Injured Afghans Cautiously Trust Marine Doctors

The young Afghan boy cried silently, his hand bound loosely in bandages. Underneath the wrappings, four of his fingers were severed at the knuckles by a mine he picked up in a field on Wednesday as he gathered grass for his cow.

“Are you doing ok?” asked Navy hospital corpsman 2nd class Russell Vinson through an interpreter. Vinson applied a dressing to shrapnel wounds that speckled the boy’s legs. Ibrahim, 15, nodded, wiping away his tears.

Afghan civilians with trauma injuries are turning up at least once a week at the U.S. Marine base in Garmsir District seeking care for wounds suffered in criminal attacks, local disputes and past and present wars. The visits reflect both the violence of this volatile town perched on the Helmand River and a cautious trust Afghan civilians place in Marines encamped nearby.

“We almost have more local nationals come in for trauma than our guys,” said, Vinson, 27, of Rockhill, N.C. The hospital nearby has no medicine or pain relievers and its personnel “can’t do much,” he said. Still, he encourages Afghans to seek treatment at the hospital first, to prevent dependence on the U.S. military.

The night before, an Afghan man who had been stabbed by a thief three times in the back showed up at the base. He had been to the hospital, but the stitches were so wide the wound was unlikely to heal, said Navy chief hospital corpsman Bob Wheeler, 39, of Camp LeJeune, N.C.

Recently, another Afghan boy, bleeding profusely from lash marks all over his body, was treated at the clinic after his uncle took him to the Garmsir police station, where Afghan police live with a platoon of Marines. “He had clearly been beaten,” said 1st Lt. Jason Grieco, 25, of Pittsburgh.

As Navy hospital corpsman 1rst class Matthew McClure kept track of a helicopter on its way to evacuate Ibrahim to a military field hospital at another camp, Vinson applied ointment to more shrapnel wounds and carefully bandaged his second leg.

Still, the boy looked troubled, so Vinson asked again what was wrong.

“Who will gather grass for my cow?” Ibrahim replied.

Comments

Cautious trust? Quit wordsmithing. That's called MIStrust.

Posted by: gce65 | July 16, 2009 4:53 PM | Report abuse

Please note that contrary to the headline, Marines do NOT have doctors. As referenced in the article, The Navy provides medical staffing for the USMC.

Posted by: MI-Sooner | July 16, 2009 5:21 PM | Report abuse

Correct.

However, anyone with any long association with the Corps knows those great 'docs' consider themselves Marines and are considered as such by the Marines they risk their lives to save.

Posted by: seahawkdad | July 16, 2009 5:50 PM | Report abuse

Somebody must have told them about the Native Americans who got the free ‘polio’ blankets or the African Americans who got Venereal Diseases with their ‘free’ check-up.

Posted by: question-guy | July 16, 2009 7:32 PM | Report abuse

Everyone inhere is right on the money. The way the Afghans see it, a tylenol from the devils who bombed them is better than living with maximum pain while awaiting the next drone attack at the crack of dawn.

"There is no power like media control" --Adolph Hitler

Posted by: jewishmother | July 16, 2009 8:17 PM | Report abuse

The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the blog post From the Front: 07/17/2009 News and Personal dispatches from the front and the home front.

http://www.thunderrun.us/2009/07/from-front-07172009.html

Posted by: ThunderRun | July 17, 2009 10:00 AM | Report abuse

Devil Doc

Born to kill, trained to heal.

Posted by: idctrainer | July 20, 2009 9:53 AM | Report abuse

That's one opportunity to win the war. When the few opportunities for kindness present themselves, we must be ready.

A proud moment for our nation.

Posted by: LeftwithNochoice | July 23, 2009 6:35 AM | Report abuse

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