Do Americans Care About British Soldiers?
by Michael YonHelmand Province, Afghanistan
A gunshot ripped through the darkness and a young British soldier fell dying on FOB Jackson. I was just nearby talking on the satellite phone and saw the commotion. The soldier was taken to the medical tent and a helicopter lifted him to the excellent trauma center at Camp Bastion. That he made it to Camp Bastion alive dramatically improved his chances. But his life teetered and was in danger of slipping away. Making matters worse, the British medical system back in the United Kingdom did not possess the specialized gear needed to save his life. Americans had the right gear in Germany, and so the British soldier was put into the American system.
British officers in his unit, 2 Rifles, wanted to track their man every step of the way, and to ensure that his family was informed and supported in this time of high stress. Yet having their soldier suddenly in the American system caused a temporary glitch in communications with folks in Germany. The British leadership in Sangin could have worked through the glitch within some hours, but that would have been hours wasted, and they wanted to know the status of their soldier now. So a British officer in Sangin – thinking creatively –asked if I knew any shortcuts to open communications. The right people were only an email away: Soldiers Angels. And so within about two minutes, these fingers typed an email with this subject heading: CALLING ALL ANGELS.
Soldiers’ Angels Shelle Michaels and MaryAnn Phillips moved into action. Day by day British officers mentioned how Soldiers Angels were proving to be incredibly helpful. The soldiers expressed deep and sincere appreciation. Yet again, the Angels arrived during a time of need.
The severely wounded soldier, whose name I will not print without explicit permission, is recovering in the United Kingdom.
Two or three weeks after the injury, I was having dinner with a British Major and several Captains. The Major talked reverently about Soldiers Angels, and then about a herculean effort that the United States military extended to save a single British soldier. I had no idea about that effort. I just heard the gunshot, saw the soldier carried away into the night, and heard the helicopter roar into the darkness. I knew Soldiers’ Angels had intervened back in Germany, but the details that followed came as incredible surprise. The U.S. military had quietly moved Heaven and Earth to save a single British “Squaddie.”
Please read the following description, authored in part by Soldiers’ Angel MaryAnn Phillips:
The Needs of the One…
In late July, a British Soldier deployed in Afghanistan sustained life-threatening wounds to the abdomen and chest. I alluded to him in this post, but his identity has not yet been made public.
The article quoted below describes the extraordinary (and to my knowledge unprecedented) efforts made to save his life. It is a testimony to the advancements made in the technological, logistical, and medical fields. But most of all, it is a testimony to the commitment of the many to care for the needs of the one.
Here is a summary of the medical, logistic, and air assets involved in this incredibly complex mission. It is almost certainly incomplete.
Aircraft:
- One C-17 aircraft to get the medical team and equipment from Germany in place at the hospital in Afghanistan.
- One C-130 aircraft to fly a pulmonologist from a different hospital in Afghanistan to the Soldiers’ location.
- A second C-17 aircraft to fly the patient from Afghanistan to Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
- LifeBird German civilian medevac helicopter to fly the patient from Ramstein Air Base to Regensburg University hospital.
Aircrews:
- Three C-17 aircrews; four sorties
- LifeBird helicopter aircrew
Medical Teams:
- British, Danish, US surgical team at the hospital in Afghanistan.
- A pulmonologist from a different hospital in Afghanistan flown to the facility where this Soldier was located.
- The Landstuhl Acute Lung Rescue Team (Specialized Critical Care Air Transport)
- The LifeBird medevac team in Germany
- The thoracic surgical and ICU teams at Regensburg University hospital in Germany, for the highly specialized treatment developed and available there.
Logistics Teams:
- Combined Air and Space Operations Center (SW Asia)
- Joint Patient Movement Requirements Center (within the CAOC above, SW Asia)
- Global Patient Movements Requirement Center (Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, USA)
- 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center (Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, USA)
- Landstuhl DWMMC (Deployed Warrior Medical Management Center)
A surgeon at work in an Afghanistan field hospital. At this hospital there is a general team of five surgeons, working with another three orthopaedic surgeons. With anaesthetists, emergency doctors and junior doctors, there could be 20 staff working on a single patient. Photo: Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images
Air Force aeromedical evacuation teams give British soldier fighting chance
by Capt. Justin Brockhoff618th Tanker Airlift Control Center Public Affairs
8/4/2009 – SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFNS) — Three Air Force aircraft along with multiple aircrew, aeromedical evacuation teams, and agencies from around the world gave a British soldier a fighting chance at life in late July after the soldier sustained multiple gunshot wounds and had his blood supply replaced more than 10 times at a military hospital in Afghanistan.
According to officials, the soldier sustained multiple wounds to the abdomen and chest, and was transfused with 75 units of blood and another 75 units of platelets.
Emergency surgery was conducted to repair the Soldiers’ liver and lung. After being stabilized by the medical teams on the ground, the patient’s respiratory condition worsened and doctors determined that the patient had to be moved to upgraded care in Germany.
The Combined Air and Space Operations Center, staffed by U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and Coalition partners. Built at a cost of $60 million, the project created the most advanced operations center in history. It includes thousands of computers, dozens of servers, racks of video equipment and display screens, over 67 miles of high-capacity and fiber optic cable, and hundreds of people, working in satellite communications, imagery analysis, network design, computer programming, radio systems, systems administration and many other fields.
Officials at the Combined Air and Space Operations Center and Joint Patient Movement Requirements Center at an air base in Southwest Asia, and the Global Patient Movements Requirement Center and 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., immediately started working to find the aircraft, aircrews and medical crews to airlift the soldier to further care.
“We received the call on our operations floor to airlift the British soldier from Afghanistan to Germany and immediately did what we could to make it happen,” said Col. John Martins, the 618th TACC director of operations who led coordination efforts for the mission. “It was a complex move. Not only did we have to find a plane and crew to fly the patient out of theater, but also we had to find another plane and aircrew to get the right medical personnel and equipment into Afghanistan because we needed specialized medical teams to care for the patient in-flight.”
In less than six hours, a C-17 Globemaster III previously scheduled to fly a cargo mission was airborne with the required medical personnel and equipment from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, to Afghanistan.
“We were able to quickly identify a mission that was planned to fly into Afghanistan, and after coordinating with other agencies in the 618th TACC we were able to re-task the mission as an aeromedical evacuation flight,” said Maj. Kris Rowe, an aeromedical flight manager. “At the same time, we needed a pulmonologist to be part of the AE team due to the trauma to the Soldiers’ lungs. Working with our counterparts at the CAOC, we were able to get the pulmonologist from a different location in Afghanistan to the Soldiers’ location on a pre-scheduled C-130 (Hercules) mission.”
The pulmonologist arrived to the Soldiers’ location and continued to care for him on the ground, while the C-17 carrying the medical teams and specialized lung equipment were still en-route on the eight-hour flight from Germany.
Because of crew duty day restrictions, safety regulations that dictate how long an aircrew can be on-duty before they’re required to rest, the original C-17 aircrew couldn’t stay the six hours it would take the lung team to prepare the soldier on the ground, and still fly the mission back to Germany. Instead, once they arrived, the C-17 and its crew were able to wait on the ground for just over an hour while nine other patients, in addition to two amputees previously picked up during a fuel stop, were on-loaded for a flight to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, near Ramstein AB.
Once they had dropped off the medical crews and equipment to stabilize the British soldier, and its 11 new patients were prepped for flight, the first C-17 took off back for Germany. Its mission was complete.
A C-17 Globemaster III, like the one pictured here, aeromedically evacuated a British soldier in late July from Afghanistan to Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Before the soldier could be evacuated, an additional C-17 and a C-130 Hercules were needed to airlift specialized medical teams and equipment into place. U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Clay Lancaster.
Enter the second C-17 and aircrew, assigned to the 385th Air Expeditionary Group, who were also previously scheduled to fly a cargo mission in Afghanistan. Officials at the 618th TACC delivered a similar notification that they’d been re-tasked to be involved in the lifesaving effort.
“The patient was loaded on the second C-17 and airborne within 22 hours of receiving the call for support at the 618th TACC,” said Master Sgt. Keyser Voigt, an aeromedical evacuation mission controller at the 618th TACC. “When you look at the requirements we had, its awe inspiring to see how many people will come together to save one life. It took two airplanes to get the medical team and equipment in place, another to fly the patient to Germany, three aircrews, four sorties, AE personnel and many more coordinating on the ground to get this done. Including the fact that we had to fly in specialized teams and equipment from eight-plus hours away and it took a minimum of six hours on the ground to prepare the patient using that specialized equipment, everyone involved did absolutely everything we could to give this soldier the care he deserves.”
At approximately 1 p.m. local time Aug. 2, the British soldier landed safely at Ramstein AB and was flown to further medical care at a university hospital by helicopter.
“It’s a true testament to the aircrews, the medical crews, and the ground personnel around the world and at the airfield that we could get this soldier out of Afghanistan so fast,” said Lt. Col. Duncan Smith, the 618th TACC’s Aeromedical Evacuation Division chief. “It is truly amazing to see this coordination take place in such a short amount of time, because we’re literally coordinating these moves from a world away. We are in the business of saving lives, and we will do everything we can to reach that goal.”
As of press time, the soldier was still at the university hospital in Germany, where he was listed in critical condition.
This movement marked the 8,563 patient movement by U.S. Air Force aeromedical evacuation teams in 2009, and the 135,233 since April 1, 2003.
(emphasis added)
As of today, almost 10 days after this story was written, the Soldier remains in Germany where his condition is stable. He may be able to fly home to the UK soon.
The doctors say it’s a miracle.
I’d say it’s probably close to a thousand miracles: A miracle for each of the many who came together to meet the needs of the one…
–
MaryAnn Phillips
Vice President, Warrior Medical Support Europe
Soldiers’ Angels main web site: www.soldiersangels.org
Soldiers’ Angels Germany blog: www.soldiersangelsgermany.org
*** New shipping address ***
MTD
Attn: Soldiers’ Angels
CMR 402
APO AE 09180
*** New shipping address ***
Post Script from Michael Yon:
Soldiers’ Angel MaryAnn Phillips emailed to me:
“I thought you might be interested in this. Incredibly, [British Soldier] is actually beginning to do quite well. He has regained consciousness and may be able to be transported to the UK within the next week.
While at Regensburg hospital with his mom […] right after she arrived here, I told her about some of this. She broke down and couldn’t believe “all of those people would do all that for my son”. It was a very, very moving moment.
Take care of yourself, Michael.
mp
I cannot operate in the war without your support. If support does not substantially increase, I will be forced to abandon war reporting in September. There has seldom been much interest in the Afghanistan war. True interest has been starkly reflected in the support for this mission. Each journey into Afghanistan, since 2006, has bled out resources from my operations. Reporting from Afghanistan is not sustainable at this rate.
Nevertheless, I continue to crack on: Please consider signing up for free Twitter updates at Michael_Yon (not Michael Yon without the underscore), for the most timely snippets possible.
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53 Comments
What a story Mr. Yon! I look forward to your dispatches from the battlefield. Yes, …that kid was worth saving, that’s the difference between us and the barbarian Islamo-Fascist.
Proud of the the Americans and proud to be American, it may be boasting, but Americans are a special people. How many time have we fought for the freedom of others, when we could have looked the other way.
While I was deployed, I met a British soldier who was in awe of the letters and drawings we got from kids back home. He said the British soldiers didn't get any of this. This was at a hospital on a base in Iraq where he was transporting a POW.
Helloo? (as Bruno might say) American's would absolutely regard the safety and security of a British soldier as high, or even higher, than their own. That probably applies to all allies, but to the British most especially.
W.A.L.O.F.S.
Thank you for your witness, Michael.
It is good to reflect on the heroic efforts of so many to save the life of one stricken hero. My prayers for his recovery.
It is also good to reflect how our medical system, for all of its often-listed flaws, is the best in the world and makes such miracles a possibility.
It would be an irretrievable loss to "reform" such a system with misguided intentions of making it "fair" and "cost-effective."
Huh?
A very special thanks to the brits standing shoulder to shoulder with us during this difficult time.
Please do tell us how this is a load of f-in sh!t?
The soldiers of our allies are America's soldiers as well. Of course we care what happens to them. The Brits are amazing fighters and should receive the same respect & care our soldiers do. It's the American way.
Wow, I just came back from the Combined Air and Space Operations Center pictured above. It's great to know that there are a lot of great individuals from many countries on constant watch over there. Even the coffee was pretty good.
I have had huge respect for all the Coalition forces that go outside the wire in support of this mission. With your added insights it has grown that much more. Please thank all the coalition troops for us and God bless you for bringing us their story.
[...] the original: Do Americans Care About British Soldiers? This entry is filed under America – Blogs, Big Hollywood. You can follow any responses to this [...]
I was stationed in Landstuhl 36 years ago. My barracks were an old (condemned) Luftwaffe barracks. The foundation was crumbling and the building was tilted.
Landstuhl, at the time, was another of the stucco military hospitals the Army built in the early 50s expecting to stay 10-15 years.
Just for fun, I went back in 1992 and what a change. The old building had been razed and this was a 6 story state-of-the-art facility. ]
To dedicate a C17 and a C130 to save one life is a testimony to the value of life our military places on its servicemen/women. Think of the money **that** cost. And our allies should get just the same care.
Nice story.
Hell Yes !!!!! we do…enough said
The answer is yes. I, and I'm sure most of us, care about all soldiers in the field of battle. It's a sad thing that frequently the rhetoric between countries makes it seem otherwise due to generally small disagreements. But soldiers are the finest of all societies.
We've seen the hard row the British have had to hoe in these battles as well. Cheers to them for standing up with us – or, as I'm sure they see it, us standing up with them – when much of the world sat down.
It makes no difference, an ally in need is an American in need. Thank you Micheal.
I take it you're one of those "support our troops" Lefties, huh Stu? I can only imagine what you'd say if you weren't! Besides, even Obama says Afghanistan is the right war, Stu. Nothing good to say about our troops at all? Or do you just hate America and all Americans with the same relish as Al Qaeda? WALOFS is what of them would say for sure. How proud you must be.
What about Canada? No praise for them?
Do Americans care about British Soldiers?
Am I my brother's keeper?
just a thought: Under Obamacare he'd just be given a pain pill.
I hope we do care. Unlike the Brits in Iraq that made deals with terrorists to attack only Americans.
What about Canada. Per capita I think Canada's lost more soldiers in Afghanistan than the U.S. or Britain.
Went into this expecting a beat down but got another wonderful story of the great humanity of those who fight for rights, freedom and progress of all. Soldiers' Angels, keep up the great work and our thanks and prayers can now include you. Michael Yon is a man among men. Great men.
I've found that America usually fights to take care of itself and of someone else benefits, good for them. America didn't come into WWI until it was almost over and let the British Commonwealth flounder for about 4 years before jumping into WW2.
WB: My guess you wouldn’t know you’re a$$ from a hole in the ground. When you make a statement, it’s usually a good idea to have a point.
My point's pretty clear. labeau says "we have fought for the freedom of others". In Afghanistan in particular the U.S. only decided to fight for the country's freedom when they wanted to get at the people who caused 911. Before that they didn't care about the Afghan people's freedom.
Michael, thank you for sharing the story.
I'm glad you knew the shortcut to get that Man immediate medical attention.
Yes sir. They DO care. I'm a former United States Marine and we loved the Brits.
Crap. I meant to hit thumbs up and apparently hit thumbs down. Sorry.
Ms. Jay Leno would disagree as fighting for freedom need not always mean literally.
It strikes me how the NHS is not equipped to help their soldiers most in need. Socialized medicine, and indeed communism, makes people expendable. Obamacare is evil.
Borrowing a line from the Marines – Semper Fidelis extends to all our allies, all branches of service.
Sept 1939 – December 1941 is not four years. (It IS a little over two.) And really, given the way it worked, it was more like May/June 1940 to December 1941. (The British/French didn't seem to need any help during the Sitzkrieg.)
Many do not know of the great sacrifice the Canadians have made in this mission. All I can say is that you guys know how to fight and know how to win. I hope the government changes it's mind and sticks around because you guys are a great asset in this war. Maybe Michael will get to work with your folks and bring those heros stories to us all.
Wow, freedom in the abstract. I wonder if the troops no their fighting for that?
[...] http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/myon/2009/08/20/do-americans-care-about-british-soldiers/ [...]
It never ceases to amaze me how many gutless turds comment on this site. This is an incredible story and you get jerk offs like "WinkinBlinkin" and "StuPeters". Bunch of ankle grabbing wimps. Five bucks these fools are progressives.
This story was about the American military moving "heaven and earth" for a British soldier and then you get somebody whining "What about Canada?" Dear God, I would love to go a day without bitching, whining and bitter ass people running their mouths.
With "citizens" like this it's no wonder a bunch of wussies are in the White House and Congress.
Well of course! My brother being a marine, I know that no matter what branch or country, our servicemen will do anything to save a fellow serviceman. They are there to protect and serve. And thats what they do.
Gee, I'll just tell the relatives of the half million soldiers that died in WWII that you said that –
There is no doubt that the American Health Care system is the best in the world. But I think this comment is a cheap shot at what we who are interested in health care reform are trying to do. Doesn't "Stergeye" realize that the US Military Care System, and for that matter, the VA Medical Care System, is far, far different than the American Private Medical Care sytem which is dictated to by the insurance companies? I wonder how many of the big medical care insurance companies would have agreed to foot such a humongous cost to save this soldier's life? Not many I suspect.
CHEAP SHOT!?!?!?
Unlike, for example, accusing surgeons of performing unnecessary surgeries to pad their bills? Or vilifying insurance companies for raising costs, while ignoring the effects of unlimited tort liabilities and Medicare price ceilings which force medical service providers to raise prices for services which the private insurers are obliged to pay?
Or calling people who oppose a 1000+ page boondoggle which failed to get rammed through before the August recess "nazis", "anti-American" or "evil-mongers", while bussing in SEIU goons to beat them up ?
In point of fact, there are many instances of private service providers, private pharmaceutical companies, and yes, even private insurers taking heroic measures to provide costly services to the poorest patients. Such individual acts of charity will disappear when the whole system falls under a federal panel with a mandate to cut costs, or with private insurers being forced to "compete" with a subsidized public option adding even more unfunded mandates and driving their costs higher.
BTW, I'd much rather put my fate in the hands of any private provider, who must worry about competition and bad press, than a faceless Federal bureaucrat who only answers to other faceless bureaucrats.
I do not want to get into a squabble over health care reform. I get enough of that from the local “tea baggers”.
Ted Kennedy’s funeral is tomorrow. In the July 27th edition of Newsweek, Kennedy wrote: "We will end the disgrace of America as the only major industrialized nation in the world that doesn't guarantee health care for all of its people."
What a shame that 46 million American citizens are uninsured and have to choose between taking care of their bodies and eating.
I highly recommend reading a thought provoking article by Dr. Marcia Angell in http://www.huffingtonpost.com. The article was posted on 24 Aug 2009. It is really excellent, informative reading no matter which side of the healthcare reform fence you prefer.
Dr. Angell’s article begins, “It's not just the right-wing crazies who oppose health reform. In addition, there are many sane Americans who worry about committing a trillion dollars to it. They have a point. We already spend more than twice as much per person on health care as other advanced countries, and our costs are rising faster. How much is enough?”
Too bad we can't get Dr. Angell’s very understandable explanation on TV instead of the “Harry and Louise” ads we will get instead.
I highly recommend reading a thought provoking article by Dr. Marcia Angell in http://www.huffingtonpost.com. The article was posted on 24 Aug 2009. It is really excellent, informative reading no matter which side of the healthcare reform fence you prefer.
Dr. Angell’s article begins, “It's not just the right-wing crazies who oppose health reform. In addition, there are many sane Americans who worry about committing a trillion dollars to it. They have a point. We already spend more than twice as much per person on health care as other advanced countries, and our costs are rising faster. How much is enough?”
Too bad we can't get Dr. Angell’s very understandable explanation on TV instead of the “Harry and Louise” ads we will get instead.
You demonstrate the Progressive's defensiveness about being judged on anything other than your stated intentions, while feeling free to denigrate the intentions of others. "Teabaggers" indeed.
Appreciate your invoking the memory of Ted Kennedy. If anybody better personifies the leftist "Good enough for thee but not for me" double standard, I don't know who it is. Among other Senatorial perks, he received the premium level of healthcare which he intended to deny to everyone else.
Dr. Angell's analysis ignores the fact that our healthcare is more expensive because it is BETTER than those other "advanced countries". American doctors and technology and RESEARCH provide the cutting edge procedures and medicines which other countries benefit from without sharing the costs. She also ignores the role which already extensive government intervention in the American system plays as the principal driver of escalating costs.
If we succumb to Ted Kennedy's miserific "guarantee(d) health care for all" system, the focus of American healthcare, like those of Eurosocialist systems, will inevitably upon containing costs rather than on developing better, more effective treatments. Not only will our healthcare decline, but those foreign systems which have drawn on American innovation will decline even faster.
Please tell me again how that's being "compassionate".
Members of Congress belong to the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program or FEHBP. So do all active and retired federal employees. Yes, FEHBP is a great health care system, better than what most people have. However, a million plus US citizens besides Senators and Congressmen belong to FEHBP. I know. As a retired federal employee, I am a member of FEHBP.
Senators and Congressmen do have a medical perk that the rest of us in FEHBP do not have and that is specialized medical equipment like x-ray machines and defibrillators in the Capitol complex in case one of them stumbles down a flight of stairs, has a heart attack or whatever. But is that any different than what they have for players that get hurt playing football? NFL owners have to protect their investment in their players. Why shouldn’t the American people similarly protect ours investment in Congress? After all, we, the people, elected them.
Let me refer you to T. R. Ried who knows a little bit about Health Care around the world. T.R. Reid is a foreign correspondent for The Washington Post and author of ten books, most recently The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper and Fairer Health Care.
See the T. R. Ried article "5 Myths About Health Care Around the World" , posted on 23 Aug 2009 on http://www.medkb.com/Uwe/Forum.aspx/med/15070/For...
I quote number 4: Cost controls stifle innovation:
False. The United States is home to groundbreaking medical research,
but so are other countries with much lower cost structures. Any
American who's had a hip or knee replacement is standing on French
innovation. Deep-brain stimulation to treat depression is a Canadian
breakthrough. Many of the wonder drugs promoted endlessly on American
television, including Viagra, come from British, Swiss or Japanese
labs.
You neglect to mention that Senators and Congressment have a special wing at Johns Hopkins reserved for their care, which is not the case for run-of-the-mill FEHBP members.
Why am I not surprised that you believe the expenditure of public money for the health care of lifetime-tenured politicians to be an "investment"? Talk about turning the language on its ear.
In a previous comment, “Sergeye” states that American doctors, technology and research provide the cutting edge procedures and medicines which other countries benefit from without sharing the costs. Yes and no. It works both ways. We in America also have benefited tremendously from what other countries have done in health care research.
Let me explain what T. R. Reid says about the myth that cost controls stifle innovation. Reid says that myth is just plain false. While groundbreaking research does come from the US, it also comes from other countries with much lower cost structures – like France, where hip and knee replacements were invented, or Canada, where the breakthrough in deep-brain stimulation to treat depression was made. Also, many of the wonder drugs promoted endlessly on American television, including Viagra, came from British, Swiss or Japanese labs.
[...] Zulu is a terrific movie, but its message is especially vital today. Zulu reflects the fighting spirit of the British peoples that still lives on despite all efforts to eradicate and emasculate it. Right now, United Kingdom units are doing some of the toughest fighting in Afghanistan. That includes 2 Rifles, the unit Big Hollywood contributor Michael Yon was embedded with until his reporting of their aggressive warrior esprit apparently offended their fainthearted civilian leaders back in London (This is my view, not necessarily Yon’s – I’ve never met the man and I do not speak for him). He covers Americans too, and if you want to feel some pride in our own warriors, check out Do Americans Care About British Soldiers? [...]
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