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Duke, known for
his Texas twang and thick mustache, was one of the best-known
surgeons in the state who brought changes to emergency medicine
that influenced the field globally, said the University of Texas
Health Science Center at Houston, where Duke had worked.
"Dr Duke was a true pioneer – a talented and tireless surgeon, a
dedicated and inspiring educator, and a friend and mentor to
everyone he met," said Giuseppe Colasurdo, president of UTHealth
and dean of UTHealth Medical School.
He earned his medical degree in 1960 at the University of Texas
Southwestern Medical School in Dallas and was one of the doctors
working at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas the day Kennedy
was shot on Nov. 22, 1963.
When he arrived in the trauma room, he saw physicians working on
Kennedy and he feared for the worst after seeing his wounds, he
told media.
He was then asked to attend to a man shot in the attack, who was
in the car with Kennedy. It was then Texas Governor John
Connally, who survived.
In 1970, Duke moved to Afghanistan as a visiting professor and
chairman of surgery at Nangarhar University School of Medicine.
About two years later, he was back in Texas to work as a
surgeon, UTHealth said.
He was also the host of a nationally syndicated TV show called
"Texas Health Reports" where he gave down-home advice on topics
ranging from cancer to the common cold.
Over the past few years, Duke worked with the U.S. military to
improve battlefield medical techniques, it said.
(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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