When my son got picked to work in the ER at the 28th CSH I commented "that's like being called up to the majors" he replied back "HA! Its like being asked to play on the All Star team!". I think he's right

How about veterans who came back home paralyzed and need intensive care to recover physically and mentally. For several years I am trying to bring Veterans Hospitals’ attention to the revolutionary “walking standing frame “which enables paralyzed veterans to walk to their recovery. How can we make the Veterans’ administration to listen to us and provide the paralyzed vets with a” walking cure”? See how the device works : www.ablegaitor.com

Thanks much for your series. You interviewed my son for this...and I know he appreciated your series for giving the public some insight into what the medical people are doing in this war. They work extremely long hours under much stress. Thanks again.

I am a retired medical administrator that spent my last 12 years at the Air Mobility Command Surgeons Office at Scott AFB, Il. My job, along with many other people, was to ensure that our military medical personnel organized, trained and equip to fight the future wars. What I learned in my 20 years in the service and 3 years as a consultant was that it was the magnificent people on the ground that make it all work. We can do our best to plan, but the people at the front fix our mistakes. Thanks for spotlighting these magnificent people performing miracles. Don't loose sight of all the medical lessons that we learn from the pioneers in Bhagdad. There trauma skills will save many more lives long after this war is over as they transition into a civilian surgical practice or teaching university.

I am the proud father of an Army OR Nurse who served in Tikrit, Iraq for 12 mths. She, like all of the other medical staff, are the unsung heros of the war, although you will never get any of them to admit it... just doing what they were trained to do. These great Americans are saving the lives of those who put their lives on the line every day. In one of her first emails she wrote: "Those IEDs are no joke. The day after we had our mass casualty training exercise, we had a true mass casualty situation. It was very sad and unlike anything I have ever seen before. I learned a great deal and I felt the true rewards of my job knowing I was part of saving some of the soldier’s lives... It was crazy. Anyway, I guess that was our first reality of what can come through this Combat Support Hospital." An excellent job reporting by Robert Bazell.

After having served as and ER physician at the same hospital featured during 2004 it is amazing how stories featured there bring me right back to those same emotions. I still don't know how I did that for a year, but I do know even today, doing everyday tasks a face or name will come into my head and I am transported back. It is hard to watch or read anything about Ibn Sina without crying, even today though my greatest moments as a physician occurred there. I wish it was better now then when I left but it appears sadly the same.

Do you realize we have put over $300 billion into this war- which basically means we have put that money into destruction and great harm to our own soldiers, not to mention the thousands of innocent Iraqis. Why don't we put the $19 billion annually needed to end world hunger by 2015 instead (Millennium development Goals). Our money going toward something which eliminates suffering- is that too much to ask???

Thank you for showing what happens in the ER.....alot of people think that the work is easy...but it's not....my husband is there in the Baghdad ER being the NCOIC...so you know how stressfull this can be....it's not only physical but also emotionally and mentally demanding. I really appreciate you highlighting what they do because i really admire them alot....thanks

My daughter (01:38 into the first night's segment) is one of those medics you showed at work in Tikrit at Camp Speicher (misspelled in your caption) and tells us of the number of civilians and military personnel who come through the ER. It is a very tough job she is doing and she has had some nightmarish experiences. But I am glad, also as a former Army medic myself, that their story is told. The seeming endless days of casualties that roll into the ER take a mental toll and I can only imagine what long lasting effects will come back to the States with these medical corps heroes. Thanks for remembering all of these dedicated doctors, nurses, and medics.

Thank you for your coverage of our soliders. On January 23rd, you showed coverage of a Baghdad hospital and one of the soilders that came in that night happened to be our nephew. He is home and is going through PT. He has a long road ahead of him. It is hard to watch at times but unfortunately is reality of what our men and women are doing everyday!!! I'm glad your crew is home safe.

MY HUSBAND WAS IN VIETNAM.WE FOUGHT FOR 5 YEARS FOR HIS KIDNEYS(WHILE IN VIETNAM).HE HAS HAD UP TO 25 SURGERY'S ON THEM-NONE PAID FOR BY V.A. UNTIL 4 YEARS AGO.WE ALSO FOUGHT FOR HIS DEAFNESS.DID NO GOOD UNTIL PTSD CAME WITH RUSSIAN ROULETTE AND SEVERE CUTTING ON HIMSELF.THEN CAME MENTALHEALTHLOCKDOWN AT V.A.AND A DIAGNOSIS OF PTSD.HE WENT THROUGH A PTSD CLINIC IN HOUSE AT V.A.AFTER 5 WEEKS IN MENTAL HEALTH LOCKDOWN.THEN HE FINALLY GOT DISABILITY.IT MAKES ME MAD BECAUSE HIS HEALTH WASN'T BAD ENOUGH TO THEM,BUT HIS MENTAL HEALTH WAS.AND TO ME THEY TREAT HIM VERY BAD EXCEPT FOR HIS PRIMARY CARE DOCTOR.THEY TALK TO US LIKE WE ARE NOBODY'S.I AM SO PROUD OF HIM FOR BEING A VETERAN-WHY CAN'T THEY ACT LIKE THEY CARE TOO?

The quantity of wounded is understated grossly. My wife among other roles in administration was a volunteer first responder to receive the wounded GI's at Fort Hood, Texas. The numbers of wounded was always much less than reported by DOD. The extent of the injuries was quite severe.

As a combat vet from the Vietnam War, I met the staff from the hospital commander down to the E-3's and E-4's. I was impressed with their dedication. However, almost to a soldier they are tired and disgusted with the continuing meat grinder that the war has become. Unlike Vietnam, this is unfortunately and equal opportunity war with relatively large numbers of female soldiers along with their male counterparts being discharged with severe permanent physical and mental injuries.

In closing now that they will go to the VA, the government should increase the funding to match the increased patient load.

When people pull together to save lives differences are put aside. These doctors and nurses perform miracles everyday. I can't imagine what it must be like in that hospital, but when someone is saved and moves on to a good recovery that is priceless. Mankind can save lives and make hope and peace possible. These medical personnel are heaven sent. Peace to all!

My first comment has to do with this blog. There's 'The Story', and then there are comments. There doesn't seem to be a place where one can ask questions and get a reply.

Keep in mind, I have no political agenda with the following questions. They're just what popped into my head after watching the first installment last night.

Now the questions:

Five years, ten years, a generation from now, will the Iraqis we saved (sans extremeties) love us or hate us?

Our service members deserve the very best. Is it like what your crew depicted in other units in Iraq? In Afghanistan? Does your report portray the Building 57s while ignoring the building 18s?

Like nursing home and assisted living the last two weeks, when dealing with the armed forces, the motto should be 'Trust. But verify.'

As a civilian working here in Iraq, I had occasion to meet the little girl so badly injured. Her story is, I hope, still to be told, as many people across all spectrums - heroic soldiers in the street, the press, US medical personnel, private contractors, two US embassies and the Department of Homeland Security, non-governmental organizations, an Italian hospital in Jordan, a charitable foundation in America, and Muslim and Christian people in America have all come together overnight to save this one child. She is now in California receiving the best care that can be given, and her story is one of hope carved from tragedy. When the American and Iraqi people move heaven and earth to save one child, perhaps it is an example what Iraq and America could be together still...

The doctors and nurses in a military combat hospitals are the closest we will ever get to having a god walk the Earth. I can't say enough for their dedication and service, under fire. It takes a special person to do the job that they do. Underpaid as compared to their civilan counterparts.

Unfortunatly that is war. US medical services are the best in the world. Survival rates are the highes of any war that has ever been fought. Imagine what you would have seen if you had been in the field hospitals at the First Battle of Bull Run or for the Normandy Invasion.

Everybody would much prefer if we were fighting an organized army on a battlefield instead of a city.

As an OIF veteran and mother of two, I can't help but shed a tear everytime I see what all of the medical people go through in order to help get us all home to our families. It is truely inspiring to see and helps me to hope that our work there in not in vain. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of them and I will continue to think of all of my fellow service members in this difficult time.

The medical community deserves effusive praise for the miracles they work every single day in Iraq and elsewhere supporting the war effort. Thanks to their efforts, many families, American and Iraqi, welcome their living relatives home rather than a pine box.

that was some excellent journalism
i can only imagine what it is like
taping a living person back together
only to watch him die

Thank you for showing another side of the war not often covered by the media. I have a close friend serving in Iraq as a nurse. I often wonder of her experiences.