Meet Dr. John Griffin ~ mastered Matterhorn and a myriad of other mountains!

I was a student at Hamilton College in Clinton New York 1955-1959. I studied French and Full pre med courses. The French Government offered me a full scholarship at The Sorbonne In Paris 1957-1958. In the summer of 1958 I returned my French Line ticket and bought a steerage ticket from Marseille and docked in seven Asian Ports to Tokyo, through the Northern Pacific to Seattle and flew back to Hamilton.

I finished senior year at Hamilton and was admitted to Harvard Medical School (1959-1963). I did research at St Georges Hospital in London, June to August 1962.

Most doctors in training were drafted during the Viet Nam War. I was drafted to the Air Force and was ordered to be surgeon in a USAF hospital in Peshawar, West Pakistan (near the Khyber Pass) for 25 months. On the night we arrived in Pakistan in a military jet, India invaded Pakistan. On arrival we dug foxholes outside of our Bachelor Officers Quarters and spent 10 nights being shaken by heavy bombing about 3 miles away as India tried to wipe out the Pakistani Air Force Headquarters.

While in Peshawar, I operated at the USAF base hospital and as a guest and surgeon at The Lady Reading Hospital. Surgical and Medical patients there were unbelievable in content and diseases such as Small Pox, Leprosy and Human Rabies.

In this part of Asia had good opportunity to hike in the Hindu Kush Mountains-Chitral Valley and also in the Tirich Mir Valley. I also hiked in Afghanistan near Bamian .

I was discharged from the USAF and returned to Atlanta. I entered practice with 4 other Plastic Surgeons until my retirement until age 78.

Many thanks to Max Gallimore for training me in the politics of running our new Atlanta Explorers Club so long ago and for naming me to the Flag and Honors Committee.

My appreciation to John Cantwell MD Fellow Emeritus for sharing greater adventures on a world wide basis including hikes-Mount Everest base camp, Goodwill Games in Moscow and in St. Petersburg , 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games Medical Leader ( I was a surgeon and head of a clinic).