{"id":159498,"date":"2025-08-19T22:25:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T22:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/159498\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T22:25:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T22:25:10","slug":"uncovering-the-past-on-mare-island-times-herald-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/159498\/","title":{"rendered":"Uncovering the past on Mare Island \u2013 Times Herald Online"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thomas L. Snyder, a local Navy Veteran and retired M.D., has dedicated his retirement to researching the history of Mare Island\u2019s Naval Hospital. Now, everything he\u2019s learned is available to read in his recently released book.<\/p>\n

On back and forth trips to Washington, D.C., the recently retired Snyder used to spend hours pouring over old documents and records at the National Archives.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou walk into the space, you list the materials you want, and two hours later on carts come out these dusty old books and it\u2019s magical,\u201d says Snyder. \u201cIt\u2019s just magical.\u201d<\/p>\n

He used to return home after a day at the archives covered in dust from brown leather book bindings. In those documents, Snyder found information that helped piece together the history of Mare Island\u2019s Naval Hospital.<\/p>\n

That was back in 2003, and in the years since, Snyder has continued to return to the history of Mare Island.<\/p>\n

In 2024, he finished his work with the publication of his book, \u201cMare Island Naval Hospital: A History, 1864-1957,\u201d and on Aug. 23, he will give a free talk at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum. The book examines medical advancements made over time, the people who influenced those advancements, the hospital during wartime and much more.<\/p>\n

Although technically his research for his book began in retirement, Snyder has had a lifetime of experience with naval medicine as a retired Captain with the U.S. Navy Medical Corps and former doctor at Kaiser Permanente.<\/p>\n

In 1969, Snyder was in his fourth year of medical school. The United States was at its peak involvement in the Vietnam war and there was a 100 percent doctors draft, says Snyder. \u201cYou knew that when you graduated medical school, at some point you were going to go into the service,\u201d remembers Snyder.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.Dr. Thomas L. Snyder, a long-time Vallejo resident, recently wrote a history of Mare Island’s maritime medicine. he will give a talk on the book at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum on Aug. 23. (Courtesy of Thomas L. Snyder)<\/p>\n

The Navy had a program that helped pay your way through medical school, so Snyder signed up. After finishing school and a short internship, Snyder served as a medical officer aboard the USS Buchanan in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was in that for a medical officer?\u201d laughs Snyder. \u201cNot one darn thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually he ended up at Naval Auxiliary Landing Field in Monterey.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was paradise for a young fellow and a young wife with a kid on the way,\u201d says Snyder. \u201cThat\u2019s literally where we caught the California disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

After his time serving in the Navy, Snyder joined the reserves, where he stayed for 24 years while working as doctor at Kaiser Permanente-Vallejo.<\/p>\n

Despite his published book, Snyder never considered himself a writer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what compelled the writing was just the story that I was uncovering,\u201d he says. He learned about other scholars and doctors that had written their own tellings of the history of Mare Island. He learned about Mare Island as the Navy\u2019s premiere amputee center, as a place to care for Spanish Flu victims, and as so much more.<\/p>\n

However, Snyder wasn\u2019t singularly focused on his book over the course of his retirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work went on for 10 years and then stopped, and for almost 10 years the book lay fallow until my wife basically said to me, and this is a direct quote, \u2018If you don\u2019t finish this book before you die, I\u2019m going to kill you,\u201d\u2019 says Snyder. So, as a final push, he rented a workspace in downtown Vallejo to go to every day and work on the book, he says. He finished in 2024.<\/p>\n

With so much time and effort spent researching and writing the history, it would make sense for Snyder to want to shout it from the roof tops. In actuality, Snyder says he understands that the book probably isn\u2019t for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is very much a niche area,\u201d he says. Aside from human interest stories, books on medical history are \u201cbeyond the interest of the average citizen,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The book does include human interest aspects however, some of which he will discuss at his upcoming talk at the Naval and Historical Museum. \u201cThere were some sweet stories that came up, which I think make the book live,\u201d said Snyder.<\/p>\n

For over 20 years, Snyder has off and on been compiling and collecting information, from the stories of everyday people to medical advancements, years of dedication compiled in the pursuit of good stories and remembering history.<\/p>\n

Learn more about \u201cMare Island Naval Hospital: A History, 1864-1957\u201d and his free upcoming talk at vallejomuseum.net<\/p>\n

If You Go \u2026<\/p>\n