My Iraqi Freedom: A Combat Medic Journey

By Brett John Bingham

September 11, 2001 changed the world and changed the United States. But most of all, it changed the men and women who were sent to Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein and his brutal regime and to bring freedom to the Iraqi people under his rule. This is the story of one combat medic and his journey to and from one of the most dangerous cities in IraqSadr City. Follow SPC Bingham as he gives a detailed account of the day-to-day life of a soldier and combat medic during the initial stages of what has come to be known as Iraqi Freedom. Through his journal entries, we learn of the sadness, happiness, anger, and fear of those who served so far from home. Through his reflections, we learn what it all meant ten years later for himself and his family. We learn what daily life on the streets and dealing with a culture and language that was as foreign and confusing to them as it was for the people they were protecting. Freedom comes at a price. We all just have to know how much we are willing to pay.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 21, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483678979

Brett John Bingham

Brett John Bingham was born December 3, 1967, at Lakenheath AFB in the United Kingdom to Frosene and David Bingham. His early years were spent in Long Beach, Indiana, and in Westchester, Illinois. He attended Proviso West High School and graduated in 1986. He joined the United States Air Force in January 1988 and served until October 1994. He was stationed in March AFB in Southern California and San Vito Air Station in Italy and participated in multiple TDY assignments at home and abroad. After spending time in the manufacturing industry, he joined the United States Army after September 11, 2001, as a combat medic. After his basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, he was assigned to the 2nd ACR at Fort Polk, Louisiana. It was from there he was deployed to Sadr City, Iraq, in April 2003 and stayed there until April 2004. Brett is currently still in the Army and has been deployed to Afghanistan in 2011. He is now a medical instructor at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Brett is the father of two daughters, Chonsie and Jessie, and has a granddaughter named Charlee. His mother and sisters along with his nephews and nieces now live in Phoenix, Arizona. Brett has been awarded the Combat Medical Badge, Army Commendation Medal with three devices, and a Bronze Star.

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Copyright © 2013 by Brett John Bingham.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 08/09/2013

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Contents

DEDICATION

PREFACE

EPILOGUE

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my family and friends who have stuck by me and have loved me. More importantly this book is dedicated to my fellow combat medics and to those who have returned and have not returned from serving their country abroad. I have been honored and still am honored to serve with the greatest men and women this great country has to offer.

Without us, there is no freedom to be had.

PREFACE

It has been over ten years now since I went wheels up and headed downrange to that historical country in the Middle East called Iraq. It was April 2003 and I was about to embark on a journey known as OIF I or as many would come to know as Operation Iraqi Freedom. What I did not know, however, is that the freedom that really occurred turned out to be my Iraqi Freedom. The following are the events as I have written them. It was through these events that helped form the man, father, and soldier I am today. These journal writings have not been shared with anyone and I believe now is the time to share them with my family, friends, and hopefully to other soldiers who have deployed to help understand that all the things we did and saw were ours and ours alone. Along the way on this journey, I hope you all learn that combat can be horrific, boring, and fulfilling. It is my hope that I can finally reach some form of catharsis and that I can finally reconcile my past so I may continue to grow and move forward and share with others what I have held so close for this past decade. I want it understood that I love the army and I love my country even more; these journal entries only reflect my thoughts and feelings at the time they occurred. I hope you enjoy the read and more so I hope you learn and have an understanding that only you can reconcile your past. Freedom comes with many prices. We just have to know how much we are willing to pay.

ENTRY: JUNE 18, 2003

"So this is to be my testament of the things that have happened to me while serving during Iraqi Freedom. My wife who has always in her infinite wisdom thought it may be healthy for me to write the day’s events down so I can relieve any stress I may have. As usual, and she will agree she was right. I love her dearly and it is because of her that the lessons I learned here are the ones I will apply back home. This journal is dedicated to my wife ‘Squaw.’ I cherish you ‘mi, moglie.’ Bing"

REFLECTION: JUNE 2013

When I read this and think about all the time spent and the events leading up to my departure and all the times we shared, I do know now that she was an important part of my life. At that point in my life as a husband and father that it was her that I focused on and thought that it was I, as the head of the household that our marriage and family life hinged on me and me alone. Funny how the things I did learn while deployed and did apply ended up not being the ones I thought that would make us better.

ENTRY: JUNE 18, 2003, 1312H

"How do I start this? I have been here since the beginning of April and so much has happened between then and now. I do want to list everything I have seen and done. So here is what I remember to date:

31 March: Left my wife and children. Knowing that I may not come back, I was scared and anxious all at the same time. Squaw was at manifest and she was doing her job, while at the same time spending those precious moments left near me. I remember being angry with her. I will not divulge why, that is between her and I. We didn’t make love before I left, a tragic mistake on my part, but I felt loved, but alone, she knows what I am talking about. I believe I have done the same to her. Never again. I cried when I got on the bus, and I know she did to. (It is 1330h; I have to go on a mission in half hour, I will return)

REFLECTION: Why we did not be together the night before I left, I cannot remember. But it does reflect that we were having troubles prior to my deployment and it was my mission to try and rectify everything that had happened or not happened. I, again thinking it was I who had to take full responsibility for the success or failure of our marriage. Manifest is the time where all the deploying soldiers are formed up and ready to leave for the airport to start our plane ride to the Middle East. Squaw was able to be there up to the last minute and I remember already missing her and the kids.

1617h: Well, I’m back from another mission: alive. It is very hot, 120 degrees today and with a twenty-five-pound flack and Kevlar you can imagine. I need a nap before I forget here are the things that have happened:

REFLECTION: For those who have been to Iraq or even Phoenix, they know what I am talking about. Imagine sticking your head in an oven at 120 degrees with all your gear on and leaving it there for four hours. It was so hot. Not to mention the smell. After our shock and awe, all of the trash collecting services ceased to exist. Sadr City was one big trash dump. There was trash piled so high you could not see over it. There were kids and goats’ playing on these mounds of trash every day like nothing was wrong. For the civilians and soldiers, that summer was miserable and one we wish never happened. Missions were about four hours long every time and we always wondered if it was going to be our last.

7 April: Crossed the berm from Kuwait into Iraq, the scariest moment of my life.

REFLECTION: This was a terrifying moment. So we land in Kuwait, and since our orders were to get to Baghdad as soon as possible to cover Third Infantry Division’s (3ID) rear flank because of the speed in which they were moving, we did not get the chance acclimate to the desert and more importantly get our breath and realize exactly what we were doing. So after swiping our ID cards, we lined up our vehicles; and within forty-eight hours, we were on our way to Iraq. Now imagine a highway lined up with over one hundred vehicles with armed soldiers and trucks towing cannons and speeding along not stopping for anyone or anything. It was quite the sight. I remember driving through Kuwait which had power and was very clean even in the desert; and when we approached the berm which literally was a mound made of dirt about fifteen feet high that separated the border between Iraq and Kuwait, I remember some chatter from our convoy commander who crossed first and him saying, Gentlemen, welcome to Iraq. I immediately got scared and remember I felt like Alice going down the rabbit hole. It was a very surreal moment. Little did I know how big that rabbit hole was going to get. Once we crossed the berm, it was obvious we were entering another world. The first thing I noticed was the destroyed power lines strewn across the landscape. We went from having all the comforts of home to basically nothing at all in a twenty-four-hour period.

9 April: Went through Al Samawa (sp) completely destroyed two days earlier by 3ID. They were not happy to see us. It was here I treated my first patient a driver in a gun truck in front of our FLA (ambulance) passed out from heat exhaustion. I carried him to the FLA and treated. The convoy could only stop for us to pick him up. Al Samawa was on fire. I gave my first IV while speeding and boiling up in the back. PFC (SMITH) recovered.

REFLECTION: This event like so many others that myself and other medics go through. One moment you get comfortable and taking in what you are seeing and becoming relaxed as much as you can, and the next people are yelling and saying they need a medic. At first when I got the call, I started thinking that something really bad happened. Let me go back. So we are driving through this town. Sorry for the spelling but all I know is that this place was on fire, literally.