Greg Laffitte
The Valdosta Daily Times
March 04, 2008 01:02 pm
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Treating casualties is an energy-charged process.
When we received our first casualties they depended on us to ìsquare them away.î After a methodical survey we were relieved to discover none of their injuries was life threatening. My first patient was a guy from Alabama. He was a gunner and was stationed in the turret of a Humvee that rolled over an improvised explosive device.
This guy easily weighed 225 pounds and was completely blown out of the vehicle, landing 100 feet towards the rear. His 50-caliber machine gun was torn free from its mount and flew 50 feet in the air before landing only inches from his head.
I had seen him earlier in the day eating breakfast in the chow hall. Another “southerner” like myself. Imagine having breakfast with a guy in the morning and treating his war wounds before supper!
After a thorough exam the worst injuries I could find amounted to numerous bruises and scrapes. Absolutely unbelievable. X-Rays and bandages plus a bottle of Motrin and this guy was anxious to get to the chow hall before they closed for the evening.
It’s hard for me to comprehend the stamina these guys had. The other two injured troops were examined thoroughly as well. The driver sustained a broken hand and was taken to surgery. The radio operator received numerous facial abrasions. He was treated and released that same night.
Super Bowl champions make millions of dollars playing a game. American forces, wounded in combat, play in a “Super Bowl” every time they step foot “outside the wire,” yet they will never receive comparable compensation. They don’t do it for the money. They don’t do it for the glory. They do it because their country asked them to. This is a combat zone where the stakes are very high.
In addition to the enemy, we have to fight the Afghanistan winters, which are extremely harsh. Combat operations at high elevations with freezing temperatures pose significant challenges. Our equipment is the best. We deal with the weather very well because we have good boots, coats and whatever else we need to cope when wind chills drop the temperatures into the low teens during the day and lower at night.
The children in this country don’t fare quite as well. We treat a lot of kids in our medical clinic. How can I describe the emotion felt when I saw a two-year-old girl brought to the clinic by her eight-year-old brother, because she was burned by something that spilled over from a frying pan?
I have yet to see a mother bring her child to the clinic. Imagine dropping your child off at the emergency room without going in to see to their care? Imagine walking miles to a clinic without even the thinnest of socks or sandals?
Children routinely show up at our clinic wearing only flip-flops. Meanwhile it’s snowing outside.
The insurgents in this country don’t want Operation Enduring Freedom to succeed. They intimidate and threaten their own countrymen for even talking to Americans. The simple act of seeking a bottle of cough syrup or a bandage for your baby sister could cost you your life.
I have held these kids in my arms. I even actually asked if any of them wanted to come back to the U.S. with me. Not a single “yes” out of any of them.
They are surprisingly very happy children and will smile and laugh at the smallest act of kindness. I like to hand out candy and they love to take it. I have a small supply of toy cars that I hand out to the boys and barrettes for the girls.
They love their families and are devoted to each other with unwavering loyalty. The spirit of these people is inspiring and I am sure I will continue to learn from their example. But more than anything, they remind me that I can’t wait to hug my wife and kids again.
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