We all knew it could happen, but we've been hoping against hope that it wouldn't. Yesterday, we got the bad news--she's going to Iraq.
I'm a pediatrician. My nurse is in the National Guard. When she went for her annual 2-week drill a few weeks ago, she told us that it was likely that she would be called to duty somewhere. Maybe the border, maybe Iraq, she would probably find out while she was on drill.
When she came back without any orders to report, we were all overjoyed. But she let us know that it could still happen. Well, yesterday, it did. She got a call at 7 am telling her she was being sent to Iraq for a year. She has to report on July 15.
My nurse is going to Iraq.
She's a single mom with a 9-year-old daughter. They live with her mother, who is battling breast cancer. Her step-father died suddenly of a stroke last year. She has a couple of siblings who are struggling to get by. She's the rock in her family.
She joined the army right after high school. She's never told me why, but I suspect she was looking for direction in her life. She started dating another soldier and got pregnant. I don't think he even stuck around long enough for their daughter's birth. She's been the only parent her daughter has ever known.
Now she's going to Iraq.
When her enlistment ended, she joined the guard. She's been in ever since. Several years ago, she was called to duty after the space shuttle disaster. She spent several months in east Texas looking for space shuttle debris.
We limped along with temporary or float nurses while she was gone, but we really missed her, because no one can do her job like she does. We were damn glad when she came back to work for us.
Now she's going to Iraq.
Last year, she was called up after Hurricane Katrina. She spent several weeks in New Orleans in pretty primitive conditions. She's trained as a medic, but her job is to take care of her fellow soldiers who need medical attention. Even so, she spent some time triaging ill and injured citizens in New Orleans, and she saw some really horrific things.
But then came Hurricane Rita, and she was moved with her unit to Beaumont, Texas. Again, she assisted with hurricane relief. She was injured in an accident when their troop transport vehicle was hit on the highway. Even though she was wearing a combat helmet, she got a large gash on her head and suffered a mild concussion. She took a few days off in the hospital and then was back on the job. She brought her badly bent helmet back to the office to show us. If she hadn't have been wearing it, she might have been killed.
Now she's going to Iraq.
Even though she was on leave from our employment for several months last year, she was voted employee of the quarter by her fellow employees. At the Christmas banquet, she was honored as employee of the year (we have well over 100 employees).
In addition to her guard duty, she is a volunteer for the Red Cross. She is an officer for the local nursing organization. She is the troop leader of her daughter's girl scout troop. She does so much for so many people.
Now she's going to Iraq.
Already today we had moms sobbing at the thought that their favorite nurse would be gone for a year. We are scrambling to find someone to fill her place temporarily, but we know that there can be no adequate substitute.
She's the rare kind of person who loves her job so much that she stays in spite of the worst pay scale in a three county area. One of her best friends works right down the street and makes $5 an hour more than she does. But she says she doesn't care, because she loves her patients, and their families, and the people she works with. She's truly dedicated to her job.
Now she' going to Iraq.
She says that it's no big deal. She'll be back in a year. She'll be stationed at an air base, taking care of soldiers' routine medical needs. She jokes that she knows how to hit the deck when she hears gunfire. She says her daughter will be fine while she's gone. She says her mother will be fine. But just in case, she signs medical powers of attorney for other family members in case they need to take care of her daughter.
I heard several people today ask her how she could be so calm. How could she not be freaking out that she would be leaving her family for a year and going to such a dangerous situation. She said that she always knew that this was a possibility and that her family was prepared for it too. She said that she couldn't afford to "freak out"--it would not be helpful for her family or any one else. She just has to accept her situation.
She's going to Iraq.
We have to accept it as well. But we certainly don't have to like it. I'm pissed that our country continues to pour American lives and money down the drain for war that we had no business starting in the first place. I for one plan to continue to bitch and moan about the ridiculous position the US has taken in this war. But there is nothing I can do about my nurse.
She's going to Iraq.