‘An ounce of prevention’ – Benjamin Franklin and private fire companies

by J Michael Waller / Serviam / February 2, 2009. Out-of-control wildfires out West show the severe limits on government’s ability to protect society from one of nature’s weapons of mass destruction. Federal and state officials waited for more than a half-million acres to burn last June and July before calling the National Guard for … Read more

Clara Barton and the American Red Cross

by J Michael Waller / Serviam / January 2, 2009. First Sergeant Roland Williston lay on a gurney in the 100-degree Virginia heat, with gangrene consuming the amputated stumps of his shattered left hand and leg. The 26-year-old barber from Holyoke, Mass., had been among the first volunteers to answer President Abraham Lincoln’s call to save the … Read more

Public diplomacy: ‘Medicine is the universal language’

by J Michael Waller / Serviam / September-October 2008 Serviam’s person of the year, Project HOPE President and CEO John P. Howe III, MD, champions the military’s new humanitarian partnerships with businesses and charities, and comments on the role of health NGOs in global stability operations. Serviam Editor J. Michael Waller interviewed Dr. Howe in September 2008. Download … Read more