Iraq put AF medics’ training to the test-Good report from Stars N Stripes

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=23546

The doctors were thrust into the heart of battle, where the wounded showed up at their tent by the hundreds and writing death certificates for young soldiers was part of the job.

They sewed up bullet holes and amputated legs — images of war that won’t go away soon.

“This was the real deal,” Coakwell said.

<snip>

In e-mails from Baghdad that Chang wrote to co-workers at Misawa, she described those busy times: “Around midnight, someone came in with a partial left arm amputation and blast injury to the left chest. We were in the operating room all night again. We did a shoulder amputation. … We went through 10 units of blood and got him on a plane within one hour of surgery stop time. That’s 3 nights in 4 that we were operating 8-12 hours.”

<snip>

In one of her e-mails, Chang wrote: “Wow, what an exciting few days. First, on Sunday morning, we were attacked by rockets. Fifteen rounds hit the airport. One landed near the EMEDS tent, but luckily did not detonate. We all evacuated in a hurry. We spent a better part of 5 hours in the bunkers.”

[Bucky]

1. Wow, what a rough assignment.

Chang, Coakwell and Terracciano said they left Baghdad with vivid memories, lingering questions and a desire to go back.

One of Terracciano’s fonder memories is learning how to drive an Army Abrams tank, a form of wartime recreation that helped him decompress from the intense working environment.

He gets choked up when talking about the U.S. military police killed when some Iraqis lobbed rockets into Abu Ghraib prison.

“They bring them in and they’re lifeless,” he said. “You just put them to the back, and you bring in the next group of folks that you can try to save.

And after they patch the soldiers up, Rummy sends them a medical bill and cuts their combat pay. And these troops are eager to go back. That's real service to their country and fellow man, something Rove, Bush, & Cheney could never understand.