by Marc Dauphin
The last bus is leaving to wind its way down the tarmac, then up the hill to Landstuhl. The stretcher-bearers, their job over, are climbing onto their bus. The C-17’s back-end crew is finishing up with last details, the flight engineer raising the ramp. The medical crew is loading up their equipment on their van, the tiredness making their gestures slow and their steps plodding now that they have been released from their overwhelming burdens. A fuel truck moves up to the large beast to feed it for another trip of mercy. The pilot and his front-end crew are walking down toward the rear of the aircraft.
Life goes on. The war too, in some distant desert land where the wind is not so cold.
I’m glad I didn’t take any pictures.
I walk to our van without glancing back. Got some work waiting for me in the ICU. Need to put my professional armour back on.
Still, I’ll never look at a C-17 in the same way again.
Or an injured soldier. For somehow, on that cold, grey morning, a soldier I will never meet has changed my life. Forever.
February 2011
Well, I guess I was wrong, because, as you now know, I did go back again. And with a vengeance. Still, I can clearly remember those months in 2007 when I came face to face with the war for the first time. What an eye-opener.
Many people have contributed to the making of this book.
First and foremost, of course, is Christine. “You can go,” she said. “I’ll wait for you.” And she did. She also put up with me after. That was probably much harder than the waiting. Altogether, I was gone from July 2, 2007, to the end of October 2009, more than two years. In that time, Christine sold our house of fifteen years and moved us to Quebec City. Alone. That “alone” says it all. Thank you for your patient kindness in spite of the storm. You can take a break now. I’ve got the con.
Then, nothing of this would have been possible without Colonel Danielle Savard. Colonel Savard was not only essential to our roto, she was also essential in counselling me about this book. Indeed, she gave the manuscript its first revision. Merci, madame. It mustn’t have been easy, trusting a guy you’d never met. Yet you did. And, contrary to many bosses I’ve had, whenever I did something right, you let me have the credit; and when I screwed up, you backed me up. I haven’t met many like you. And throughout the roto you stayed focused and intensely loyal. As far as I’m concerned, you’re one heck of an officer, and one heck of a person. Merci encore.
Brigadier-General Bernier, the Surgeon General of the Canadian Forces, had to back up my candidacy for OC of the Role 3 when he was Deputy Surgeon General. And this, in spite of my having given my strongly worded opinion about an aspect of our treatment policies during Roto 4. Sir, you were always frank, and loyal to me as a subordinate. Before we left for Kandahar, you told us to remember that we represented Canada. There wasn’t a day over there that I didn’t think about that. And when I wrote the first draft of this book, you read it over word for word and submitted pages of editorial comments, a daunting task for someone who must have had many other things to do. So, thank you, sir, for your time and for your patience with me. And thank you again for the magnificent foreword. A lot of what you say there about me really applies to you.
To Lieutenant-Colonel Ron Wojtyk. I know I stepped all over your toes when I was over there. Thank you for your patience, and for your unfailing loyalty to me. And for your wisdom when things got rough. I know I’m not an easy subordinate to deal with.
Pierre et Annie, vous êtes mes amis pour toujours. Both of you made that six-month marathon survivable. There were some rough times. Yet we stuck together for better or for worse. Before, during, and after. Thank you, guys, for sticking up for me before the roto, when nobody in Ottawa knew me except as a vocal agitator. I haven’t forgotten it. You are more than comrades: you are truly friends.
Dave Marshall, you know that you were like a brother to me all along. Now other people need to know it, too. Thanks for listening to my bitching. And thanks for stopping me from going after whomever got my blood boiling on any particular day. You saved me a lot of trouble over there. And thanks for taking care of all the soldiers entrusted to our care.
To Captain Donald Bennett, USN, a fine gentleman and a fine surgeon: I learned a lot from you, both medically and as an officer. Your constant, energetic, and unfailing dedication to the well-being of our patients was a guiding light through some dark moments.
To all the specialists who came through, thank you for putting up with me, even though I have some pretty clumsy feet. Daniel Dupuis: I now see the wisdom of your words. You had great overall vision, man.
Thank you to all the doctors, nurses, PAs, med techs, and various personnel who put up with my daily corny jokes. Thanks to all the people from all countries and all positions who I haven’t mentioned. And to all those from previous rotos, who left us a vigorous, efficient hospital — and a hell of a legacy to live up to. We did it. All of us. The record is set, written for posterity. Your names are on the trophy.
Thank you to all the fighting troops out there who protected us from harm. We tried our best to reciprocate.
A special mention to my brother Charles, who came to me repeatedly when I didn’t want to see anyone: Thanks, bro. You know I owe you a lot more than I can say.
Thank you to our sons and their spouses, whose understanding and patience enabled me to live through a bumpy landing on returning to Canada. Thank you, Dad, for your enthusiastic support, and for letting me know how proud you are. And lastly, thank you, Mom, for watching over us from up there. We didn’t lose one person. And bringing back all my people was what this was really all about.
C’est comme ça.
Copyright © Marc Dauphin, 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.
Project Editors: Shannon Whibbs and Allison Hirst
Editor: Laurie Miller
Design: Jennifer Scott
Epub Design: Carmen Giraudy
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Dauphin, Marc, author
Combat doctor : life and death stories from Kandahar’s military hospital / Marc Dauphin.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-4597-1926-2 (pbk.).--ISBN 978-1-4597-1927-9 (pdf).--ISBN 978-1-4597-1928-6 (epub)
1. Dauphin, Marc. 2. Afghan War, 2001- --Medical care--Afghanistan--Kandahār. 3. Afghan War, 2001- --Hospitals--Afghanistan--Kandahār. 4. Military hospitals--Afghanistan--Kandahār--Anecdotes. 5. Afghan War, 2001- --Personal narratives, Canadian. 6. Physicians--Canada--Biography. I. Title.
DS371.413.D39 2013 958.104’77 C2013-903917-1 C2013-903918-X
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