One very important factor that kept the Korean War death toll from mounting even higher was the technology and dedication of U.S. Army medical units. In a recent exhibit titled Blood, Sweat, and Saline: Combat Medicine in the Korean Conflict , the National Museum of Health and Medicine ( www.natmedmuse.afip.org ), in Washington, D.C., showed how military nurses, medics, and surgeons struggled to make the art of healing keep pace with neverending advances in the art of killing. Even after the war was over, their work continued to save lives: In Vietnam, helicopter medevacs and trauma care first developed in Korea helped hold the death rate down to 2.6 percent for wounded servicemen admitted to a medical facility. Today, civilians also benefit from the nowroutine transfer by helicopter of patients to specialized trauma and burn units.

The National Museum of Health and Medicine is a branch of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.