THE BURNING MRAP

                  These soldiers arrived, with moderate injuries – fractured heel, back pain, bruised spinal cord.  Technology and divine intervention mostly saved them.  They were in MRAP and hit by and IED.  The blast struck under the driver.  He has the fractured foot.  The gunner was knocked out when his canon was knocked back into his head. He lay unconscious in the turret, one of two exits from the vehicle.  The soldier I was caring for, a Mortarman, attempted to escape out of the vehicles’ main door, but the electrical system went out and it would not open. He smelled smoke and realized the vehicle could catch fire. If they did not escape, they’d die from burns.  With alacrity he pulled the gunner down into the vehicle and climbed out of the 2.5’ diameter hole, a hole just wide enough for his broad shoulders and, having climbed through that hole myself, would induce claustrophobia and panic in most.  He reached back in the hole to assist two others out.  Together they pulled the limp and unconscious gunner to safety.  Finally, he pulled the injured driver out and carried him 100 yards to a clearing. With the adrenaline exhilaration and his call to duty, he realized later, he had saved several lives despite a severe lumbar (back) injury we would diagnose the next day. Within 20 seconds of leaving the vehicle, it caught fire. The gasoline tank exploded and flames roared up through the turret, the same tight hole he had squeezed several solider through.  Because he moved quickly and acted with aplomb, he saved 3 lives.  The story unfolded for us in the trauma bay, the soldier still reliving the experience he had been through.  He was shaken, but composed, thoughtful, but not tearful.  Within an hour after arriving, as the nurses and techs cleaned their wounds and completed their x-rays, we pulled the men together, each on their litters, and they joked and relaxed.  One showed us a picture of the burnt vehicle.  Two would fly to Germany, one would fly out later that night.  The other two would stay overnight and return to their FOB (Forward Operating Base) in 24 hours, to start a new mission in a new vehicle.