Colonel David C Wherry was a professor of surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), Bethesda, Maryland. He was born on 18 December 1926, in Pawnee City, Nebraska, the son of Kenneth Spicer Wherry and Marjorie Wherry née Colwell. His father was an important political figure in the Truman and Eisenhower eras, a US senator and minority leader in the US Senate. He was responsible for creating adequate family housing for the military while in Congress, the so-called ‘Wherry housing’. David Wherry obtained his undergraduate education from Doane College, the US Naval Academy and George Washington University, where he obtained his BA degree in 1948 and his MD in 1952. He did a surgery internship at George Washington Hospital from 1952 to 1953 and his residency at the Mount Alto Veterans Administration Hospital in Washington DC from 1953 to 1954 and 1956 to 1959. His residency was interrupted for two years by a tour of duty in the US Air Force at the 7559th USAF Hospital in Burtonwood, England. He finished his residency and began a private practice in Washington DC, with a part-time appointment also at the VA Hospital, serving as assistant chief of surgery until 1962. He began early to climb the academic ladder, achieving a number of titles and appointments at a variety of hospitals, including George Washington University and Georgetown University. In 1975, he joined the US Air Force Reserves Medical Corps, assigned to Malcolm Grow Medical Center, Andrews Air Force Base, Washington DC. In 1985, he began a long and fruitful association with the newly-created Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. In 1989, he retired from private practice and began working full-time at USUHS. In 1991, he was promoted to full professor of surgery there. Along the way, he was also named as clinical professor of surgery at both George Washington and Georgetown universities. He also was a special lecturer at the University of Nottingham, England from 1986. Wherry also served as a consultant to various American military services, and belonged to a number of prestigious organisations, including the American College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He was particularly pleased to have been chosen as a fellow of the Royal College. Wherry had a keen eye for new surgical techniques. A good example was the advent of the colonoscope. He was excited to learn about that instrument, and was very early in training to use it, and then to teach others to use it. He bought his own scope, demonstrating how convinced he was that endoscopy was the future of surgery. He also learned very early about the use of laparoscopy and determined where he could best learn about the operation, took the course, and then set up his own courses and taught hundreds of surgeons the technique. Another new technology was ultrasound. Wherry again found the best teachers to learn about ultrasound, and then went around the world, teaching its advantages to a large number of students. Altogether, as of May 2006, Wherry had taught 219 courses to 3,602 students around the world. Wherry married Phyllis Mae Morehead in 1947. He later married a beautiful and talented woman from the Philippines, Azucena (‘Ceny’), and she introduced him to that country. He began to promote an exchange with the Filipino government and their medical leaders, to bring USUHS students to Manila to study and train in the Philippine General Hospital, usually for about a month each year. And eventually, USUHS began accepting students from the Philippines to come to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a month of training in the American system. USUHS also invited a number of medical doctors to go to Bethesda, and to train in their laboratories. Toward the end of his surgical career, Wherry was named as chairman of the admissions committee for the Uniformed Services University. This post, critical to the smooth functioning of the university, was led by him, smoothly, professionally and meaningfully. He relinquished his chair of that committee when he retired, on his 80th birthday. Wherry was a world traveller, having maintained an apartment in Manila for a number of years, and a home in Nottingham, where he often was seen with his English colleagues. He had close ties with surgeons from England, France, Finland, Germany, Korea and Japan. He was a consummate diplomat for the United States of America, wherever he went. David C Wherry passed away after a long and fruitful life on 7 March 2021, at age 94, in the Washington DC area. He was survived by his wife Ceny, by his son Kenneth D Wherry and two grandchildren. He was a true gentleman and conducted himself with poise and wisdom. He was a great mentor and teacher. It was a great privilege to have been by his side for many years.