November 14, 2005

• The last of a two-parter:

  The buildup to the ground war took about 7 months, and large
  jets taking off and landing at the Charleston Air Force Base constantly filled
  the sky. The buildup took so much time in fact, that some of the doctors
  initially deployed were brought back to the hospital, knowing they would return
  before the ground war started.  Those of
  us not yet deployed visited the JAG office and got our wills in order.
  
  Our hospital got tagged twice more for deployment.  My name wasn’t called either time.  Each time, I felt relief, but also
  guilt.  I told myself that no radiologist
  from Charleston had been ordered to Iraq, so it’s
  not like one of the others went and I didn’t. 
  Still, the guilt remained.
  
  The air war started early and was so successful that it
  appeared that there might not be a need for a ground war at all.  But that was wishful thinking.  In January, as I recall, the doctors that had
  been allowed to return to Charleston
  were relocated back to their deployment areas.
  
  At the hospital, all leave was cancelled and each department
  made plans to deal with potential mass casualties.  I shopped for a comfortable cot for my
  office.  If Saddam used chemical or
  biological weapons there would be little time to go home.  The wounded would need care no matter when
  they arrived.
  
  And we were ready to go; balls to the wall. 
  And I was never more proud to be in uniform.
  
  On February 24^th, 1991 the ground war
  started.  On February 27^th,
  the ground war ended.
  
  The military suffered 147 battle deaths and 467 wounded.  Not a single one came through Charleston Naval Hospital.  I can relate to the Marine sniper that was
  the author of Jarhead that never even got to fire his rifle in the war.  But I’m not complaining, and I think if you
  have to have a war, four days is about right as far as length goes.
  
  All of the doctors, nurses, and corpsmen deployed from Charleston came home
  safely.  I was very thankful for that.
  
  I was eligible to add a small silver star to the center of
  my National Defense Ribbon since I already had been awarded that ribbon for serving in the
  army at the ass-end of Vietnam.  I don’t think I ever got around to putting it
  on though.  As soon as taking leave was
  possible I interviewed in Columbus
  Indiana and left the military for
  good in 1992.
  
  The current Gulf War has gone way beyond a reasonable four
  day war.  I’m glad I’m no longer in
  uniform.  I still believe in, and strongly
  support the men and women that serve, but I believe in this war even less than
  the first, and I have no faith whatsoever in the people that took us there.

  • 1:06 pm
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