John Walter Vincent Cordice, Jr. (June 16, 1919 – December 29, 2013) was an American doctor and surgeon who is most notable for operating on

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

to save his life after a 1958 assassination attempt.

Early life

Cordice was born on June 16, 1919 in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. He moved to New York in order to study at

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-United States Secretary of the Treasu ...

for undergrad and

New York University School of Medicine NYU Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, with the other being the Long Island School of ...

. His father, also a doctor, practiced at Lincoln Hospital in North Carolina. The elder Cordice was born in St. Vincent, West Indies and died in 1958.

Medical career

Cordice joined the Army in 1943 and served as the official physician for the

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the ...

. While in the Army, he spent a year in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where he assisted in that country's first

open heart surgery Cardiac surgery, or cardiovascular surgery, is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. It is often used to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (for example, with coronary artery bypass grafting); to corr ...

. Cordice worked at

Harlem Hospital Harlem Hospital Center, branded as NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, is a 272-bed, public teaching hospital affiliated with Columbia University. It is located at 506 Lenox Avenue in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City and was founded in 1887. The hosp ...

for forty years, rising to the position of chief of

thoracic surgery Cardiothoracic surgery is the field of medicine involved in surgical treatment of organs inside the thoracic cavity — generally treatment of conditions of the heart (heart disease), lungs (lung disease), and other pleural or mediastinal struc ...

. On September 20, 1958, Martin Luther King Jr. was attacked with a

paper knife The terms paper knife and letter opener are often used interchangeably to refer to a knife-like desktop tool. In truth, they are actually for different functions and were in use at different times. Paper knives are used for cutting open the pages ...

Izola Curry Izola Curry ( Ware; June 14, 1916 – March 7, 2015) was an African-American woman who attempted to assassinate the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. She stabbed King with a letter opener at a Harlem book signing on September 20, 1958, d ...

. Cordice, along with doctors Aubre Maynard, Farrow Allen and

Emil Naclerio Emil A. Naclerio (March 21, 1915 – October 14, 1985) was an American doctor and surgeon who is most notable for operating on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to save his life after a 1958 assassination attempt. Attempted assassination of MLK Izola ...

, were called in to operate. Cordice mapped out a strategy which successfully saved King's life. He was the subject of the book ''When Harlem Nearly Killed King: The 1958 Stabbing of Dr. Martin Luther King'', by Hugh Pearson.

Private life

Cordice resided in Harlem and later Queens. On December 29, 2013, he died of natural causes at the age of 95, in Iowa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordice, John W V 1919 births 2013 deaths People from Durham, North Carolina Physicians from New York (state) American surgeons