Written by Meiling Yan

Here I present an amazing story of William Winston Pettus and his wife Maude Miller Pettus, whose remarkable contribution to China makes the name of the Pettus family even more respected both in China and in the U.S.A.

The Tragic Death of Winston

William Winston Pettus (1912-1945), son of William Bacon Pettus and Sarah DeForest Pettus, dedicated his young life to the cause of Yale-China Association, to China, and to world peace.

On November 18, 1945, Winston's little L-5 plane crashed on a lonely peak in a sudden heavy fog while he was flying over the most treacherous mountainous area in Guizhou Province, China.

As a doctor, he had managed to get the plane with the plan that severe or special cases might be sent up to the Central Yale Hospital in Changsha.  The plan proved to be an ideal solution to the bad or even none-existed roads in the country.

The people who knew him were all proud because he did good as long as he could, by all the means, in all the ways and places, at all the times, and to all the people.  He saved Chinese people at wartime and after the war.  To them, his 33 years of life were meaningful and remarkable.

Winston was, is, and will always be remembered as a hero who came to wartime China with his young wife Maude through one of the most difficult times in Chinese history.

Colorful School Years of Young Winston

Born on February 25 in 1912 in Shanghai, Winston grew up in Beijing and attended Peking American School.  This unique school gave him both the academic preparation for college and the rare opportunities to make friends with people of diverse nationalities.

Winston was outstanding in many fields.  He was a great scout enthusiast and was awarded 33 merit badges.  The scouting experience developed his mechanical bent and his leadership experience in athletics prepared him a capable and calm negotiator in times of trouble and in war.  At 17, Winston attended Yale University.  He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa key (the nation’s oldest and largest academic honor society) and was honored by the Scientific Research Society.  Later in Yale Medical School, he won the honor of Alpha Omega Alpha, a distinction that would accompany a physician throughout his career.

Winston and Maude, Companions and Friends during War and Peace Time

In 1937, Winston graduated with honors from medical school and married the same day to Maude Miller, a nurse, who became his companion in life.  The newly-weds spent six months traveling around the world, first to his old home in Beijing, then hospitals in ten countries in Europe.  Returning to the United States, both started to work at the Presbyterian Hospital in New York.  Two years later, they joined the Yale-in-China in Changsha, Hunan Province.

In 1940, via Southeast Asia, they finally arrived in Changsha and set to work immediately because there were masses of sick and wounded civilians and soldiers.  When the Japanese military took over Changsha city, the United States was still a neutral country, hence American properties were safe.  The hospital compound became a major refugee camp.  In a letter to his parents, Winston wrote that there was a great shortage of doctors, nurses, and helpers.  Most of the hospital staff had left.  There were only two doctors and three nurses remained.  Winston and Maude were neutrals protecting Chinese people and the American properties.  When masses of refugees flocked into the hospital, Winston and Maude, with other remaining hospital staff, provided shelter for them.  At one time, the hospital compound was filled with nearly 8,000 refugees in a day.  Virtually every inch of the floor space was occupied.  One time when the enemy came to search the compound, Maude calmly led the officers to a room and served tea.  Strategically she prevented the Japanese military from discovering the operation room. At another time when a cart load of rice was taken away, Winston went and argued with the Japanese and finally convinced the officer the rice was too “inferior” for his soldiers.

After the Pearl Harbor Incident, United States’ properties were under attack.  But with the help of local officials, Winston managed to rent 16 boats and loaded all their medical equipments and boarded the hospital staff and their families. They sailed down the river and diverted into a branch and hid in silence.  After Japanese was defeated, Winston rode a bike back to the city, only to find that the hospital was burnt down.  Eventually Xiangya Hospital decided to retreat to remote inland areas.  After months of unbelievably difficult journey, they arrived in Chongqing. There, Xiangya Hospital joined with the better-equipped Central Hospital as its refuge place.  

While in Chongqing, Winston’s workload was exceedingly heavy.  Of the five surgeons, three were on leave, so he performed 70% of the surgery of all types including chest operations.  One time he conducted 8 operations during 30 hours. Apart from that, he had to search for blood supply for operation use. 

In 1943, Winston picked up a very rare liver problem and the family had to return to the United States for treatment.  During his recuperation time, he learned how to fly a plane with the hope to use air ambulances for emergent cases.  As soon as he was fully recovered, he left for China leaving behind his wife and their two little daughters.

Continuous Effort

After World War II ended, Winston and his colleagues underwent a very difficult period of restoration work.  He traveled to many areas and got to know many people.  He purchased a small L-5 military plane for his air hospital dream.  With his little plane, he began flying to different places of the neighboring provinces and provided emergent medical services.

After Winston’s death, his body was moved to Changsha and buried in the small graveyard of Xiangya Hospital.  He who saved so many Chinese people rested forever in his second homeland—China.

©2005 Pettus Archival Project, SES, CGU. All Rights Reserved