James 'Red' Duke, Dr. James “Red” Duke Jr. had just begun his surgical training at Dallas Parkland Hospital in 1963 when one day in November, a high-profile victim came into the hospital.
It was President John F. Kennedy, who’d just been shot by Lee Harvey Oswald in their motorcade. Duke was with the hospital’s chief of surgical services when he walked into the room where Kennedy lay, mortally wounded, the Houston Chronicle recounted.
But his attention was quickly drawn away from the president. Another patient lay seriously wounded across the hall, and Red went in to see. There, he found another man, this one in a dark suit and bloodstained dress shirt, lying on a table. The young doctor, then 35, took the lead in his treatment, finding a gunshot wound, which he quickly treated before sending the patient off to the operating room. The victim — Texas Gov. John Connally — survived. James has been credited with saving his life.
“I don’t know when I finally realized it was the governor of Texas,” James recalled in 2013.
The governor thanked Dr. James “Red” Duke until his death in 1993, NBC News added. And now, the doctor who saved his life has passed on as well. At age 86, the doctor, who was famous not just for the role he played that fateful day in 1963, but also for his lengthy stint on TV, died Tuesday.
James died of natural causes at the same hospital where he was on staff — Memorial Hermann Hospital, said Dr. Richard Andrassy, surgery department chairman at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, the Associated Press added.
“He was with family … He was not in pain. He will be missed very much His larger than life personality was well-suited to television — the Chronicle recalled his “colorful, country-boy style,” bushy mustache, Texas twang, faded jeans, bolo ties, and cowboy hats.
“He called most everyone Bud or Babe and spoke in a vernacular known as Dukeisms.
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U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Houston called Dr. James “Red” Duke “John Wayne in scrubs.”
“Dr. Duke has the personality of an old-fashioned country doctor that makes house calls but knows people and medicine like no one I have ever met. (He) is somewhat of a phenomenon to foreigners (who don’t live in Texas) because of his simple, straight-shootin’ style. People are drawn to him because he has the rare ability to put a complicated subject into simple terms everyone can understand. But don’t let him fool you. He is a world-class surgeon trapped in a Texan’s body.”
Among Dr. Duke’s accomplishments: Starting Life Flight at Hermann Hospital, where he also served as the medical director of its trauma and emergency services department until recently. He also co-founded American Trauma Society and was one of George H.W. Bush’s picks for surgeon general.
Duke was born in Ennis but grew up in Hillsboro in central Texas. There, he picked cotton, dug ditches, and delivered newspapers. James initially earned a degree in divinity with the intention of becoming a preacher, but realized soon after that he was meant to be a doctor. And follow his death, the good doctor has received high praise from Hermann’s President Dan Wolterman.
“Red was a true pioneer in medicine for our community — a visionary in trauma care, a dedicated doctor, a superb educator, the larger-than-life figure that everyone knew. His personality was so contagious. You couldn’t help but like Red and want to engage him in conversation. He was everyone’s friend.”
It was President John F. Kennedy, who’d just been shot by Lee Harvey Oswald in their motorcade. Duke was with the hospital’s chief of surgical services when he walked into the room where Kennedy lay, mortally wounded, the Houston Chronicle recounted.
But his attention was quickly drawn away from the president. Another patient lay seriously wounded across the hall, and Red went in to see. There, he found another man, this one in a dark suit and bloodstained dress shirt, lying on a table. The young doctor, then 35, took the lead in his treatment, finding a gunshot wound, which he quickly treated before sending the patient off to the operating room. The victim — Texas Gov. John Connally — survived. James has been credited with saving his life.
“I don’t know when I finally realized it was the governor of Texas,” James recalled in 2013.
The governor thanked Dr. James “Red” Duke until his death in 1993, NBC News added. And now, the doctor who saved his life has passed on as well. At age 86, the doctor, who was famous not just for the role he played that fateful day in 1963, but also for his lengthy stint on TV, died Tuesday.
James died of natural causes at the same hospital where he was on staff — Memorial Hermann Hospital, said Dr. Richard Andrassy, surgery department chairman at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, the Associated Press added.
“He was with family … He was not in pain. He will be missed very much His larger than life personality was well-suited to television — the Chronicle recalled his “colorful, country-boy style,” bushy mustache, Texas twang, faded jeans, bolo ties, and cowboy hats.
“He called most everyone Bud or Babe and spoke in a vernacular known as Dukeisms.
”
U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Houston called Dr. James “Red” Duke “John Wayne in scrubs.”
“Dr. Duke has the personality of an old-fashioned country doctor that makes house calls but knows people and medicine like no one I have ever met. (He) is somewhat of a phenomenon to foreigners (who don’t live in Texas) because of his simple, straight-shootin’ style. People are drawn to him because he has the rare ability to put a complicated subject into simple terms everyone can understand. But don’t let him fool you. He is a world-class surgeon trapped in a Texan’s body.”
Among Dr. Duke’s accomplishments: Starting Life Flight at Hermann Hospital, where he also served as the medical director of its trauma and emergency services department until recently. He also co-founded American Trauma Society and was one of George H.W. Bush’s picks for surgeon general.
Duke was born in Ennis but grew up in Hillsboro in central Texas. There, he picked cotton, dug ditches, and delivered newspapers. James initially earned a degree in divinity with the intention of becoming a preacher, but realized soon after that he was meant to be a doctor. And follow his death, the good doctor has received high praise from Hermann’s President Dan Wolterman.
“Red was a true pioneer in medicine for our community — a visionary in trauma care, a dedicated doctor, a superb educator, the larger-than-life figure that everyone knew. His personality was so contagious. You couldn’t help but like Red and want to engage him in conversation. He was everyone’s friend.”
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