Deployment Blogs (Part 2 of 4)
Navy surgeons waiting for the next wave of patients to arrive at TQ Surgical.
When the sailors left for Camp Lejeune, it wasn’t exactly clear what they would be doing when they arrived in Iraq. Somewhere, somebody knew the details, but it wasn’t shared at the individual level. It turned out that the 50 from Portsmouth would be combined with clusters from other Naval Medical Centers around the country to form a Surgical Company. For logistics purposes, the Company was attached to an Armor/Vehicle Maintenance Battalion. At Camp Lejeune the Company drew equipment and under went the training and orientation required to integrate with the Marine Corps’ concept of operations. When the training was complete, they boarded contracted civilian airliners and flew to Kuwait via Scotland. The ultimate destination turned out to be Al Taqqadum Air Base. The Navy and Marines had built a small surgical hospital in a large tan prefabricated building that look like a modern version of the WWII Quonset Hut. Installed next to the main runway for aviation expediency, it was the first stop for combat wounded in the area west of Bagdad. In the spring of 2007, the hospital, referred to as TQ Surgical, was a busy place. In addition to her duties as one of a handful of surgeons at TQ, Angie was put in charge of a small mobile surgical team that could be called out to support Marines much closer to the fighting.
The following text is excerpts from the running email chain between Iraq, home and extended family and friends.
March 1, 2007
Deployment Day 40
I had a most pleasant phone call today. I was walking into the manager’s office at the Hampton Roads Airport when my phone began sounding off with a recording of The Kid saying “Dad, your phone is ringing. Dad, answer your phone!” (The ring tone always gets a laugh.)
It was Angie on the line from Iraq, saying she’d arrived safely at Al Taqqadum via USAF C-17 transport. It was 1200 EST and 2000 local for her. I don’t know what they call the time zone except UTC+3. She was met by Tracy Bilski, a Navy pal from Penn, and moved into the new accommodations, or “cans” as they are known locally. She seemed to be in good spirits and glad to be out of holding in Kuwait. Apparently all the females in transit are housed in one big tent, with our travelers drawing the least desirable cots near the door. Every time somebody came or went, there was outside noise and a cold draft. Angie said it was tough sleeping.
We discussed a call schedule and figured out how to handle e-mail. It won’t be perfected for a while, but we’ll work it out. The snail mail works. My first test letter didn’t arrive, but the second did! The address may change again, but go ahead with letters and packages. Barring disaster, our sailors will travel the other way in about six months.
March 15, 2007
Deployment Day 54
Angie called twice yesterday. When I spoke with her at noon, she said they’d treated 13 people. The busiest day so far. She called again at 2050 (0450?) to talk to The Kid and said there had been 4 more casualties for the day. I was falling asleep when she called, I can only imagine how tired she felt. She was upbeat about the day because the old surgical company was moving out and headed home. The free bunk space meant Angie would move to a “can” all her own.
March 19, 2007
Deployment Day 58
Some stats from the Surgical Company, 2nd Maintenance Battalion. 13 days after taking over, they’ve seen 103 patients and operated on 28. I don’t know yet if that is busy or not.
March 23, 2007
Deployment Day 62
I last spoke to Angie a couple days ago. I was in Operations at Langley AFB talking to the weather guessers about deployments and military married life in general when my phone’s ring tone brought a round of laughter from the crew. After finding a quiet place with acceptable cell reception, I listened to the tales of the day. She was waiting for the day’s patients to be airlifted to the next level of care before she could call it a night. Her voice sounded plain old tired. I got some clarification on the quality and quantity of patients coming through TQ. What is a busy day? Angie compared it to her time at Penn, a busy level one trauma center in a big city. At Penn they would get 20 trauma activations a day. At TQ it was usually around 10. The combined injuries of the 20, however, wouldn’t even come close to equaling the 10 at TQ.
March 26, 2007
Deployment Day 65
The Kid and I had a nice chat with Angie. She was in a pretty good mood and shared a few tales from the other side of the world. Maybe she got some sleep! She reported receiving a package from us with the most valued materials- her weekly magazines. The news of the day was mixed. The bad guys and the Iraqi Army had a Sunday morning shoot-out. The first casualty was a local boy who was caught in the cross fire. He took a bullet to the back. He’s paralysed and lost some of his bowels, but will live another day. Another of TQ Surgical’s civilian patients came back for follow up care. The woman, whose arm had been destroyed by a mortar round, was back nine days later after being sent up to the higher level hospital. The staff spent much of the day arranging for the correct antibiotics to be shipped to TQ to treat her resistant infection.
May 1, 2007
Deployment Day 101
Today marks the completion of two months in Iraq. One third of the planned deployment is done. The veterans I’ve spoken with say the middle third drags by with cruel slowness. Summer is setting in and the vets also report the heat and dust take a heavy toll on man and machine alike. What separates the pros from the pretenders is the discipline to press on. Our professionals will do just that. Today, Angie does the writing in an excerpt from a letter to The Kid.
Hi buddy, I thought I would write you a note to go with this package.
This week has been pretty normal- not too busy, but unfortunately we lost two Marines to IED blasts. That is very hard. Whenever an American dies, we all pause and pray with the chaplain or priest who is in the OR with us. The body is draped with an American flag. We then “man the rails” which means we line the hallways the body will be carried through. There are always four Marines who carry the body and we come to Attention as they pass through. Our Marines and Soldiers are shown this respect everywhere they land during transport. It is the most emotional and admirable ceremony I have ever seen. I know it is sad to talk about, but I want you to know that this is the respect that each of these heros should always receive. You may hear people say bad things about the war, but never let anyone say negative things about the men and women who fight the war.
On a happier thought, I am proud of you for your last report card. Keep up the good work. Continue to be good for dad.
I love you and miss you,
Mom