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AUG. 8,
2003 | The Class of 1967 of the College of
Medicine at the University of Arkansas for
Medical Sciences (UAMS) holds the
distinction of having produced a pair of
two-star military officers.
Family practitioner John B. Cotton, M.D.,
of
McAlester
,
Okla.
, is a
retired rear admiral in the U.S. Naval
Reserve. Orthopaedic surgeon Walter J.
Giller Jr., M.D., of
El Dorado
,
Ark.
, was a
retired major general in the U.S. Air
Force Reserve who died in March.
Rear
Adm. Cotton was commissioned through the
Ensign 1915 Program into the U.S. Navy in
1966 while he was a medical student at
UAMS. His active duty assignments included
tours on the USS Rockbridge, the USS
Durham and at the Navy Ammunition Depot in
McAlester
,
Okla.
He also
completed a three-year family practice
residency in the Navy.
After
being released from active duty in 1971,
Dr. Cotton affiliated with the U.S. Naval
Reserve in
McAlester
until his
retirement from the military in 2002.
During this time, he held several
high-ranking positions – including
director of medicine and commanding
officer of Fleet Hospital 21 at Naval Air
Station Dallas; director of health
services for readiness, Command 11, in
Dallas; deputy surgeon for the commander
in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and for
the commander in chief of the U.S.
Atlantic Fleet; and commander of the Naval
Medical Force Korea.
Dr.
Cotton’s many career awards include the
U.S. Legion of Merit, the Meritorious
Service Medal, the U.S. Navy Unit
Commendation Medal, the U.S. National
Defense Service Medal with bronze star
device and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal
with hourglass device.
In his
civilian life, Dr. Cotton is a family
practitioner and the chief of staff at the
Warren Clinic - McAlester Division in
Oklahoma
. He has
also patented an invention called Park
Safe – a device that helps drivers park
safely by preventing them from hitting the
end of the garage, by insuring they do not
close the garage door on the car and by
allowing them to keep the car locked while
parking it.
Maj.
Gen. Giller died March 13 after a
distinguished medical and military career
spanning more than 30 years. He was
commissioned through the U.S. Air Force
Senior Medical Student Program in 1966
while he was attending the UAMS College of
Medicine. He served on active duty in the
Air Force from 1968 to 1976 and in the Air
Force Reserve from 1976 until his
retirement from the military in 1998.
During
his active duty, Dr. Giller served as a
squadron flight surgeon and the chief of
aerospace medicine at McConnell Air Force
Base in Kansas; completed a four-year
orthopaedic surgery residency at Wilford
Hall U.S.A.F. Medical Center at Lackland
Air Force Base in Texas; and served as a
hospital flight surgeon, the acting
hospital commander and the chief of
surgery at Barksdale Air Force Base in
Louisiana. He was selected Flight Surgeon
of the Year, Tactical Air Command, in
1969.
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