Physician Assistant Blogs from Iraq
Maj. Mike Roscoe, a physician assistant in the Indiana National Guard and and assistant professor in the Butler University PA program, has been blogging about his deployment to Iraq since Aug. 31, 2008.
Roscoe has two posts this month.
There's a ton of good writing there, so I'll just post this random excerpt. Visit Maj. Roscoe's blog for the rest.
Continuing with my story, one of the U.S. Strykers with this unit was out patrolling and was struck by two “daisy chained” anti-tank mines that were used as an IED. None of the solders inside were killed but two of the three inside were very seriously injured and MEDEVAC to Balad for emergency care. Now, the point of this story is to try to explain the kind of bonds that are formed in the military that you just don’t see in the civilian world. Dr. Altman came up to Balad with three Strykers full of soldiers that were all part of the platoon of the injured soldiers. They drove over two hours on the same roads that their friends were just blown-up on, risked their own life…why? They came up just to make sure that the injured soldiers knew that they were not forgotten, just to let them know that they were supported and they would be there for them. In the civilian world, we might send an email, maybe call, probably not drive across town and certainly not during rush hour. I had the fortune of being in the hospital parking lot when they wheeled out one of the injured soldiers to see his “buddies”. The interaction that I witnessed will stay with my forever…a bunch of invincible, manly soldiers not knowing what to say … but words were not needed. There were stifled tears, then the hugs and the look of pure gratitude in the injured soldiers face that spoke volumes, and the awkward words were not needed. This is what selfless service is! This is what YOUR military members do! They quietly risk their lives for all of us, and are not looking for fame, a “golden parachute” or a one-year multi-million dollar contract that seems to dominate our news today.
Link