On Christmas Day in 2008, Dr. John Pryor, a Binghamton University graduate, lost his life during his service as a trauma surgeon for the United States Army Reserve Medical Corps’ first Forward Surgical Team (FST).
To honor the lost medic, a memorial service was held in the Memorial Courtyard on campus on Saturday.
“Dr. Pryor was serving as a trauma surgeon in Iraq with the first Forward Surgical Team, and on Christmas Day he was killed by a mortar fire. A mortar struck near his quarters in Mosul, Iraq, where he was living,” Paul Meddaugh, chief of Harpur’s Ferry, said.
This tragic event transpired when Pryor, of Moorestown, N.J., was serving his second tour of duty as a combat medic for the U.S. Army Reserve.
“In attendance to the memorial, many of the Harpur’s Ferry membership will be present in uniform. Alumni and some campus faculty will also be attending,” Amy Beresheim, a Harpur’s Ferry public relations officer, said. “His family has also been invited, and so their attendance is expected. Harpur’s Ferry board of directors is invited to come as well.”
Bereheim said that according to collegiate EMS, Pryor was a regular lecturer at the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation (NCEMSF) conferences in the Broome County area and a lecturer at Trauma Teaching Day.
Todd Kesselman, Pryor’s roommate for his sophomore and junior years in College-in-the-Woods’ Seneca Hall, said Pryor led a busy, energetic and vibrant life at BU where he was a member of Harpur’s Ferry and started the Tau Kappa fraternity.
“He was always lively and some of his friends even said he was a party major,” Kesselman said. “He was indeed a people person. Even before his trip to Iraq, he learned Arabic so that he could communicate with the civilians and especially the children in Iraq.”
After receiving his undergraduate degree from BU in biochemistry in 1988, Pryor continued his education at University at Buffalo’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, where he learned general surgery. After medical school, Pryor furthered his education at the University of Pennsylvania, where he had his fellowship training in trauma surgery and critical care.
After 9/11, Pryor became a member of the U.S. Army Reserve Medical Corps, where he served two duty tours as the first FST trauma surgeon for the 344th Combat Support Hospital in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, in 2006 and 2008.
Pryor concentrated his work on the areas of thoracic trauma, vascular injury and disaster management. He also focused on the development of the acute care surgery model, appendicitis and pre-hospital trauma care.
Pryor was a major constituent of the Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS) editorial board.
In addition to the Binghamton family, Pryor, 42, left behind his wife Carmelo Calvo and three children of the ages 10, 8 and 4.