He graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1909, and began practicing medicine in Tillar, Arkansas. Between 1913 and 1927, he worked a dozen years as a missionary in a hospital in Wuchang, China.
During World War II, he was awarded the Navy Cross for saving 12 wounded American service men from likely capture by the Japanese at Java, in Indonesia.
All of the proceeds that he received from the movie "The Story of Dr. Wassell" (1944) were donated to a hospital for the deaf and blind in Little Rock, Arkansas.
His great grandfather, John Wassell, was appointed mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas.