Letter 7

December 06, 2008
Balad, Iraq

Everyone:

I hope this letter finds everybody well. Things have been pretty busy here since my last letter. The clinic is busy as usual, and I have been pretty swamped with teaching and working on my PhD. The weather has started to turn cold…it actually gets into the 50s now at night…sorry, I know it has been pretty cold back home. Thanksgiving was interesting here. It just was…off…here are some pictures from our chow hall to show you what I mean.

Nothing says Thanksgiving like a bunch of carved watermelons…especially with carvings of frogs. It was pretty amazing “fruit art” but having a local serve me fruit just didn’t feel right. Here is another picture.

This is a view back toward our serving lines. Look past Tonto and Pocahontas and you can see some more of the over-the-top decorations…”Thank S”…The food was pretty good. We had all the traditional staples of a good Thanksgiving dinner, and there really was an effort to try to give us a sense of home. However, the two mortar attacks during the day were an effective reminder that we “are not in Kansas anymore”. I think that is what makes this place so surreal. We have things like a movie theater, Burger King, a pool and….bunkers.

The world is a small place! I met up with the head of the ER at the Air Force Hospital, which is the hospital for this part of the country. Anyway, his name is COL John McGoff…six degrees of separation means that he is an ER doc with Community Hospital North and East in Indianapolis. I worked for him as a PA for several years! Even more…he was a class mate in med school with my boss at Butler, Dr. John Lucich! Can you believe that? Below is a picture of Dr/COL McGoff, me and 1LT Travis Welch (a Butler PA grad).

We of course are standing on Indiana Avenue. The large building behind us is our PX (mini Walmart type store). The large roof on it is for mortar protection. What is most amazing about this picture is that Dr. McGoff is Air Force and has his weapon on!

Anyway, I will send pictures in the next letter or two from the hospital and our clinic. Col McGoff wants me to work some shifts in the ER with him. More to do, but it would be great experience. I am not sure if you saw on the news this week about another suicide bombing in Falluja…I was in the ER when several of the patients (all Iraqi) came in…it is amazingly terrible what these blast do to the human body. The blast was of course meant to kill innocent civilians. This place is insane…it just seems that the Sunni and Shi’ites just can’t wait for us to leave so that they can get back to killing each other.

We do not get trauma in my normal clinic. We generally see “med-check” or “doc-in-the-box” type of things, but I did see four US soldiers that were in a vehicle that was a direct strike on an IED. The vehicle they were in was similar to the one in the picture below:

These are very, very, very armored vehicles. The soldiers all walked away from the blast without any injuries! This is the same type of blast that was killing our soldiers less than three years ago. It is really amazing all the things that we now have to keep our soldiers safe. Speaking of that, below is a night picture of what is known as a C-RAM. It is an anti-mortar system. It shoots down incoming mortars before they hit the ground. In this picture it is a test fire (I would not be out if it was a real attack).

It looks like a laser, but it is a bunch of large tracer rounds that are moving so quick the camera can’t distinguish the difference. It is a pretty awesome site; it is close to our clinic, so I feel a whole lot safer. It is one of the primary reason that no mortars have landed close to where I live and work.

I want to show you “Hero’s Highway”. This is the tunnel where injured soldiers are moved from the MEDEVAC helicopters into the ER.

The top picture is from the Air Ambulance entrance into the ER looking out to the landing pad. The bottom picture is from the landing pad looking toward the ER. It is very solemn, but I also felt proud of our soldiers and their sacrifices in this place.

Ok, Ok…time to lighten the letter a bit. Last week we had a USO show here on base. Aaron Tippin, a country music singer, gave us a concert. Below is a picture of the show.

We are sitting in the stands of a stadium on base. This base was an Iraqi air base before we took it over, it was also the site where the Iraqi Olympic team trained. The stage is actually on a soccer field surrounded by a track. The lights just over the American flag, in a line is actually the perimeter of the base. I guess it gives motivation for the singer to put on a good show, in that everybody (except the Air Force) is armed…gives a new meaning to “knock ‘em dead”. It was a good show; I have a lot of respect for the entertainers that are willing to come here for our soldiers.

The final part of this letter is a tribute to how God always seems to present something to me at just the right time. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything going on, I was missing my family, busy with teaching and working on my PhD, I had just gotten off a very busy shift in the clinic when I walked into our break room to find some hand knitted caps that a Church sent to us. I took a picture of the message that was sent with the hats. Anyway, I wanted to share it in my letter because I think that there are several people that need this simple message besides just me. I know that there are a lot of PA students that are feeling a bit overwhelmed right now with finals being next week. I know how hard it is for my family with me being gone…We all have a purpose that God has given to us and nobody said that our cross would be easy or light, but we have to keep moving forward and be willing and open to His plan.

Thank you everyone who has written me, sent me packages, and has prayed for me and my family. I appreciate it more than words. However, I think I have had enough Halloween candy to last a lifetime! Thank you to everyone who continues to help my family out. I appreciate it more than words can say. Please continue your thoughts and prayers for all the soldiers and their families, especially during this holiday season. Never doubt that you live in the greatest country in the World with freedoms only dreamed by others. I will hopefully have the next letter out within two weeks.

CPT Mike Roscoe

PS: If you are just receiving this letter for the first time and you want to see previous letters, please go to http://buprofessor.blogspot.com/. Additionally, my address is:

Mike Roscoe
215th ASMC/Phipps Clinic
APO AE 09391