For part of my trip to Qatar, I tagged along with a MEDEVAC (medical evacuation) flight. After leaving my base, the helo went to the large military hospital nearby and picked up some more passengers. A kid took the seat next to me. His right hand was gone and he had a huge bandage in its place. Across his chest was a piece of tape that had his name, serial number and “Right hand amputation” written on it with a magic marker. He was on his way to Germany for more medical care.
We landed at a nearby base to be processed before we left the country. I saw the same kid sitting on a bench. He was looking at the X-ray of his stump--as if he couldn’t believe what happened to him. He looked sad, scared and like he was about to cry. He was all alone. I sat next to him and we talked for a while.
He is 19 years old and has been in the Army for less than a year. An avid video gamer, he hoped to win a professional Halo-2 tournament when he got back to Kansas City. I guess that if this were a Gary Cooper movie, he would have been an All-American quarterback. Dreams are still dreams and I guess they change with each generation. The loss of a dream is always tragic.
Despite all that he was going through, he still got up to go to the OR to check on his buddy that was wounded along with him. Only 19, he has more character than most people I know.
While we were talking, he mentioned to a nurse that his arm was hurting and if he could get some pain medication. The nurse said “sure, it will be about 10 minutes”. After an hour went by (and no pain medicine) we went to another room for the customs brief. (Since we were leaving Iraq, everyone has to go through a customs briefing and have their bags inspected.)
An Air Force Sergeant came in to give the brief and I asked him if some of the guys could get some pain medicine before we got started. The sergeant said that brief had the priority and that they will administer medication when he was done. The kid with one hand was a private and if a sergeant tells him to wait, he’ll wait. That didn’t sit well with me. He was in pain and needed medicine. Long story short, I had a “discussion” with the sergeant a few minutes later, a nurse came in and took care of the guys. I know the folks that work at that facility are tired and overworked, but something like that should have never happened.
We landed at a nearby base to be processed before we left the country. I saw the same kid sitting on a bench. He was looking at the X-ray of his stump--as if he couldn’t believe what happened to him. He looked sad, scared and like he was about to cry. He was all alone. I sat next to him and we talked for a while.
He is 19 years old and has been in the Army for less than a year. An avid video gamer, he hoped to win a professional Halo-2 tournament when he got back to Kansas City. I guess that if this were a Gary Cooper movie, he would have been an All-American quarterback. Dreams are still dreams and I guess they change with each generation. The loss of a dream is always tragic.
Despite all that he was going through, he still got up to go to the OR to check on his buddy that was wounded along with him. Only 19, he has more character than most people I know.
While we were talking, he mentioned to a nurse that his arm was hurting and if he could get some pain medication. The nurse said “sure, it will be about 10 minutes”. After an hour went by (and no pain medicine) we went to another room for the customs brief. (Since we were leaving Iraq, everyone has to go through a customs briefing and have their bags inspected.)
An Air Force Sergeant came in to give the brief and I asked him if some of the guys could get some pain medicine before we got started. The sergeant said that brief had the priority and that they will administer medication when he was done. The kid with one hand was a private and if a sergeant tells him to wait, he’ll wait. That didn’t sit well with me. He was in pain and needed medicine. Long story short, I had a “discussion” with the sergeant a few minutes later, a nurse came in and took care of the guys. I know the folks that work at that facility are tired and overworked, but something like that should have never happened.
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