Hey Guys – 11/10/03
How's it going? I really miss being there. I want my office back. My office here consists of a quarter of a footlocker – just enough so I don’t have to haul everything back and forth from my tent every day. Of course, I do haul my computer and fixings (some of my colleagues are sure I’m in an intimate relationship with my laptop – which they insist was confirmed the day I dragged the laptop into the bunker with me during a mortar attack – hey – it came in handy – I put a movie in it - Gladiator – and a bunch of us watched the movie until the all clear.) Can’t think of a better way of passing the time. Except sleeping, of course.
We haven't had an attack on CP Anaconda in 2+ weeks now - maybe they ran out of mortars. Or saving them for one big volley. Who knows.
Had some of the people from the CH-47 (Chinook Helicopter) SAM (Surface to Air Missile) attack come through here. About 7 of them – all of which got evac’ed to Germany almost immediately. To get to Germany they had to get transported to Baghdad. (I made sure the transport was not another Chinook) Kinda sad - these guys were on their way to Qatar for a 3-day R&R.
Some soldiers from the Chinook aircrews - a CPT, MAJ, and a couple of others - came in looking for one of their soldiers – the gunner of the 5-man Chinook crew. They had located the rest – the 2 pilots had been killed. One had been a master trainer pilot – one of the reasons the Chinook was able to land with, believe it or not, as little loss of life as it had. 2 others in the crew had gone to the other CSH in Baghdad. This was the one they where missing. The gunner had just come out of surgery and the nurse doing his recovery did not want any visitors as the ICU was crowded, busy, and the gunner was not awake anyway. We had 5 other wounded in the ICU from that crash. All were about to get loaded up on the flight to Baghdad in less than an hour. I came out to tell the rest of the crews that they couldn’t visit. The CSH Chief Ward master was there and he gently pulled me aside to suggest I allow these guys in to see the gunner anyway, one at a time. Seems he saw these guys faces when I said the patient couldn’t have visitors. They NEEDED to see that their crewman was alive and “alright”. I forgot, in the midst of this busy night, of the loss these soldiers were facing – they lost 2 men out of a 5-man crew, and had just spent how many hours looking for the missing 5th. I returned to the ICU and told the recovering nurse we were going to let these guys in – one at a time.
I am never so humbled than when I lose sight of the cost in human lives and human emotions. To me it was another mini-mascal, trying to ensure these guys get the best of care by stretching resources, staff and equipment. To them it was a man of their crew, whom they lived with and worked with for the last 6 months, and were responsible for. I overlooked that. I am so sorry, I wish I could apologize. I see so many come through here. Most leave from here alive and recovering. Some leave “critical” and “guarded” but expecting to recover. And a very few leave here through mortuary affairs. I can still name every one who left here that way on my shift. I met every one of them. When I can no longer remember the names, or care to, that is the time I need to get the hell out of this country.
Of course NOW is a good time to get me the HELL out of this country. If I ever volunteer for something again – somebody please shoot me. You’d think I woulda had enough of volunteering 17 years ago when I volunteered for the Army. Silly me. Should have learned better. Well, I keep telling my self – 3 more years, 3 more years, then I can retire. And work at McDonalds or something.
I still haven’t had a chance to leave Cp Anaconda – I really want to see Baghdad, or something other than tents and tanks. A few of our nurses go to Balad when we take civilians to the Balad hospital. Although the last trip on weds the nursing command went cause they didn’t want to ask for volunteers after the Chinook/SAM encounter. It can be dangerous out there on the roads. The Iraqis’ have a new thing – they set up an IED, and then when the convoy stops – attack with small arms fire. Fortunately, this becomes increasingly deadly for the Iraqi ambushers. As One found out when a tank fired a round at an Iraqi’s AK47. Which the Iraqi was holding at the time. Well, the shell did not explode when it hit the Iraqi’s arm. Just kinda took it along with it down range. The Iraqi is in our ICU. He will live to go to the EPW camp.
Went outside to watch the full eclipse of the moon, tripped over a sandbag and got a few more bruises for my trouble. Damn sandbags. But on a brighter note, the sand flies have decreased in number, and so have the welts from the bites – yay!!!
11/15/03
OOPS spoke too soon, had our first mortar attack in three weeks. One mortar. As ever, didn't hit anything. As one infantry commander put it - "these *****have been practicing for 9 months and STILL cant hit anything!!" Go figure.
Had a nice storm come through here. Storms start with lots of wind - which pick up the dust - and you are in a sandstorm for the next 3 days. The winds were blowing so hard I expected the hospital to blow away - hey the air force won't have to have us move then - we'd already be gone!!! (Our luck we'd end up in the middle of the airfield...) It got so dusty on the INSIDE that I couldn't see to the other end of the tent. The passageways were billowing violently - I walked too close to a wall and it reached out and slapped me into the opposite wall - amazing the power (can we consider this enemy action? Can I get my purple heart now and come home? Please?)
Occasionally a few raindrops would splatter the canvas, but never enough to knock the dust down. The airfield pretty much closed down. I kept asking people if MY tent was still up, and was reassured that only a few of the sleep tents lost some poles - that all.
Well, you all know MY luck in such matters...Yup, it's as good as ever.
The pole of MY corner of the tent blew in
All my stuff was strewn across my little area, then covered with a big layer of dust. I came "home" from work and spent the next hour beating dust out of bedding (the wind had died down for a bit) and picking up. You know the designer MRE box shelving I had? (Notice the word "had"?) It did not survive being bashed by a corner of the tent.
Well, the winds picked up again in a couple of hours and kept beating at the tents, blowing in more dust and debris. Hard to sleep with the wind playing a tympani next to your ear, leaving a mist of dust to breathe ( I pulled my t-shirt over my head and slept like that). I had to move my cot away from the wall that, in-spite of being sandbagged, was moving in and out in a 2-foot arc, bashing into my cot. You could see the dust streaming in. We were covered by it, breathing it, eating it. Only relief was the 10 min in the shower when you got to see what hair color you really had - other than tan colored. Of course, as I have now been 5 months without a beauty parlor, I am dismayed at what color my hair is turning out to be!!! I didn't realize I had so much gray - and so little red. (oops, did I say that?!)
Other tents lost it completely - the laundry tent with the defunct huge washer and dryer (stopped working months ago - hence our 20 piece-a-week inadequate service we have now) the storage tent for the ER. Our little exercise tent (had one universal gym set in it). The BIG MWR (morale, welfare and recreation) tent on the main part of the camp with all the exercise equipment blew in. The woman's shower tent behind the big MWR tent blew away (with some women in it, so I hear....)
Trash and debris all over - esp. empty sand bags.
The hospital gets vacuumed out every night by section - I told everyone not to bother until the wind dies down - you couldn't tell you vacuumed anyway within an hour.
Of 'course some Major General was supposed to visit the hospital on Weds - so as soon as the winds died down everyone got busy trying to dedust the place. Did pretty good too - at least in the obvious places!!! I hope we impressed him.
The LAST time we really dedusted the place we were expecting the Undersect'y of Defense and entourage. Well, we worked, we vacuum walls, we wiped down, we mopped up, we dusted lights, and computers and emergency equipment, we discovered colors we hadn't seen in months. We were ready! Annnnnnd...he didn't show. Nope - was too dangerous for him to come here. Hey, this is the same guy whose hotel got RPG'ed in Baghdad. I guess it wasn't safe! All that cleaning for nothing. But the hospital looked good for a day until a new layer of dust got put down.
People think it's neat to be able to provide a complete hospital in a tent you can pack in a box. Makes a new meaning for "doc-in-a-box", huh? (OK it takes over 100 boxes {ship containers} to pack our hospital, but whose counting? That's about one milvan per bed or less, by the way...but again, who's counting?) (Except those guys in accounting who want you to account for every piece of gauze and heaven forbid if you lose/misuse/misplace something important like the poor guys of the 101st who got into a firefight in Iraq and when they got back to Ft Bliss without half their gear 'cause it was destroyed, wanted the soldiers to PAY for it - seems they did not have the documentation to PROVE it was a combat loss - of course CNN reported it live, but hey - without the paperwork....) Did you know that if I put my name on my duffle bag to distinguish it from the thousands of other duffle bags in the same pile, as many soldiers are ORDERED to do by their command (of 'course it also makes sense), I have to PAY for the duffle bag as CIF will NOT take it back. How's THAT for nickel and dimeing our soldiers to death? Also we have to return it clean - so we end up PAYING $100-$200 dollars to get it cleaned I could go into how army housing also destroys the paycheck but that's for another soapbox...as any army wife can tell you...
Anyway. Had some reporters from the London Times here for a couple of days. Normally don't mind reporters - when they are here THEY wanna see action but WE are usually dead quiet (ok, bad choice of words...). The first night we were quiet, the next day though a couple of our US civilian contractors and an Iraqi driver were traveling in two cars, got ambushed - one jumped out of his car (the other civilian contractor, who was driving, was dead) and into the following car and sped off. Both he and the Iraqi driver were shot, but made it to us OK. These guys had installed our big Mother of all Generators, affectionately known as Maggie.
Our mouse population is alive and well, in spite of the large numbers who have given their lives to our traps. Getting bolder too. Coming out during the day, scuttling across the floor. Crawling into my computer bag. One chewed into my only bag of Swiss Miss hot chocolate with extra marshmallows - oh, the humanity of it all! *sniff* Though I'm pretty sure the chocolate-eating mouse got his the next night - baited the trap with a chewed piece of tootsie roll. SNAP!!!
Another cat managed wonder into our hospital. Ok, when a cat gets into your house - what do you do? You open a door and maneuver the cat until he sees his escape route - and (zoom) the cat is gone! Here some inspirations to human intelligence attempted to capture the cat instead. By hand. (and jacket, and blanket and whatever else they found). OK, go ahead. Try to catch a trapped wild cat by hand. What does the cat do? The cat immediately sinks 10 claws and at least 8 teeth into the nearest part of your body it can reach. And the cat can reach at least twice as far as you think it can. As the trapper found out. Well, they did get the cat in a box, but now instead of releasing it, it's gotta got to the vet to see if it's rabid. Don't feel sad though, the vet took the box outside and peaked in at the cat and... zoom!...the cat was gone! (hee hee)
OOps, rabies shots for all!
17 Nov 03.
This morning around 0730 there was an RPG attack against a couple of Bradley's just outside the North gate. This area has a small hamlet, and is well known for the number of attacks that seem to initiate from its vicinity. The round was an armor piercing round, which, unfortunetly, preformed as advertised and proceeded to drill through 2 inches of steel plate and kill one of our soldiers. We heard the boom followed by the sound of the big guns on the Bradleys firing back. Then other guns joined in. The Bradley that got hit raced for the CSH, in an attempt to save their man. He was too badly hurt. The men sitting just next to him had some minor shrapnel wounds. Well, the 4 ID had had enough. The hamlet was leveled today. All day we listened to the sound of tanks firing just over there - it was eerie - usually we can't hear the sound of the tank itself firing - just the sound of the rounds exploding. These tanks were so close to us that was clearly hear the shhhhhip of the launch and the KAWAMP of the shell exploding less than 2 - 3 seconds later (it means they weren't firing very far) (all through earplugs, I might add - I was trying to sleep by this time. Needless to say I didn't get sleep much in-between volleys)
SPC Gray--Update
On a brighter note, we got a note back about SPC Grey - the young man in the article I forwarded to you - he is doing well at Walter Reed Medical Center, and plans to be home in Southern Illinois for Thanksgiving.
Take care of your selves, and have a happy Turkey Day.
Love,
Major Pain, AKA Midwife extraordinaire, who hasn't delivered a baby since 4 July :(
P.S.
Someone asked how I became a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) - The army uses lots of CNMs, and, after being an OB/GYN Nurse for 14 years for the army, I applied and was selected for a Long Term Civilian Health Care Training Scholarship. Basically, the army sent me through a 2 year Masters of Science program, while continuing full pay and benefits. Your tax dollars at work. Thank you all.
I've been a Chinook crewmember most of my career with just shy of 1600 flight hours. Thanks for sharing your experiences with the crew, I know well the bond that forms between crewmembers and can only imagine their anxieties at not knowing how one was doing.
Posted by: Sgt Hook | November 18, 2003 at 04:42 PM
Navy Corpsman serving with the Marines getting ready to go to relieve the 82nd in Feb/March. Your updates are great and allow me to share with my wife what it is going to be like. If anyone has any advice/ or wish list items/ or web links I should take please send them to [email protected]
Thanks and keep up the good work!
Posted by: Bill | November 18, 2003 at 08:03 PM
I just got the call a few days ago. It looks like my Guard unit is heading your way for a year on the ground. We are a UH-60 unit from the La. National Guard. I would love to pick your brain if you have the time.
I don't want to give you false hope but we are coming with a large task force in March.
Hang in there.
Posted by: Bryan | November 19, 2003 at 03:23 PM
Dou know the 565th Ground Ambulance Unit (part of the 115th Field Hosp.)? My son's youth group just sent them a T'Day package.
Great blog. I've added it to my blogroll.
Posted by: The Commissar | November 20, 2003 at 08:29 PM
Thanks for the comments everyone - I try to read them when I can!!!
Bill, thanks for the offer - can you bring me a flushing toilet...
Bryan, Please send your questions to Bear, th owner of this blog (my brother) - He'll pass them on, and I'll Answer anything I can - big thing is to use your misquito repellent, and dont try to pet the jackels.
Sorry, Commissar, I dont know the group - they must be down in the souther part - Im Sure they appriciate the packages tho!!!
Posted by: Maj Pain | November 21, 2003 at 03:24 PM
hey major--next time a cat finds its way inside, give thanks to Allah and show it to the mice and let it do its god-given job. pretty soon the mice will be gone, and the cat will probably become tame enough to make friends with. put out clean water for it to drink from, but don't offer it your MRE's until the mice have disappeared.
tell the well meaning trapper that the cat would never have clawed him if he'd left well enough alone--and therefore, no rabies questions. in fact, you could have well put medicine in the cat's drinking water dish, and cured it of any diseases it was battling, without a fight at all.
better a cat than a snake,,, in terms of hunters of mice and natural extermination.
if there's a next time, let cooler, more faithful heads prevail. kill the hysteria and let the cat do its job. give it a military specialist title and rank, so when people ask 'what's that cat doing here?' you can tell them 'that, sir, is corporal mousecatcher, our rodent infiltration specialist. 'corporal', because dealing with bodies and body counts is his area of expertise. specialist, because it's all he does, sir. he's taken out [fill in the count here] infiltrating guerilla enemy iraqi agents, carrying unknown biological weapons, since arriving for duty, and will not be reassigned until his mission is accomplished. he's the best there is, sir. he requires no equipment issuance, can sleep anywhere, is self cleaning and self maintaining, and clearly battle hardened to our conditions, sir. definitely a warrior. and his aim is deadly. he practices with his weapons and his PT, daily.
[what color and markings was the cat? if he had stripes, you can tell the officer 'he's earned his stripes the hard way, sir. he was born to the life from a long line of career warriors'].
Posted by: janet in venice beach | November 30, 2003 at 05:54 PM