Character sketch
Motivations
Doc Daneeka's main motivation throughout is for his own welfare, if that be making money or protecting his own life. He generally forgets his moral duty as a physician except in the most extreme of circumstances.
Goals
Doc Daneeka's goal before he is drafted into the war is to make a successful business out of his medical practice based in New York. He lies to the drafting board about his health in an attempt to avoid the war and become well-off, as the competition is drafted instead.
Once he is drafted his main goal is to get through the war alive. He is a hypochondriac who never gets ill, and is looking to avoid anything that would increase the risk to his life. He sees unnecessary risks to include displeasing his superiors for grounding crew and being shipped off to the Pacific Ocean, water and its ability to drown a man, and having to fly in a claustrophobic aircraft, which he likens to "climbing back into the womb".