On Oct 31st, 2006, our third day in country, we received four soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 502nd Infantry Regiment with full CPR in progress. I wrote an article on young nurse and medics coming to age. I witnessed a full Colonel come across the floor to console one of my 2LTs saying, "it's OK to shed your tears, he was worth your emotions."
Today, the 5th of September 2006, Col. E., an Infantry Brigade Commander comes back to give us a token of his thanks and shares with us that he had been in command for 2 hours and 8 minutes when he was here at the hospital on Halloween visiting a burned soldier and heard that more of his troops were coming in. Four arrived, dead on arrival. So in the first 2 hours of his command, he lost four soldiers. What are the odds that he would have been here, at the hospital, for that moment? His words were so reverent that is doesn't do justice to repeat them in writing, but I'll try. He started by saying, "I am profoundly grateful for your emotional connection to your job and my soldiers, but I hope it will not be too great a burden for you to carry when you get home." He ended with choked emotions, "Yours is a noble profession, and I'll leave it at that."
It's the first time I have heard the whole story from him. I always felt bad for our guys and the 86th CSH that it was their last day in country. He further described having lost over 50 soldiers, had 60 with permanent disabilities, and over 100 that were seriously wounded.
What a story.
Thought I needed to share it.