Adolph Richard Dasler – Captain, United States Navy

From a contemporary news report:

Adolph Richard Dasler, 64, a retired Navy Captain who spent more than 30 years studying the effects of heat and cold stresses on military troops, died of a cerebral hemorrhage Nov 16, 1997 at Bethesda Naval Hospital.

Captain Dasler, who lived in Kensington, served with the Navy's Medical Service Corps from 1961 until his retirement in 1992. Since then, he had been working as an environmental physiology consultant.

He was head of the Navy's Thermal Stress Section at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery from 1963 to 1986 and the Naval Medical Research Institute's Heat Stress Laboratory from 1973 to 1979. During his military career, he conducted numerous studies on the physiological causes of heat injury, how to treat it and how to prevent it.

His research found that soldiers should rely on food rather than salt tablets to restore nutrients lost during physical activity. In the 1970s, he developed a system for military bases to regulate exercising in hot weather.

In 1979, he served with the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey as special adviser to the president and secretary of the Navy.

His military decorations included the Legion of Merit, the Navy Meritorious Service Medal and the Navy Commendation Medal.

Dr. Dasler, who was born in Conklin, Mich., enlisted in the Navy in 1950 as a hospital corpsman. After serving in the Korean War, he graduated from Western Michigan University, where he also received master's degrees in physiology and public health. He received a PhD in physiology from Michigan State University, then received a commission in the Navy Medical Service Corps in 1961.

Survivors include his wife of 39 years, Louise E. Dasler of Kensington; three children, Daniel, of Boone, Colo., and Martin and Tina Dasler, both of Gaithersburg; his mother, Anita Dasler of Rockville; and a sister, Barbara Rydland of Bethesda.

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