Editor's Note: Decided to present this for our Memorial Day remembrance. Sobering, but all too true. A serious article from our Mail Bag.
SOON TO BE GONE By a Military Doctor This should be
required reading in
every school and college in our country
SOON TO BE GONE
By a Military Doctor
This should be required reading in every school and college
in our country.
This Captain, an Army doctor, deserves a medal himself for
putting this
together. If you choose not to pass it on, fine, but I think
you will want
to, after you read it.
I am a doctor specializing in the Emergency Departments of the
only two
military Level One- Trauma Centers, both in San Antonio,TX and
they care for
civilian Emergencies as well as military personnel. San Antonio
has the
largest military retiree population in the world living here.
As a military
doctor, I work long hours and the pay is less than glamorous.
One tends to
become jaded by the long hours, lack of sleep, food, family
contact and the
endless parade of human suffering passing before you. The
arrival of another
ambulance does not mean more pay, only more work.
Most often, it is a victim from a motor vehicle
crash.
Often it is a person of dubious character who has been shot or
stabbed. With
our large military retiree population, it is often a nursing
home patient.
Even with my enlisted service and minimal combat experience in
Panama, I have
caught myself groaning when the ambulance brought in yet
another sick, elderly
person from one of the local retirement centers that cater to
military
retirees. I had not stopped to think of what citizens of this
age group
represented .
I saw 'Saving Private Ryan.' I was touched deeply. Not so much
by the carnage,
but by the sacrifices of so many. I was touched most by the
scene of the
elderly survivor at the graveside, asking his wife if he'd been
a good man. I
realized that I had seen these same men and women coming
through my Emergency
Dept. and had not realized what magnificent sacrifices they had
made. The
things they did for me and everyone else that has lived on
this
planet
since the end of that conflict are priceless.
Situation permitting, I now try to ask my patients about their
experiences.
They would never bring up the subject without the inquiry. I
have been
privileged to an amazing array of experiences, recounted in the
brief minutes
allowed in an Emergency Dept. encounter. These experiences have
revealed the
incredible individuals I have had the honor of serving in a
medical capacity,
many
on
their last admission to the hospital.
There was a frail, elderly woman who reassured my young
enlisted medic, trying
to start an IV line in her arm. She remained calm and poised,
despite her
illness and the multiple needle-sticks into her fragile veins.
She was what we
call a 'hard stick.' As the medic made another attempt, I
noticed a number
tattooed across her forearm. I touched it with one finger and
looked into her
eyes. She
simply
said, 'Auschwitz' Many of later generations would have loudly
and openly
berated the young medic in his many attempts. How different was
the response
from this person who'd seen unspeakable suffering.
Also, there was this long retired Colonel, who as a young
officer had
parachuted from his burning plane over a Pacific Island held by
the Japanese.
Now an octogenarian, he had a minor cut on his head from a fall
at his home
where
he
lived alone. His CT scan and suturing had been delayed until
after midnight by
the usual parade of high priority ambulance patients. Still
spry for his age,
he asked to use the phone to call a taxi, to take him home,
then he realized
his ambulance had brought him without his wallet. He asked if
he could use the
phone to make a long distance call to his daughter who lived 7
miles away.
With great pride we told him that he could not, as he'd done
enough for his
country and the least we could do was get him a taxi home, even
if we had to
pay for it ourselves. My only regret was that my shift wouldn't
end for
several hours, and I couldn't drive him myself.
I was there the night M/Sgt. Roy Benavidez came through the
Emergency Dept.
for the last time. He was very sick. I was not the doctor
taking care of him,
but I walked to his bedside and took his hand . I said nothing.
He was so
sick, he didn't know I was there.. I'd read his Congressional
Medal of Honor
citation and wanted to shake his hand. He died a few days
later.
The gentleman who served with Merrill's Marauders,
the survivor of the Bataan Death March,
the survivor of Omaha Beach,
the 101 year old World War I veteran.
The former POW held in frozen North Korea,
The former Special Forces medic - now with non-operable liver
cancer,
the former Viet Nam Corps Commander.
I remember these citizens.
I
may still groan when yet another ambulance comes in, but now I
am much more
aware of what an honor it is to serve these particular men and
women.
I have seen a Congress who would turn their back on these
individuals who've
sacrificed so much to protect our liberty. I see later
generations that seem
to be totally engrossed in abusing these same liberties, won
with such
sacrifice.
It has become my personal endeavor to make the nurses and young
enlisted
medics aware of these amazing individuals when I encounter them
in our
Emergency Dept. Their response to these particular citizens has
made me think
that perhaps all is not lost in the next
generation.
My experiences have solidified my belief that we are losing an
incredible
generation, and this nation knows not what it is losing. Our
government and
civilian populace should all take note. We should all remember
that we must
'earn this'.
