A day in the life of....
Medic: A memoir of Afghanistan by Rod Meehan, Journalist
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Jan 30, 2008, 16:29

Courtesy the EMS House of DeFrance http://www.defrance.org

Medic: A memoir of Afghanistan
by Rod Meehan, Journalist

From the fetid jungles of the Solomon Islands to the blood stained snow of the Ardennes forest and beyond, combat veterans can recall the shrill, plaintive cry of, "Man down; Medic!" Acting as Emergency Medical Technicians in a lethal arena, medics were wounded soldiers' first hope of life and recovery.

It was not always so. In ancient times, the severely wounded could expect little aid, besides the intervention of death. During the Revolutionary War, General Washington instituted the service of litter-bearers to collect the injured from the battlefield.

Sgt. (E-5) Peter Sanders returned from a year-long combat tour as a combat medic in Afghanistan, April 2007. He was attached to Charlie Company out of Bristol, serving next to Branford's Delta Company, 102nd Infantry Regiment, 29th Division - "the Blue & the Gray."

Formed as a National Guard Division in 1917, the 29th won distinction as the first wave to hit Omaha beach in the Normandy, D-Day invasion. The popular image of the Combat Medic was dramatized in the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan.

In 1862, Dr. Jonathan Letterman, head of Medical Services, Army of the Potomac, revamped the Army Medical Corp. His contributions included the formation of wagon teams (the nation's first Ambulance Corp.) to collect the wounded and deliver them to field dressing stations for treatment.

By the time of the Great War (1914-1918), combat medical services evolved into a race between advanced medical technology and man's dark quest to inflict ever-greater death and destruction. World War I left behind images of raggedly bandaged troops walking to rear echelon aid-stations on the arm of a comrade.

Both World Wars began using motorized transport-ambulances-to collect the injured; part of the attempt to provide life-saving medical aid rearward. However, ambulance service accessibility was limited by war ravaged ground and enemy fire. In World War II, Japanese troops viewed field medics as prime targets.

The innovation of using helicopters to evacuate wounded troops began in the Korean War (1950-1953) and reached proficiency in the Vietnam Conflict (1964-1973). Another innovation during the 1960s was the arming of combat medics, underscoring the savagery of ideological wars' erosion of recognized rules of warfare.

Modern day combat medics have discarded distinctive red-cross insignia for firearms and grenades; and, of course, their life-saving medical gear. Sgt. Sanders' story is a specific vantage point in the Afghan campaign against the religious fanaticism of the Taliban.

Sanders' experience is well documented by approximately 300 to 400 photographs he took: Images of the severely wounded and dead; essentially, enemy combatants, and civilians killed or wounded in the crossfire. They include civilians executed by the Taliban.

"I treated close to 200 combat casualties, mostly Afghan Army and coalition troops," Sanders said. Nonetheless, he sadly remembers the 102nd's sole fatality during the tour, Staff Sgt. Joseph Phaneuf of Eastford, killed Dec. 15, 2006, by a roadside bomb.

Pete "Doc" Sanders ("I don't go by rank, because it's an honor to be called "Doc") began his sojourn in uniform as Regular Army. From 1992 to 1994, he was a paratrooper in the elite 101st Division. "I was a former Air Assault Instructor," he said.

From 1995 to 1998, Sanders served with the equally renown 82nd Airborne Division. He spent duty time in Germany and South Korea.

"Afghanistan was my fourth overseas tour," he says. Before leaving for home in Branford, he re-enlisted.
"I am now stationed in National Guard Headquarters, Ft. Nathan Hale in New Haven," Sanders says. He is currently looking to hook up with another Guard outfit shipping to Iraq. "As a medic, I can go anywhere in the world."
No doubt, for Sanders was awarded the coveted Combat Medic Badge during his last assignment. Sanders began his medical training in 2005, at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas. There he learned a plethora of skills: basic health care and hygiene, starting IVs; treatment of head wounds, gunshot wounds, shock, burns; suturing, tracheotomy and treatment for amputations, to name but a few.

Sanders and the 102nd were stationed in southeastern Afghanistan, Qalat Province, bordering Pakistan. Their task was to act as an infantry Provisional Reconstruction Team. The essential mission was to rebuild the infrastructure of villages.

It was also, in the words of Tom Hank's character in Saving Private Ryan, "to win the war;" in short, defeating the militant Taliban. To this end, Sanders carried an M-9 pistol and the standard M-4 assault rifle.

According to "Doc" Sanders, the purpose of his weaponry was to protect himself and the troopers in his care.
"I won't be the one to initiate combat, but I have to defend myself," he says. "I did fight."

"I treated mostly IED (Improvised Explosive Device) shrapnel wounds," says Sanders. "Mostly blast injuries, but I also treated gunshot wounds and performed multiple amputations."

The rhythm of the 102nd's tour was, "moving from F.O.B. (Forward Operations Base) to F.O.B." he says; engaging the enemy and reconstructing villages along the way, maintains Sanders. "We had a good mission, trying to rebuild their country."

"IEDs (roadside bombs) were the number one concern," Sanders says. "Every time you left the wire (base), IEDs were on your mind. The majority of wounds were treated at the FOB."

After initially treating any civilian or military casualties in the field to stabilize them, Sanders' standard procedure was to await the "dust-offs;" Medevac Helicopters to transport patients back to base.

Another constant rhythm of the tour was reading the indigenous population. "If we came into a village and no one came out to greet us, we knew we would get hit," Sanders said. "If they threw rocks at us, we knew the Taliban was watching."

Sgt. Sanders has no regrets about America's efforts in Afghanistan. "We did a lot of great things over there," he says. "The kids love us and the people love us."

After Sanders' initial four months training as a combat medic at Ft. Sam Houston and his field experience, he is prepared to become a "super paramedic." His five-year re-enlistment gives him the time. For combat medics, the training never stops.

"Army doctors would constantly train the medics how to save a life in a second," said Sanders. "We are taught paramedic level and higher. You learn something new everyday in the field."

"Doc" Sanders gives special mention to Sgt. First Class James Sypher. "Our excellent platoon sargeant, who was instrumental in keeping a lot of our guys alive."

Like the rest of Connecticut's 102nd Infantry Regiment, Sanders and Sypher are part of America's 21st Century Army-the long and the short, and the tall.

Sgt. Peter Sanders with Afghan kids

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