WAR DEPARTMENT
OFFICE OF THE SURGEON GENERAL
WASHINGTON

May 14, 1918.

Honorable Thomas W. Bickett,
Governor of North Carolina,
Raleigh, North Carolina.

My dear Governor Bickett:

I am in receipt of your letter of May 7th concerning Dr. W. S. Rankin, in charge of the North Carolina State Department of Health, whom you state has made application for appointment in the Medical Reserve Corps, against which you enter an emphatic protest.

I regret to inform you that it does not appear that his application has been received in this office, but, should Dr. Rankin meet all the requirements necessary for appointment, it would be difficult for the Department to refuse him a commission. The Surgeon General does not desire to call into service in the Medical Reserve Corps physicians who cannot be spared without undue hardship from their civilian activities and it will, therefore, be necessary to appeal to Dr. Rankin before his application is received or he accepts a commission.

I am writing him to-day to consider fully his other obligations before assuming those for military service and I would suggest that you write him direct also.

His name does not appear in the Directory of the American Medical Association and I assume that he should be addressed in care of the North Carolina State Department of Health, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Very truly yours,

R. B. Miller,
Colonel, Medical Corps, N.A.,
For the Surgeon General, U.S.A.