Colonel David Huang on military life, practicing medicine, and making wine PERSONAL VERITAS: Harvard alumni reflect on life's twists and turns and the impact they hope to have on the world

After graduating from Harvard College, David Huang felt a pull in two directions - towards practicing medicine and making fine wines. After exploring his options, he pursued a medical degree and a career in the Air Force as a flight surgeon. Following being stationed in Northern California, and now after retirement as a Colonel from the military, David has re-discovered his love of viticulture. He and his wife planted a vineyard in Napa, CA, and David is now the co-owner of David Clinton Wines. As he and his business partner put it, "We created David Clinton Wine Cellars to pursue our mutual passions for making wine and building friendships. Our wines are made by two friends, for friends, to share with friends."
In this episode of PERSONAL VERITAS, Dr. David Huang and classmate Dr. Shauna Springer, a psychologist who works with the military, reflect on David's personal and professional developments over the past 25 years. 
 

BIOS

After his 1997 graduation with a Bachelor's in engineering sciences, David Huang joined the Air Force through the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences military medical school, and became a flight surgeon and psychiatrist. After four wartime deployments to the Middle East and commanding a medical squadron as a Colonel, he retired from the military with 24 years of service. He then moved into civilian medicine, joining Kaiser Permanente in Northern California as a psychiatrist and site department chief, mostly doing hospital consultations. Avocationally, he has pursued enology and viticulture studies, planting a small vineyard next to the forested home he and his wife built, and producing zinfandel wines under his David Clinton Wine Cellars label. He loves living in the Napa Valley with his wife Rina and teenage daughter Xochi.

Shauna ‘Doc’ Springer is a licensed psychologist, keynote speaker, award-winning podcast host, frequently requested media source, and one of the world's leading experts on psychological trauma, military transition, suicide prevention, and close relationships. A Harvard graduate who has become a trusted Doc to our nation’s military warfighters and first responders, she is the author of two best-selling books, WARRIOR and BEYOND THE MILITARY. In her next book, RELENTLESS COURAGE, she tackles the complexity of trauma within the law enforcement community. As Chief Psychologist for STELLA, an innovative healthcare organization with more than 50 clinics across the US and Australia, she advances a new model for treating psychological trauma that combines biological and psychological interventions.


CREDITS

Executive Producer/Interviewer: Dr. Shauna Springer
Technical Producer: Jen-Chun Chao
Music: Rachel Garlin 
Art: Kate Isenberg
  

SONG

Labors of Love - Rachel Garlin

Some days the clocks release their powers
Head down, you’re on the job for hours
Doesn’t cross your mind that it’s time to go
The night crew asks you why you’re staying
No one’s requiring it and no one’s paying
You sink into your groove and let the record flow

Giving care or making wine
Some work outranks the nickel and dime
Boundaries blur in the service of your purpose and drive
Late in the day, you’re sitting with a friend
Filling your glass and taking it in
Labors of love, over time

We went to work with a sense of duty
Came back with reverence for beauty
Somewhere beyond the promise of accolades
It was never about the abundant supplies
We didn’t have a Bandaid to save our lives
Sometimes holding a hand is the salve that saves
When you're

CHORUS

Labors of love, labors of love
Over time

How could it end in an ambulance
Despicable acts, callousness
The markings of Red Cross are never vague
There is no way to make amends
Just a moment of silence
Every now and then
To remember good women and men

CHORUS

Labors of love, over time
Labors of love, over time


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