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Author Ted Barris discusses his book, Rush to Danger, a telling of what medics experience in warfare.
Lost in the WWII story of the Battle of the Bulge, lay an account of sacrifice and survival that took historian Ted Barris nearly a lifetime to discover – the story of his own father.
Throughout the winter of 1945, sergeant medic Alex Barris waged a battle night and day to save lives in the middle of the bloodiest campaign the US Army faced during the liberation of Europe. But the author’s pursuit of his father’s story revealed an even greater challenge – learning what it was that motivates military medics, surgeons, nursing sisters, stretcher-bearers, orderlies, and ambulance drivers to disregard their own well-being to save the lives of others on the battlefield.
Rush to Danger: Medics in the Line of Fire led Ted Barris into fields of fire as diverse as the US Civil War battle at Fredericksburg, where the field ambulance was invented, and to war zones of Iraq, where 21st century flight surgeons attend wounded soldiers inside Black Hawk helicopters.
This event is funded in part by Veterans Affairs Canada.

About the Author
Not a soldier, but the soldier’s storyteller, not a veteran, but recognized by vets as keeper of the flame, Ted Barris has now published 20 non-fiction books, a dozen wartime histories. For 50 years, he has worked as a broadcaster in Canada and the US. He taught journalism at Toronto’s Centennial College for 18 years. His book The Great Escape won the 2014 Libris Award for Best Non-fiction Book of the Year. Dam Busters received the RCAF Association NORAD Trophy in 2018. Rush to Danger: Medics in the Line of Fire, was long-listed for the 2020 Charles Taylor Non-Fiction Prize. In 2022, Battle of the Atlantic was published, in 2024, Battle of Britain, and in October 2024, Ted was appointed Member of the Order of Canada.
About Cambridge Third Age Learning
Cambridge Third Age Learning (CTAL) is a movement that encourages learning and discovery experiences for those in the 'third age'. As part of our Connections 50+ suite of programming, CTAL provides free monthly lectures in our Queen's Square location. With lecturers and topics carefully selected by our CTAL Committee, a volunteer-led group of contemporaries, the series is designed to inspire new thinking and engage inquisitive minds.
Accessibility
If you require an accessibility accommodation for this program or event, please tell us how we can meet your needs as soon as possible so arrangements can be organized. If you require a sign language interpreter, please let us know at least two-weeks (10 working weekdays) before the program date.
If you are attending a registered program with a support person, please add your support worker as a guest when you sign up.
COST: Free
AGE GROUP: | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Special Events | Lectures + Talks |
TAGS: | Time of Remembrance | Older Adults | CTAL | Conversation | Author |
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