Dick
Seitz
Ben, I thought the attached is a
magnificent tribute to all former military and certainly my 517th
comrades. Airborne. With continuing great admiration.
Dick.
From: Alan G. Greer
Sent: Thursday, April 3, 2008 9:23 AM
To: Seitz, Richard, seitz2@webtv.net, paseitz@aol.com
Cc: elizduf@yahoo.com
Subject: FW: SOON TO BE GONE
Pat;
I would suggest you post this on the
517 web-site.
Alan
This should be copied and sent to all you
know
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SOON TO BE GONE
By A MILITARY DOCTOR
This should be required reading in every school and college in our country. This Captain, an Army doctor, deserves a medal himself for putting this together. If you choose not to pass it on, fine, but I think you will want to, after you read it.   I am a doctor specializing in the
Emergency Departments of the only two military Level One-Trauma Centers,
both in San
Antonio, TX and they care for civilian
Emergencies as well as military personnel. San
Antonio has the largest military retiree population in
the world living here. As a military doctor, I work long hours and
the pay is less than glamorous. One tends to become jaded by the long
hours, lack of sleep, food, family contact and the endless parade of human
suffering passing before you. The arrival of another ambulance does
not mean more pay, only more work.
Most often, it is a victim from a
motor vehicle crash.
 Often it is a person of dubious
character who has been shot or stabbed. With our large military retiree
population, it is often a nursing home patient. Even with my enlisted
service and minimal combat experience in Panama, I have
caught myself groaning when the ambulance brought in yet another sick,
elderly person from one of the local retirement centers that cater to
military retirees. I had not stopped to think of what citizens of this age
group represented.
 I saw 'Saving Private Ryan' I was
touched deeply. Not so much by the carnage, but by the sacrifices of so
many. I was touched most by the scene of the elderly survivor at the
graveside, asking his wife if he'd been a good man. I realized that I had
seen these same men and women coming through my Emergency Dept. and had
not realized what magnificent sacrifices they had made. The things they
did for me and everyone else that has lived on this planet since the end
of that conflict are priceless.
 Situation permitting, I now try to
ask my patients about their experiences. They would never bring up the
subject without the inquiry. I have been privileged to an amazing array of
experiences, recounted in the brief minutes allowed in an Emergency Dept.
encounter. These experiences have revealed the incredible individuals I
have had the honor of serving in a medical capacity, many on their last
admission to the hospital.
 There was a frail, elderly
woman who reassured my young enlisted medic, trying to start an IV line in
her arm. She remained calm and poised, despite her illness and the
multiple needle-sticks into her fragile veins. She was what we call a
'hard stick.' As the medic made another attempt, I noticed a number
tattooed across her forearm. I touched it with one finger and looked
into her eyes. She simply said, 'Auschwitz.' Many of later
generations would have loudly and openly berated the young medic in his
many attempts. How different was the response from this person who'd
seen unspeakable suffering.
 Also, there was this long retired
Colonel, who as a young officer had parachuted from his burning plane over
a Pacific Island held
by the Japanese. Now an octogenarian, he had a minor cut on his head from
a fall at his home where he lived alone. His CT scan and suturing had been
delayed until after midnight by the usual parade of high priority
ambulance patients. Still spry for his age, he asked to use the phone to
call a taxi, to take him home, then he realized his ambulance had brought
him without his wallet. He asked if he could use the phone to make a long
distance call to his daughter who lived 7 miles away. With great pride we
told him that he could not, as he'd done enough for his country and the
least we could do was get him a taxi home, even if we had to pay for it
ourselves. My only regret was that my shift wouldn't end for several
hours, and I couldn't drive him myself.
 I was there the night M/Sgt. Roy
Benavidez came through the Emergency Dept. for the last time. He was very
sick. I was not the doctor taking care of him, but I walked to his bedside
and took his hand. I said nothing. He was so sick, he didn't know I was
there. I'd read his Congressional Medal of Honor citation and wanted to
shake his hand. He died a few days later.
 The gentleman who served with
Merrill's Marauders,
 the survivor of the Bataan Death
March,
 the survivor
of Omaha Beach,
the 101 year old World War I
veteran.
 The former POW held in
frozen North
Korea,
 The former
Special Forces medic - now with non-operable liver
cancer,
 the former Viet
Nam Corps Commander.
 I remember these
citizens .
 I may still groan when yet another
ambulance comes in, but now I am much more aware of what an honor it is to
serve these particular men and women.
 I have seen a Congress who
would turn their back on these individuals who've sacrificed so much to
protect our liberty. I see later generations that seem to be totally
engrossed in abusing these same liberties, won with such
sacrifice.
 It has become my personal
endeavor to make the nurses and young enlisted medics aware of these
amazing individuals when I encounter them in our Emergency Dept. Their
response to these particular citizens has made me think that perhaps all
is not lost in the next generation.
 My experiences have
solidified my belief that we are losing an incredible generation, and this
nation knows not what it is losing. Our uncaring government and ungrateful
civilian populace should all take note. We should all remember that we
must 'Earn this.'
 Written By CPT. Stephen R. Ellison,
M.D. US Army If it weren't for the United States military, there'd be NO United States of America. | |||
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