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thedrifter
03-18-07, 09:46 AM
March 18, 2007
Doctor finds hell, heroism in battle
By MARK DAVIS
Books Editor

Out of all the intriguing stories to come out of Iraq, Richard Jadick's is one of the most unique and heroic. He's not a journalist, general or political analyst -- he's a veteran doctor who volunteered to join the Marines to help fill a shortage of qualified medical personnel.

His story, "On Call in Hell: A Doctor's Iraq War Story," won't win the Pulitzer or National Book Award, but it tells a small but important chapter in the history of the war in Iraq. As a book about war medicine, it's a good companion piece to Michael Weisskopf's "Blood Brothers."

Weisskopf's story was primarily about recovery after the battles; Jadick's story is about the battles and how he dealt with myriad wounds, many of them traumatic. It's a little heavy in military and medicine terminology, but "On Call in Hell" is well worth a read, especially from a doctor's point of view. It's a riveting snapshot of a war that has been fought for four years, with no clear end in sight.

Jadick, 41, is a former Marine who is a graduate of Ithaca College and the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. As a Marine, he missed the Persian Gulf War, in which he wanted desperately to join.

For medical reasons, he joined the Navy and later went on to work at a shock trauma center in Baltimore. In the spring of 2004, looking for the big military adventure he always wanted, he volunteered to accompany the First Battalion, Eighth Marine Regiment to Iraq. Five days after the birth of his daughter, he left the U.S. and his wife to join the battle.

Jadick got his adventure and more in November 2004. He found himself in the middle of the Battle of Fallujah, the two-month-long battle against insurgents in the Sunni Triangle that was one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

During the battle, Jadick helped pioneer a new method of war medicine. Instead of staying well behind the front lines, he went to the wounded, setting up a makeshift emergency room in the middle of the battlefield. Through these forward aid stations (FAS), he and his team saved many lives by instantly treating the wounded. For his efforts, Jadick was awarded the Bronze Star with a Combat V for Valor, the only Navy doctor to receive it during the war.

"The time I spent there, the men I served with and the people we saved, these things will stay with me forever," writes Jadick.

mark.davis@news-jrnl.com

Ellie