A Soldier's Story part 1

Editor's Note: This is the first of a six-part series of firsthand accounts written by Sgt. Raymond Murray, a Norwich student on leave to serve as a medic in the U.S. Army in Kosovo. He will serve as a medic treating army personnel and Kosovo citizens for several months. Ray Murray is a Norwich communications major who also served last semester as the sports editor of The Norwich Guidon. This article is written from his first assignment at the 399th Combat Support Hospital in Tauton, Mass., preparing for service in Kosovo.

By Ray Murray
Norwich Guidon Correspondent

When I joined the Army at age seventeen I had hoped to see a little bit of the world and how people outside of the United States lived. I never really thought that I would be sent to parts of the world where people lived their lives in constant fear. Getting ready to deploy to Kosovo in just a little under two months, and getting in the frame of mind to treat native wounded women and children, is a much larger ordeal then I ever expected.

I am a sergeant in the 399th Combat Support Hospital out of Taunton , Mass. On Mar. 8, my unit will be sent on a 210 mission to Camp Bonsteel to give care to the people of Kosovo, as well to soldiers of our military.

Being in a medical unit, most of the soldiers' primary training is basic medical care. This training enables them to stabilize the wounded and prepare them for further treatment either from a surgeon, doctor, or nurse.

The 399th is a self-supporting unit and has every medical specialty to carry out its care-giving mission. To do this, soldiers are not only trained to be combat medics, but most perform a second, more important duty as well. Robert Murray, a 23-year-old sergeant in the unit, and sophomore at Norwich University, runs the orthopedic cast lab for the hospital.

"My job simply is to stabilize a part of a patient's body with a cast or other immobilizing device," Rob explained. "Depending on the patient's wound, the doctor will instruct us on what to use and then we apply it."

In addition to being a medic in the hospital, I work in the dental office, or operating room as the case warrants, with a dentist and an oral surgeon. My day-to-day job will be giving basic dental care to soldiers, as well as civilians, and when needed we perform reconstructive face surgery or other surgery for severe facial trauma.

Since the unit received its orders, the Army has been preparing us with briefs ranging from the threat level to what kind of injuries the present hospital has been treating. The threat level is the level of readiness soldiers are prepared for regarding the danger facing those in the camp, which is now, and has been, at the highest level of readiness because of small arms fire the camp has been receiving lately.

Though few American soldiers have been wounded, any hostile action has to be taken seriously, and solders have to be ready to react to a possibly dangerous situation.

The slides and medical treatment history we've been shown thus far in our preparation stateside has revolved around the civilian population and the kind of injuries they've been admitted with. Almost daily, many patients, made up of mostly children and farmers, have been brought to the camp because of wounds they received from land mines.

Much of the Kosovo countryside and area around the many outlying villages has been heavily mined. Farmers working their fields and children playing outdoors unexpectedly step on them.

Many of the other injuries treated at the hospital are gunshot wounds. The people of Kosovo have made a habit of sniping the elderly, women, and children. We have been briefed that this, as well as the mines, are being used to try to force the United Nations mission out of the country, with the premise being that the sooner the united force is gone the sooner the people can return to their fighting.

Right now the unit is ensuring that every soldier is fit medically and physically as well as qualified to perform their jobs both as soldiers and caregivers while in Kosovo. This process makes sure that a soldier is competent in taking care of and using their issued weapon, that they're in good health and can handle the stresses the mission guarantees.

We have been going through a rigorous job-qualifying program to make certain that every soldier is trained and comfortable in performing their individual jobs. These tests are given to us and evaluated by soldiers who have served medically in a combat mission overseas before.

From here the soldiers of the unit will continue to prepare themselves and their families for the separation all will experience starting Mar. 8.

Beginning in February, we will have a week of straight job training and final packing in preparation for the move to our deployment site at Ft. Benning, Georgia. From there we will go to Germany to train for a week on a compound which is identical to the camp in Kosovo.

In the next article from Rob and me we will explain the family preparations a soldier must make before a deployment such as this, as well as the last details each must arrange before shipping out.

Back to Guidon index