History
The Society of Military Ophthalmologists (also known as SMO) was established in February 1972.
The first annual meeting was held on Monday, Sept 25, 1972, at the Baker Hotel (Lounge Room), Dallas, concurrently with the 1972 convention of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology (prior to the separate of the two academies as distinct organizations in 1979). Regular Service, Reserves, and Public Health ophthalmologists were in attendance.
The society secretary for the first meeting was Col (Ret) Lester Stein, MD, USA. Dr. Lester Stein was born on December 10, 1910. He graduated from the City College of New York in 1932 in Chemical Engineering and New York University Medical School in 1937. He served in the Army Medical Corps from 1941-1946, where he was a Battalion Surgeon with the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions throughout the European, African, and Middle Eastern Theaters of Operations. He received two Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star. He practiced ophthalmology and otolaryngology for 40 years in Steubenville, OH prior to his passing in 2000.
Order of St. Lucia
The creation of the Order of St. Lucia was approved by the SMO Board of Governors in October 2004.
The order is based in the tradition of military honor societies such as the of the Order of St. Barbara (artillery), the Order of St. George (armor), the Order of St. Maurice (infantry), and others. Similar to these older societies, it is named for and based on a patron saint with the “protector of...” symbology which is more of a social idea rather than religious.
The society’s name was chosen for St. Lucia (284-304), the patron saint for the blind, a Sicilian martyr who, by various accounts had her eyes plucked out because of her faith. She is often painted holding a platter containing her eyes. Probably not coincidentally, the Latin name Lucia shares a root (luc-) with the Latin word lux, for light. Somewhat ironically, or perhaps appropriately, her feast day is December 13, near the solstice with the fewest hours of daylight of the year.