The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man

White risked the stability of his career as a doctor by enlisting with the Army Reserves. While this created more uncertainty in his life, White knew that all of life is uncertain anyway; he decided to overcome his reluctance and do what he felt was the right thing. White, now technically a captain in the Air Force, moved to Salt Lake City where the military made him chief of anesthetics and the laboratory in their newly built hospital. A year after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, White was working hard at the Camp Kearns hospital, mainly treating young military men for everyday injuries like broken bones, cuts, pneumonia, and sexually transmitted infections. On weekends he was off work and skied in the nearby Wasatch Mountains.

White embraced this era’s rapid changes in medicine: penicillin and advances in anesthesiology. When the Army wanted to transfer him to Lincoln, Nebraska, to become the new head of anesthesiology there, he insisted on receiving more training in new methods, and excitedly completed a 90-day course at the Mayo Clinic. Von Drehle believes that this event captures how White was ready to transform uncertainty into opportunity: Rather than cling to his old methods, White embraced change and became a sought-after specialist.