April ends, May begins. The new month promises to bring much hotter temperatures and dryer weather. Around here the "April showers" do not bring "May flowers". April showers bring mud. May flowers? If they exist here I haven't seen them. Even if they do exist they probably are weeds and induce hay fever. This is a harsh place.
May came with a bang too. I was awoken early in the morning by the sound of the C-RAM engaging incoming mortar rounds. That woke my neighbor too. He got up and started banging around in the bathroom. It was probably 30 minutes later that I finally went back to sleep. Unfortunately, I was rousted out of my sleep again about an hour later. Seems the TCNs were tasked with re-stacking sandbags around our trailers so they chose to start at about 0530. They were heaving the sandbags right up against the side of the trailer. The sound of a sandbag slamming against the wall got me up for good. Shortly after that the AF mechanics started testing F16 engines nearby. To the tune of tossed sandbags and jet engine afterburners I got up and made coffee. Hello to you too May.
The night before I had spoken to my AF friends - Ron, Ben, and Stephanie - from the hospital. They had invited me to come take a complete tour, possibly observing the transport of a patient to the flight line. I readily accepted the invite. Today around lunch time Ron stopped by to pick me up. I've been to the CSH before but today was different in that I got to see behind the scenes. I got a complete tour of the holding area for patients being staged for air transport to Kuwait or Germany. I met some of the nurses and physicians assistants. I also saw the storage areas where charitable donations to the hospital are kept - very impressive. From there we headed next door to the hospital. First we walked to the heliport and walked back through the aptly named "Hero's Hwy" tent tunnel leading to triage and surgery. The photo accompanying today's comments is the view patients see coming off the helicopters.
Once inside the hospital I was able to see the area where patients are manifested for flights to Germany or Kuwait. The whole hospital is comprised of interconnected tents but is equipped with the latest technology. It has a chapel, MWR, cafeteria, ICUs for soldiers, Iraqi civilians, captured insurgents, etc., X-ray, radiology, and every other department you'd expect to find. All of the ICUs had patients. I wasn't able to go into the units holding Iraqi civilians or insurgents. I was able to go speak with soldiers and civilian contractors in one of the ICUs. There were both combat and non-combat conditions being treated. I spoke with an AF military working dog handler who had taken shrapnel from a mortar round in his leg. He was eager to return to duty and to be reunited with his dog. Fortunately, the dog wasn't with him at the time he was wounded. I also spoke with two civilian contractors who had been wounded in a rocket attack on the Green Zone. As bad as it could have been, all of these individuals will return to duty after minor rehab. I sincerely thanked them for their service and sacrifice. They were all very eager to return to work. We left the hospital shortly afterward. It was a much appreciated tour. Ron and the gang asked if I'd like to volunteer to assist on the flight line sometime with loading patients. I enthusiastically said yes. Later I asked my team and they all volunteered as well. If we get a call we'll go help.
The rest of the day was spent biding time. I chose not to work out. Hey I can take a day off every now and then. It isn't like I'm out of shape or getting fat. The real motivating factor was that my friend Dave down in Kuwait had forwarded me the newest episode of Sopranos. It's the final 9 episodes! So after supper I got comfortable back in the hooch and had a private Sopranos party. I won't comment on the episode though. You'll just have to watch yourself. Don't worry Dave, I'll return the disk. Thanks for sending it to me. I eagerly await the next episode.
Welcome May! Now, hurry up and be June already!
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