Dr. Tommy Dooley, Health Hero of Laos
Controversial Catholic American Homosexual Hero of the Vietnam Era
Oct 23, 2009
Tommy Dooley entered United States Naval service while attending undergraduate courses at the College of Notre Dame. After receiving a Doctorate in Medicine from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine, he entered active duty.
Pre-Vietnam War & the CIA
Lieutenant Colonel Edward Lansdale of the Saigon CIA unit recruited Dooley while he assigned to the medical detail of Vietnamese refugee camps. Dooley’s anti-communist book, Deliver Us from Evil, was a propaganda tool used to support United States intervention in the region. It was while on a promotional book tour in the U.S. that Dooley was investigated for homosexual activities leading to his resignation from the Navy in 1956.
Sponsored by the International Rescue Committee, Dooley founded the Medical International Cooperation Organization building a series of medical facilities in Laos. For his humanitarian efforts he held the esteem of a nation as well as the Catholic Church, capturing the heart of the American public with his writings on this hitherto mysterious region of Indochina.
Although living controversially during a time of little tolerance for homosexuality by his government or his faith: since the Freedom of Information Act has opened the records of his conduct, investigations of this American hero’s work and lifestyle continue the controversy.
Issues of Conduct
In “Tom Dooley’s Honorable Discharge” by Randy Shilts, excerpted from his book Conduct Unbecoming: Lesbians and Gays in the U.S. Military, the portrait of a misused hero on his deathbed surrounded by important power players is laid bare. Invoked in this portrait is the ghost of America’s most cherished political figure, John F. Kennedy, citing Dooley’s work as the “inspiration” for its treasured ambassadorial program, the Peace Corps.
Accentuating the degree of maltreatment Dooley received from the U.S. Navy, Shilts suggests that the weakened and semi-conscious Dooley was probably not aware that the Surgeon General of the Navy had come to his bedside to bestow a belated honorable discharge upon him.
James T. Fisher’s Deliver Us From Dooley provides a broad look at the life and choices made by this American icon. Citing naval intelligence on Dooley that led to his “forced resignation” in March of 1956, Fisher specifies incidents in the gay social scene as well as public appearances as a naval celebrity that may have contributed to the U.S. Navy’s interest in discharging him.
Perhaps the most psychologically interesting detail brought forward in Fisher’s work is that “Dooley bluntly dismissed the Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexuality as simply wrong.” It is insinuated that Dooley’s “sex appeal, with his wild, undisciplined streak and his sparkling presence” hid his true character. Fisher makes clear that Dooley was not a simple character and that many facets of the man may have made him useful but very difficult to manage.
Faith and Bravery
In 1961 Dooley was posthumously awarded the United States Congress Gold Medal for the “gallant and unselfish public service rendered … in serving the medical needs of the people of Laos.” On the Congressional Gold Medal web page it provides information on the failed canonization attempt as well as the CIA investigation released by the Freedom of Information Act.
The question of Dooley’s involvement with espionage is answered along with the controversy. The article manages to maintain a high regard for the acts and purpose(s) for which this Gold Medal was awarded.
An article in The Daily Catholic that was available for viewing until recently, has now been replaced with a statement by editor, Michael Caine, regarding their organization’s “disavow[al].” Published in August 1999, their Top 100 Catholics of the Twentieth Century ranked Dooley at 88th. The article referred to Dooley as a victim of a system that used his bravery and intelligence to their own ends.
Its author declared that statements regarding Dooley’s role in the initiation of the Vietnam War a well as indications of his homosexuality were “slanderous” and disputed Dooley’s involvement with espionage. No mention of the failed canonization attempt or the 500 boxes of CIA documents on Dooley appeared in this article.
The relatively recent dates of two of these articles indicate clearly that Dooley remains marked for continued controversy. One thing is clear; he lived life on his own terms as best he could, given the social parameters of the age. The article on his Congressional Gold Medal relates that aspect of his life. But then, he didn’t have to be a saint to be the “bravest of the brave.”
Sources
Fisher, James. Dr. America: The Lives of Tomas A. Dooley, 1927 – 1961. Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 1998.
Fisher, James. “Deliver Us From Dooley.” 1997. In Perspectives: a Case Study for Readers and Writers. Ed. Joanna Gibson. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 2002.
Shilts, Randy. Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the U.S. Military. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2005.
Shilts, Randy. “Tom Dooley’s Honorable Discharge” 1993. In Perspectives: a Case Study for Readers and Writers. Ed. Joanna Gibson. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 2002.
Sullivan, James, Rev. of Dr. American: The Lives of Thomas A. Dooley, 1927 – 1961 au. Fisher, James T. Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients. 1996-2004
Unknown, Author. “ 88. Dr. Tom Dooley.” Daily Catholic vol. 10, no.149 (1999): sections one and two. 10 August, 1999
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