.985 ozt Tom Dooley Silver Round

The item shown is a commemorative medal or round honoring Dr. Thomas A. Dooley III, a physician and humanitarian who co-founded the Medical International Cooperation Organization (MEDICO) in 1958. 

The image features an illustration of Dr. Dooley examining a child. 

Text on the item indicates it commemorates the year 1958. 

As a U.S. Navy physician, Dooley became famous in the 1950s for providing medical care to Vietnamese refugees during "Operation Passage to Freedom". He later resigned his commission and founded MEDICO to establish hospitals and clinics in less-developed nations, primarily in Southeast Asia (Laos and Vietnam).

Dooley authored several best-selling books about his experiences and was widely admired in the United States, once named the seventh most-admired man in a Gallup poll. President John F. Kennedy cited his work as an inspiration for the Peace Corps, and Dooley was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1961.

The image depicts the reverse side of a medal designed by Frank Gasparro, authorized by Congress in May 1961 to recognize Dooley's public service. It features an illustration of Dooley holding a child with others around him, with a portion of the globe in the background, symbolizing his international work.

Dr. Tom Dooley became famous as the "jungle doc-tor of Laos" during the 1950s. Born in 1927 in St. Louis, Missouri, Thomas Anthony Dooley III entered the University of Notre Dame in 1944 for pre-medical studies. After serving in the Navy as a medical corpsman, he completed his studies at Notre Dame and received his M.D. from the St. Louis University School of Medicine in 1953. The following year he re-joined the Navy. War had broken out in Vietnam and Dooley volunteered for duty aboard the U.S.S. Montague, a ship used to transport refugees fleeing from Communist North Vietnam to Saigon. He was later transferred to the port of Haiphong where for eight months he supervised camps housing 600,000 refugees. Dooley described his experiences in his book Deliver Us From Evil. In 1956 he resigned from the Navy to lead a private medical expedition in Laos, where the civilian volunteers established several village hospitals. In 1958 Dooley and Dr. Peter Comanduras founded the Medical International Cooperation Organization (MEDICO) to act as "physicians to the world." MEDICO, which in 1962 became a service of Care, Inc., was supported largely through funds from Dooley's books and lecture tours. After his death in 1961, Congress awarded Dooley a gold medal for his humanitarian work in southeast Asia.

The round is titled "FREEDOMS FOUNDATION AT VALLEY FORGE".

It features an image of George Washington kneeling in prayer.

The "Patriots Hall of Fame Silver Franklin Age of Change" refers to collectible sterling silver medals issued by the Franklin Mint.

Content: .985 oz troy of fine silver

Mint: Franklin Mint Hall of Fame Series

Weight: 33.15 g or 30.66 g fine silver

Diameter: 38.78 mm

Purity: 92.5%

No taxes on this purchase.