Earl Rhine and Dwight Davis were both pre-med students at Southwest Texas State College and worked as surgical technicians at Brackenridge Hospital in early 1958 when they read about Dr. Tom Dooley's medical mission to Laos. They were interested in Dr. Dooley's mission to care for the sick and teach them to care for themselves. Rhine and Davis wrote a letter to Dr. Dooley offering their services; however, they did not stop with the letter. They also located and called Dooley's mother, Agnes, in St. Louis, Missouri.

          Dooley was searching for his new team while on a lecture tour of America in early 1958. After every speech, people approached Dooley and offered to be on his team. Dooley would often talk with these volunteers over breakfast. Then he took notes on each person's experiences, abilities, and personalities. He received the letter from Rhine and Davis, who had talked with his mother, and she endorsed the men. Dooley sent Texan Peter Kessey, one of the men from his first crew in Laos, to interview Rhine and Davis. Kessey also endorsed them.

          In May 1958, Dooley was in Texas between lectures and interviewed Rhine and Davis. Dooley asked them to be his new crew. They were both twenty-six years old when they joined Dooley.