IA, IPF, and insurgents...oh, my!

We had our first fallen angel (deceased active duty member) come thru the hospital yesterday.....talk about having reality smacking you in the face. Hard on all the new staff, especially. When we know an angel is coming in, we line up along the route from the helo pad to the hospital and pay our respects at attention and salute him/her as they are carried down to the SSTP (shock/trauma/casuality receiving area). They sacrificed all for our way of life.....and I felt honored to pay my respects.
We care for a wide variety of patients.....basically it's whoever rolls thru the door. We took a suspected insurgent to surgery two days ago to wash out and I&D some lower extremity wounds. He was behind a door that the patrol couldn't open. They blew it up with a C-4 charge, and he happened to be behind it (they gave him fair warning first). I'm telling my team that first and formost: you are in no position to judge anyone that we are called upon to care for, and that I expect everyone to be treated decently, regardless of nationality or actions that may have brought them there. So far, so good.......
We were also caring for an IPF (Iraqi Police Force, IA: Iraqi Army) member that fell off a ladder and had several burst fractures along his spine. He and his brother stayed with us for several days.....we were lucky to have his brother, who spoke pretty good English! We also have two interpreters on staff.....I can already tell I would be lost without them....
I purposely started off a little somber, that way I could end on a lighter note: I'm also getting some time to explore the base when I'm not at work. One of the departing ERCN's (En Route Care Nurse) showed my buddy Pat and I some of the cooler parts of the base that are within running distance. Yesterday afternoon she showed us the Al Asad Oasis, an old abandoned Russian MIG, and an old Iraqi outpost. A welcome diversion from the hospital to say the least.
As promised, Saddam's Pool story: this base also housed some of the Iraqi Olympic Team, and the indoor pool is quite impressive when contrasted to the simple and utilitarian structures surrounding it. The legend goes that Saddam was here often, and he would tour the air squadrons, soccer team (stadium isn't too far away, either), and swim team progress.....the slowest swimmer was often hung in front of the pool to "motivate" the other swim team members........I don't remember if they won any medals, so I suspect this somehow wasn't the best motivator....anyway, it makes for a great story whether it's true or not.