(Norman Bethune seen here on far left)

Canada and China have Someone in Common
The population of China is 2.5 billion and world wide every 5th person is Chinese. The vast majority of these people, when asked 'who is the greatest Canadian that they have ever heard of', will most often reply with a smile, and say "Bethune". This great Canadian Doctor is revered as a Saint in China. Every grade four student in China learns about this man who gave his life on the long march with Mao. Norman Bethune was born in small town Ontario and went on to become a world renowned Medical Doctor who made field expedient surgical instruments from flint. He operated and amputated in the most primitive operating theatres. He eventually got blood poisoning and died rather than deprive the soldiers of their drugs. Because Dr. Bethune was politically left of center, he was labelled a Communist. Some of his thinking would have made him a strong Women' s Rights advocate today. Dr. Bethune believed that a woman was a man's equal and had a right to control her own body. Various methods of birth control were taught in his clinics at a time when birth control was illegal. Because of his advanced thinking and modern medical procedures, Dr. Bethune was forced to leave Canada and set up in the USA. He was considered a radical there as well.

The Spanish Civil War was a hideous and brutish battle between the Franco Fascists and the Republicans. It was also a training ground for Hitler's WW 2 Luftwaff Squadrons. Dr. Bethume volunteered to be a field Doctor for the Republicans. During his tour of duty, he developed an ingenious mobile blood transfusion system that saved hundreds of patients torn apart by bombs and shells. Two fellow doctors. were enemy spies, but Bethune's report was not believed and the spying continued. Dr. Bethune was in his surgery night and day tending the many volunteer soldiers from around the world as well as the civilian casualties. Earnest Hemingway was one of the volunteers and wrote "For Whom the Bells Toll." describing these horrible times.

Dr. Bethune developed a drinking problem due to the ugly conditions in Spain and was sent home. After getting his health, back he went to China where another revolutionary war was raging. The country was in turmoil as Japan had set out to subjugate China, Korea and Manchuria. If that was not bad enough, there was also death and destruction being sown by Chinese Warlords. Joining the Communists, led by Mao, Dr. Bethune became the major field Doctor on the 2000-mile long march, with almost no food, tents or medicine. Here he became a Chinese SAINT!

This is what Chairman Mao said when he honored this great Canadian Medical Doctor. A man to be remembered by more than a fifth of the world's population, but few Canadians remember this true Canadian humanitarian;

Dr. Norman Bethune's Eulogy, by Chairman Mao:


"IN MEMORY OF NORMAN BETHUNE"
December 21, 1939 Comrade Norman Bethune, [1] a member of the Communist Party of Canada, was around fifty when he was sent by the Communist Parties of Canada and the United States to China; he made light of traveling thousands of miles to help us in our War of Resistance Against Japan. He arrived in Yenan in the spring of last year, went to work in the Wutai Mountains, and to our great sorrow died a martyr at his post. What kind of spirit is this that makes a foreigner selflessly adopt the cause of the Chinese people's liberation as his own? It is the spirit of internationalism, the spirit of communism, from which every Chinese Communist must learn. Leninism teaches that the world revolution can only succeed if the proletariat of the capitalist countries supports the struggle for liberation of the colonial and semi-colonial peoples and if the proletariat of the colonies and semi-colonies supports that of the proletariat of the capitalist countries. [2] Comrade Bethune put this Leninist line into practice. We Chinese Communists must also follow this line in our practice. We must unite with the proletariat of all the capitalist countries, with the proletariat of Japan, Britain, the United States, Germany, Italy and all other capitalist countries, for this is the only way to overthrow imperialism, to liberate our nation and people and to liberate the other nations and peoples of the world. This is our internationalism, the internationalism with which we oppose both narrow nationalism and narrow patriotism. Comrade Bethune's spirit, his utter devotion to others without any thought of self, was shown in his great sense of responsibility in his work and his great warm-heartiness towards all comrades and the people. Every Communist must learn from him. There are not a few people who are irresponsible in their work, preferring the light and shirking the heavy, passing the burdensome tasks on to others and choosing the easy ones for them. At every turn they think of themselves before others. When they make some small contribution, they swell with pride and brag about it for fear that others will not know. They feel no warmth towards comrades and the people but are cold, indifferent and apathetic. In truth such people are not Communists, or at least cannot be counted as devoted Communists. No one who returned from the front failed to express admiration for Bethune whenever his name was mentioned, and none remained unmoved by his spirit. In the Shansi-Chahar-Hopei border area, no soldier or civilian was unmoved who had been treated by Dr. Bethune or had seen how he worked. Every Communist must learn this true communist spirit from Comrade Bethune. Comrade Bethune was a doctor, the art of healing was his profession and he was constantly perfecting his skill, which stood very high in the Eighth Route Army's medical service. His example is an excellent lesson for those people who wish to change their work the moment they see something different and for those who despise technical work as of no consequence or as promising no future. Comrade Bethune and I met only once. Afterwards he wrote me many letters. But I was busy, and I wrote him only one letter and do not even know if he ever received it. I am deeply grieved over his death. Now we are all commemorating him, which shows how profoundly his spirit inspires everyone. We must all learn the spirit of absolute selflessness from him. With this spirit everyone can be very useful to the people. A man's ability may be great or small, but if he has this spirit, he is already noble-minded and pure, a man of moral integrity and above vulgar interests, a man who is of value to the people. "

NOTES:
1. The distinguished surgeon Norman Bethune was a member of the Canadian Communist Party. In 1936 when the German and Italian fascist bandits invaded Spain, he went to the front and worked for the anti-fascist Spanish people. In order to help the Chinese people in their War of Resistance against Japan, he came to China at the head of a medical team and arrived in Yenan in the spring of 1938. Soon after he went to the Shansi-Chahar-Hopei border area. Imbued with ardent internationalism and the great communist spirit, he served the army and the people of the Liberated Areas for nearly two years. He contracted blood poisoning while operating on wounded soldiers and died in Tanghsien, Hopei, on November 12, 1939

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Book Source: Amazon.com has The Scalpel & the Sword: The Story of Doctor Norman Bethune



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