I would like to post something that may contribute to this conversation. I have a 28 year old firend in Iraq on his fourth tour. He is a nurse, and as such sees the worst of the bad and even when it's good, it's bad. Note his comments about Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy.
"Well...
I cried yesterday... never thought it would get to me, especially after doing 4 of these trips without an incident. 1 U.S. soldier was coming to my ICU and they said he would be on paliative care, which means comfort only, no life saving procedures were to be given. About 6 or so of us sat at his bedside not saying a word, he was 22 years old. One of the nurses suggested that I go to the PAD and ask if we could get a family member on the phone to say some last words to him. I grabbed his paperwork and brought it to the Army personel responsible for contacting family and as i began to ask them if it was possible, i lost it... I realized it wasn't really about the kid in the ICU it was now about the family. He was going to pass and the family would be left to grieve and i could feel the pain they were about to experience. I went back to the patient and the doctor requested that i take him off the ventilator in 10 minutes. It's a very difficult thing to do when it's your piece of equipment that is keeping him alive. He had a massive injury to the head and for all intentions...he was already dead. We didn't treat it like that though, we cleaned him from head to toe, talked to him, prayed with him and the chaplin... the family never called, probably couldn't get through or the message didn't arrive, who knows. I removed him from the vent after looking at everyone in the room, i had to for some reason, almost make sure it was ok i guess. After, he was covered in a flag, the room called to attention and he was transported...
So it was a hard day, i was exhausted but i had to blow it off, i had 5 other patients waiting for me.
The next day, Garey Sinise...(lt. dan ) from forrest gump came through the icu's and met with the patients. It's nice when they come through, they're usually pretty gracious. I took a picture and emailed it to one of my patients house and printed him a copy, he seemed to get a kick out of it.
So it's pretty crazy over here, every day brings something i haven't done or seen ever in my life. Today 3 injured came in, two died the second had his chest cut wide open while i was assisting with intubation and ventilating...they pulled one of his lungs partially out of the hole in his chest and as i gave him breath, bubbles and blood shot out of the holes throughout his lungs. Seconds later they pronounced him. The third guy turned out to be his Father and he was shouting his sons name in the ER...
So it seems that this place is very morbid, but there are good things that happen all the time as well, i just rarely get to see it because of the nature of my position. There's always ugliness to war, but this is necessary because the option will ultimately prove to be worse, what affects one side of the globe will affect us... instability spreads fast and can't be ignored. When we leave this region prematurely thanks to our now psychotic house/senate remember what i've said and remember the lives lost that i've talked about. They will make this a "failure" not the Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine, and "they" are the Nancy Pelosi's, the Kennedy's, the extreme left that has infected our government.
Sorry i get on political soap box's. If you pray for the soldiers, throw another one in for our government and where it's going.
So...how are you guys? It's getting hot, our A/C goes out all the time lately which is pretty hard on the patients over here, pretty hard on everyone really. I can't wait to get home, my family, my car, my bed, a bathroom close as 10 feet away!!! it's the little things.
Just an fyi, It took me all day to right this. Hellicopters with inbound patients, emergencies...blah blah blah it never ends. Learning lot's over here.
Sorry this is so morbid, just trying to put it all in perspective.
more updates to come..."
I hope that Ms. Pelosi realizes that a lot of these men will return to her district in the PRC (Peoples Repbulic of California) and as such will be part of the voting public. Not that it will make any difference to the first woman speaker of the house.. Of course each of my ex wives was also the speaker of the house.
Dan