Y 64 MILI TA RY OFFIC ER JUNE 2012
YEARS AFTER HIS SERVICE AS A SEABEE DURING WORLD WAR II, which included tours in the blistering heat of Australia, New Guinea, and the Philippines, my father found himself fighting a more personal battle — one against skin cancer.
He was plagued by recurring actinic keratoses, basal-cell carcinomas, and squamous-cell carcinomas, all of which had to be surgically or cryo- genically removed, and when he was in his late 60s, he had a melanoma removed from his left shoulder. According to my father’s primary care physician at the VA medical cen-
The sun bears down on two Marine Corps units demonstrating “leap- frogging,” part of an outflanking move, in May 1950.
ter in Durham, N.C., the sun exposure my father received during his military service contributed to the skin can- cers he developed later in life. Today, skin cancer remains a seri- ous medical issue among our nation’s fighting forces and the civilian popu- lation. According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 2 million new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed each year, and the varied forms of the disease kill more than 10,000 Ameri- cans annually. Thankfully, science has added some exciting new weap- ons to the diagnostic and treatment arsenals used to combat this growing health concern.
Skin cancer 101 The three most common forms of skin cancer are basal-cell carcinoma, squamous-cell carcinoma, and mela- noma, reports Dr. Madeleine Duvic, a professor of internal medicine and dermatology and deputy chair of the Department of Dermatology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Basal-cell carcinoma, which com- monly occurs on the head and neck, is relatively benign in that it does not
PHOTO: SGT. JOHN BABYAK JR., USMC
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88