Franklin Delano Jones, M.D., and war psychiatry

Through a long career that spanned three wars and important changes in patterns of health care, Franklin Delano Jones (1935-2005) provided medical and psychiatric care to the most vulnerable members of our society, civilian as well as military. Recognizing that individuals tend to forget lessons learned in stressful situations, he compiled and codified the essential practices of wartime psychiatry into comprehensive and accessible texts. His neutrality, persistence, and sharp intellect stabilized and strengthened American military psychiatry in the post-Vietnam era. His culminating achievement, War Psychiatry, which is the codified clinical intelligence of several generations of military psychiatrists, is an essential foundation for clinical practice and for research. This article explores Jones'ss contributions, particularly the variations in the presentation of combat stress, the efficacy of the principles of forward treatment, and a comprehensive understanding of posttraumatic stress disorder.