Speaking with one of President John Kennedy’s personal physicians, the most memorable thing he said was, “ My best legacy will be what I did after retirement, then what I did during it.” As a graduate from a small town, Dr. Joseph Eckert has traveled around the world as a pilot and a doctor to the Kennedy family, in addition to saving hundreds of lives.
Growing up outside the small town of Gibbon, he graduated from Gibbon High School in the early 1950’s. He was raised as a Catholic which put a damper on his love life. “I almost got shot by Pastor Boettcher, (a former pastor of Immanuel Luth. Church) I guess he didn’t want me chasing his daughter much,” later adding that there was a path leading from his home farm north of the church, through the cornfield to the parsonage. Dr. Eckert has many memories of Growing up including watching the blacksmith work and seeing sparks fly as a boy of about eight years old. He began to reminisce with my uncle about cars and the very expensive Cris Craft boat that the auto dealer owned.
During his school years, Dr. Eckert was an outstanding football and track athlete. As a senior, he was named a member of the All-American football team as a running back. Also as a senior, at the state track meet he placed fifth while running the 440 yard dash. Another accomplishment Dr. Eckert was proud of was receiving the Eagle Scout badge. At the age of eight, he was the youngest person to receive that award. “I took a train out to Valley Forge where a crowd of 18,000 watched President Truman pin the badge on me,” Dr. Eckert stated. His days in Gibbon would prepare him for the life he was about to start.
To jump from a small town farmer to become a doctor to one of the most famous people of his time, may small steps have to be taken. After graduating from Gibbon, Dr. Eckert went to the University of Minnesota for pre-medical studies and later to the University of St. Thomas for his medical degree. On his time spent there, he said, “Father, 'Jumping Jim.'” Landon hated many songs, so when he came into the mess hall, we would all start singing the M-I-C-K-E-Y song.” He went to Brooke Army Medical Center for his internship. This hospital was, and currently is, the Army’s largest medical center. Upon receiving his degree to become a doctor, he joined the Air Force as a pilot and medic.
Dr. Eckert spent five years in the Air Force and participated in several fights overseas. No mention of where exactly, but someplace in the Mideast. “I was married to my plane. The best aircraft ever made. The F-105 Thunderchief.” He went on to say that the plane saved his life on several trips. With the controls half usable, he pulled the plane out of a nosedive with the whole tail on fire and smoke coming from the engine. No other stories of flying his plane were told.
During his school years, Dr. Eckert was an outstanding football and track athlete. As a senior, he was named a member of the All-American football team as a running back. Also as a senior, at the state track meet he placed fifth while running the 440 yard dash. Another accomplishment Dr. Eckert was proud of was receiving the Eagle Scout badge. At the age of eight, he was the youngest person to receive that award. “I took a train out to Valley Forge where a crowd of 18,000 watched President Truman pin the badge on me,” Dr. Eckert stated. His days in Gibbon would prepare him for the life he was about to start.
To jump from a small town farmer to become a doctor to one of the most famous people of his time, may small steps have to be taken. After graduating from Gibbon, Dr. Eckert went to the University of Minnesota for pre-medical studies and later to the University of St. Thomas for his medical degree. On his time spent there, he said, “Father, 'Jumping Jim.'” Landon hated many songs, so when he came into the mess hall, we would all start singing the M-I-C-K-E-Y song.” He went to Brooke Army Medical Center for his internship. This hospital was, and currently is, the Army’s largest medical center. Upon receiving his degree to become a doctor, he joined the Air Force as a pilot and medic.
Dr. Eckert spent five years in the Air Force and participated in several fights overseas. No mention of where exactly, but someplace in the Mideast. “I was married to my plane. The best aircraft ever made. The F-105 Thunderchief.” He went on to say that the plane saved his life on several trips. With the controls half usable, he pulled the plane out of a nosedive with the whole tail on fire and smoke coming from the engine. No other stories of flying his plane were told.
After his service, Dr. Eckert moved back to Gibbon. Later, he was one out of 225 applicants for President Kennedy’s physician. “Thirteen men in dark suits walked through town asking about Joseph Eckert’s character. Never in Gibbon’s history have more black suits come through town,” Dr. Eckert said. He moved to Washington D.C., where he always spent exactly seventeen minutes away from the plane Air Force One. As a result of his rank, he was allowed to see several pieces of information under the label, “For Your Eyes Only.” As the presidential physician, Dr. Eckert accompanied the Kennedy family around the world. In one example he shared, he flew to Libya and spent time with the King and Queen. They both had problems with their back and arm. “Nothing was wrong with either of them, but I can claim to have healed the King and Queen of Libya,” Dr. Eckert boasted.
After his retirement as presidential physician, Dr. Eckert moved to Mankato where he began counseling mothers considering abortion. At first, he was known as the doc-with-a-box because all his supplies was carried around in his large black box. He later set up his first clinic in the downtown Mankato Mall providing twenty-five ultrasounds a day. During his career of over twenty-two years, he performed over 20,000 ultrasounds. Recently, he was in KFC and a young boy wrapped his arms around his legs. When looking around for the the boy’s parents, a young lady came over to him and and said, “If it wasn’t for you, Billy wouldn't be here today.” He does not remember helping her, but will always remember her gratitude for helping keep her son alive. Ultrasounds, to him, is God’s way of getting even with abortion.
Towards the end of the interview, Dr. Eckert put down his book, folded his hands and looked at me. “So, what are your goals in life?” I had no way of answering, as he told me that next time I talked to him, he would teach me about brain surgery and ultrasounds. This man, who I’ve never met before, suddenly decided in the space of two hours that I could be like him. As high schoolers looking for careers, think about Dr. Eckert’s life. From a small town target for a pastor, to following the president’s family, to saving hundreds or thousands of lives, his life changed. And so will all of ours.
Author’s note: While speaking with Dr. Joseph Eckert, he added that his stories about growing up in Gibbon may or may not be completely true.
