Dr. James “Red” Duke died Tuesday. He was 86.
Duke was a trauma surgeon who worked on then-Texas Gov. John Connally the day of the Kennedy assassination. He later went on to become a TV doctor whose syndicated segments aired for 15 years around the U.S.
Dr. Kenneth Mattox, chief of staff for Ben Taub Hospital, worked closely with Duke in the 1960s. While technically competitors, both shared a passion for creating what is now a world-renowned trauma center in Houston.
“We immediately recognized we needed each other,” Mattox said.
Mattox also remembered the day in 1963 when he and Duke were young docotrs at Parkland Hospital in Dallas when President John F. Kennedy was shot.
Then-Texas Gov. John Connnally was in the next room and had trouble breathing. He remembers exactly what Duke said to Connally.
“‘Governor, I’m going to have to put a chest tube in you. And he did and the governor said ‘Thanks, I needed that,'” Mattox said.
Duke lived his life by one set of principles, Mattox said.
“Tremendously moral, and dedicated to honesty, to integrity, to starting a job, finishing that job and doing it well,” Mattox said.