Reaching Past The Wire: A Nurse at Abu Ghraib

5. Mortar Attack at Abu Ghraib

Mortar Attack at Abu Ghraib Okay, I thought, this is home for now. Like it or not. Soldiers can make a home anywhere, and I wanted to find my own space in this God-forsaken dump. I began to look around for familiar faces, my military family, who were already here. They would provide some orientation and show me to my quarters. Then I wanted to find a place to e-mail my family, to let them know I had arrived safely. As I neared the Tactical Operations Center, Cheryl Proper strode quickly toward me. I recognized her brisk walk and heard her southern twang as she welcomed me from a distance. She looked like she was already adjusting to this new assignment, although she had arrived only two days before the terrible mortar attack. We had been separated for only a few days, but it seemed longer. We hugged like the close friends we are. She gave me a tour of the compound. This place was hard to figure out. I had no sense of direction, and everything seemed disordered and illogical, like a jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces. It all looked so depressing, like peo43 ★ 5 ple were just surviving and not really living—in sepia tones instead of Technicolor. They moved slowly and with an aura of doomed resignation. Civilians from countries such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines—“thirdcountry nationals” hired by Kellogg Brown and ≤oot (kb≥) to work in food service—sat smoking in front of small trailers clustered near the kitchen, wearing casual native dress. Few signs of soldiers or vehicles showed in the camp as we moved from building to building. Cheryl explained that people went outdoors only when necessary, because of the danger and the weather. She stood, as usual, with one hand on her hip. “We could be killed by a mortar round just walking across camp.” Our standard army tent hospital was set up inside the old building for protection. Even some of the hospital buildings were partially demolished, with huge holes in the roofs. While most of the patients were Iraqi prisoners, there was a separate section for Americans who were either recovering from an illness here or getting ready to be transported to Baghdad. My tour of the place didn’t take long, and we went in search of my new living quarters. Unfortunately, there were no designated sleeping quarters for those of us coming in, so I was assigned a hospital cot. I stashed my gear under the cot and followed Cheryl to the one computer available to all personnel. After what seemed like a long wait for my turn, I e-mailed my daughter and my sisters to assure them that I had survived the convoy. Then I met Cheryl for dinner in the chow hall to talk some more. I asked about the mortar attack. Reaching Past the Wire 44 “It was the worst attack here ever,” she said. “The whole thing is kind of a blur in my mind, but I will never, ever, forget that day.” Cheryl’s words tumbled out quickly, as they always did, but her voice had a flatness to it that I hadn’t heard before. “It started out as a pretty quiet day, no di≠erent than most days here. Since I was new, one of the o∞cers asked if I wanted a tour of the area to get my bearings. I agreed without hesitation. We went to Ganci. I was so shocked, like you were, by how close the prisoners are.” She stretched her arms out to each side. “It was about fifteen minutes after I came back from the Ganci area. I was just ready to start my shift in emt when I heard the first blast. Within minutes, word came over the headquarters radio that Ganci had been hit—and hit bad. I couldn’t believe that I’d been standing there only fifteen minutes earlier!” Cheryl took a deep breath and looked at me with wide eyes. I put my hand on her arm. Then she continued. “The explosions kept blasting away and soldiers and Marines started coming to the hospital entrance. I went outside to start triage. Colonel George ordered me back inside until the shelling stopped. I said, ‘I’m not leaving these soldiers and Marines,’ and I just continued. It was chaos—just chaos. Everyone with an...