 ceremony at Southport Memorial Library. Sitting: from left, Jim Singer, Barclay Shepard, Bob Eaton, John Druce and Bob Hanley. Standing, left to right: Rob Cronk, Glenn Scott, Craig Tukey, Art Richardson, Russell Jones, Russ Jackson, Larry Crane, Kit Sherrill, Charles Niemanski, Bud Hawley, Mike Ciccarelli, Tom Lally, Tom Blake, Tim Hanley, Skip Williams, Jay Pinkham, York Fischer and Barry Sherman. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Retired Dr. Barclay Shepard was the featured speaker at Southport Memorial Library’s Veterans Day ceremony. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
The following veterans attended the Nov. 11 ceremony at Southport Memorial Library. Sitting: from left, Jim Singer, Barclay Shepard, Bob Eaton, John Druce and Bob Hanley. Standing, left to right: Rob Cronk, Glenn Scott, Craig Tukey, Art Richardson, Russell Jones, Russ Jackson, Larry Crane, Kit Sherrill, Charles Niemanski, Bud Hawley, Mike Ciccarelli, Tom Lally, Tom Blake, Tim Hanley, Skip Williams, Jay Pinkham, York Fischer and Barry Sherman. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Dr. Barclay Shepard spoke about his extensive career as a Navy surgeon during the Veterans Day observance at Southport Memorial Library. The Southport Library Aides-sponsored event honored all those who served in military service.
Shepard was born in Boothbay Harbor, but he was raised in New Jersey. In 1944, he graduated from Maine Maritime Academy. Shepard sailed in the Merchant Marine on American Export Ships for several years. During a trip to see his parents in Turkey, Shepard decided to change his career path to education. He graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick in 1950. After a period of teaching, he decided upon another career change.
Shepard wanted to follow his family’s tradition of medical service, so he earned an entrance to Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. After graduating from medical school, Shepard spent his internship and surgery training at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Then he was transferred to the Naval hospital in Beaufort, South Carolina. Another two years were spent at the U.S. Naval Hospital in St. Albans, New York. As a general surgeon, Shepard decided to specialize in chest surgery and he became certified to practice thoracic surgery. In 1967, he volunteered for Vietnam duty and was assigned to the USS Repose, one of the Navy’s two hospital ships in the Da Nang and DMZ areas. This assignment lasted a year.
Shepard returned to the states and became chief of thoracic surgery at St. Albans Naval Hospital for two years, ending with another stint at Bethesda, Maryland. His next career assignment was to work in a division of the Navy Surgeon General’s Office, where he was placed in charge of future designs and construction of medical facilities. In 1978, he retired from the Navy but continued to work with the Central Office of the Veterans Administration. His work dealt with initiating a program for Agent Orange. Finally, his work with computerized medical records brought him to retirement in August 1991. He remains active in the community as a regular volunteer for many organizations.
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