Oh Captain, My Captain

Bob Dylan said, "I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom." Day after day, hour after hour, my hero is spending her time saving lives in a hospital. Not just any hospital, but one that is frequented by the sounds of sirens due to incoming threats from mortars, rocket propelled grenades and all sorts of attacks. The sirens cause interruptions to the intense and already stressful environment where lives are on the verge of death and every single second counts. She is not just saving any life either, but the lives of our troops who are sacrificing everything so honorably for the betterment of others. My good friend is a Captain in the United States Air Force working tirelessly as an Intensive Care Unit Nurse at the Air Base Hospital in Balad, Iraq. She is assigned to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing made famous by the Tuskegee Airmen. The troops that my hero is serving are both American and Coalition forces to include Iraqi troops who have been wounded by many different means. Their injuries range from close range gunshots to burn victims with missing limbs from Improvised Explosive Devices.Six months of her life will pass performing this incredibly tedious but honorable duty when all is said and done. So much of her life has been placed on hold in the meantime. But knowing lives are at stake, she was humbled to go and bring her gifted touch of calmness to those in traumatic times. She found peace in God’s omnipresence to guide her through this period and she has hope that His grace transpires vicariously through her.It is simple to meet my hero and be captivated by her smile and gracefulness. She not only lives but truly personifies a life of humility. Like any other hero, I am sure she considers it a normal duty that anyone in her position would do. I am not sure of the number of lives she will have touched in the end, but I am sure she will not seek one single bit of recognition for it, and that in itself is the reason why I consider her my hero. With that, I will end this with the words of Will Rogers who said it best. “We can’t all be heroes because someone has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by.” I am so glad to have such a wonderful hero and I look forward to applauding her job well done when she returns.