Here is an account of his life in Iraq from May through December 2004.
1 May 2004
Had two casualties to take to the helipad [at Camp Caldwell, a military installation roughly 50 miles northeast of Baghdad]. Later, I had a call to the detention center to give initial medical screening to a detainee. There was no interpreter available, so I went out there and did the screening myself. The doctor was amazed I could communicate with the guy in Arabic (I'd bought an Arabic-language textbook and had taken a class), so now I am the main detainee medic.
On Friday, my day off ended at noon when there was a mission to attack a suspected meeting thought to be hazardous. I was at the camp on standby to collect casualties. There were none, but they captured a bunch of Iraqis, so I spent a good amount of time doing medical screenings. That night I invited myself to the first half of Suicide Prevention class. I'm enrolled in an undergraduate psychology program at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. I won't get credit for the class, but it was something I could do to increase my own personal knowledge.
On Saturday, the general went out on a convoy and requested a medic. My platoon sergeant sent my name up to Brigade as the medic. I was out on the convoy to another FOB [Forward Operating Base.] We stayed the afternoon and came back in the evening. No one on the convoy had a problem that I had no gun. That gives me ammunition that I can use. If I was good enough for the general's convoy, I should be good enough for anyone.
I took the second part of the suicide prevention class tonight. I haven't slept other than power naps for two days and only ate once. But I am loving it.
16 May 2004
Our barracks are nicer than I expected. We have four men in my room. It is about 20-by-10 feet so it is a little cramped, but we have bunk beds. One of my roommates has a TV/DVD player, and two of my roommates have laptops. We have toilets and showers right next door, when they get the water hooked up. We are supposed to even get mattresses and sheets for our beds. Two of my roommates are among my best friends in the platoon, and the other one -- also a good friend -- is the resident stinky guy. I will be acquiring all the air fresheners I can. I will also have a little talk with him and make it clear that if he doesn't shower on his own, I'll do it for him.
6 June 2004
I'm kind of itching for a convoy, but none of us have been going out lately It is getting hot out here (I think it hit 120 degrees today). The wind felt like an oven.
8 June 2004
Got pulled off a mission at the last minute because I had no gun. I found the major who made the call and said, "If I'm good enough to go out with the general, why aren't I good enough to go with you?" He gave me some scripted answer. An hour or two later, I got a call to go with the general on a mission to the same place.
26 June 2004
We had a soldier who was suicidal (he had been drinking). He had to be restrained and flown out. The next morning, several towns in Iraq were hit with major hostilities. Our brigade had two deaths in a town near here. And last night, we had an alleged sexual assault on a female on our FOB.
9 July 2004
I ran into a problem with one of the doctors. He had refused to go down to the detention center to perform the in-processing of detainees, There are recommendations and observations that need a doctor's input to be done properly so the in-processing was only halfway performed. Also, the doctor wanted to prescribe medicine without actually viewing the patient. I made a stink about it and I hope that in the next few days it will be straightened out.
It was 114 degrees at 10:30 this morning. Our barracks is less than two hundred meters from the clinic, and we walk over from building to building and sweat like crazy.
14 July 2004
We began the drug/alcohol counseling sessions. No one showed up, so we had no class.
23 July 2004
We went to Tikrit for three days. On the way back, we ran into a place where the road was blocked off because an IED had been found. We decided to take a detour down a dirt road and one of our vehicles broke down. We stayed in the middle of nowhere in the desert for a while waiting for a special convoy to arrive to tow the vehicle. No trouble, though.
The alcohol/drug classes haven't been going well. No people have showed up for either session so far. Hopefully, this will not change later if they test people, but I fear it will.
30 July 2004
Tuesday night, there was a convoy in the nearby town. They got hit with an IED. One guy died; three were wounded. They brought them to our clinic. I rode in the back with two after they were stabilized. It was the first time many of our medics have dealt with anything like this, I have a feeling there will be some fallout.
18 August 2004
There were some supposedly famous people here, signing autographs: The two girls from the Miller Lite commercial.
8 September 2004
Monday morning, bright and early, my roommate and I were sent out to do medical support for a 50-caliber machine-gun range. We were supposed to sit there and watch and take care of any people who may shoot themselves or pass out because of the heat (with this Brigade, either one was possible). Three friends and I have had a meeting with the MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) people to propose showing The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Halloween night.
16 September 2004
As I arrived in the clinic around midnight, the crew was in the process of dispatching the ambulance crew on duty to the front gate to perform a blood draw on an insurgent who had been captured. Here's the catch: This guy had been dead for the past six hours. He died from blood loss. Great -- drawing blood from a corpse who's only little bit of blood left in him that has easily congealed by now. All because some major got some blood on his hands and wanted assurance the guy didn't have AIDS.
I had a new detainee come in who I felt showed signs of tuberculosis. He was brought to the clinic for chest x-rays. I spent most of the afternoon preparing to give the workers at the detainee center their six-month tuberculosis test. And I got a TB test myself.
20 October 2004
I found out that we have been assigned to ammunition guard for the upcoming weapons qualification range. They had selected me for guard on Wednesday night. I quickly told them that I had no plans of doing it since I am a conscientious objector, and I am not expected to work with weapons or munitions.
3 November 2004
I pretty much spent the whole weekend locked up in my room. Other than patient care, I didn't say 50 words to other people. I was able to read Les Miserables again (my favorite book). On Halloween, the MWR showed The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Tuesday, I slept most of the day -- but had to get up and go to an afternoon redeployment class. (The "don't beat your wife" class.)
10 November 2004
It was a slow night. I got so bored that I spent eight hours in a wheelchair, doing everything in it. I even swept and mopped the floor. Pretty good feeling of accomplishment to know I can do it.
1 December 2004
Wednesday afternoon, I went down to the detainee center and began the task of sorting clothes that were sent in to the Iraqis. I also went to Civil Affairs and touched base with people in their office so we could set up a time to distribute the clothes.
Thursday was Thanksgiving. The best part about it was the fact that several of our medics who were sent to Fallujah for the scouring of the city all arrived back safely. That afternoon, I sorted through the shoes for the Iraqis and arranged to borrow a vehicle for us to use for the mission.
Happy 11th birthday to my wonderful son Jonny.
9 December 2004
Monday morning, we left for the Civil Affairs mission. We had tons of stuff to hand out to Iraqis. I drove the ambulance. It's offensive driving -- as fast as you can down the middle of the road. I will be the worst driver when I get back -- I'm so used to convoys. We stopped at two schools and one clinic to hand out stuff. The kids' faces just lit up.
17 December 2004
It was cold today. Frost was on the ground. All I have left to do is brief the new medics and doctors and then have an "after-action-review" to get feedback on how I did. So, basically, I am pretty much all done here. Great feeling.
Tara McKelvey is a Prospect senior editor.
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