Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday are special days at Walter Reed. On those days a plane lands at Andrews Air Force Base carrying a very special cargo. The special cargo are the men and women who are returning injured to the United States from Iraq and/or Afghanistan. Three buses pull up to the back of the plane. One bus heads off to National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. A second bus take patients to Dewitt Community Hospital on Andrews Air Force Base. A third bus will arrive at Walter Reed AMC. A group of nurses and Army Medics meets the bus as it arrives at the main entrance of Walter Reed. Our Wounded Warriors who are able to will walk down the ramp and be escorted to the "Cast Room" where they will be evaluated by a team of nurses and doctors before being admitted to their respective floors. Other Wounded Warriors are carried off on litters while escorted by Air Force Flight Nurses and Doctors and taken directly to one of our Intensive Care Units. It is always difficult to watch these young men and women be unloaded from the bus, but it is always nice to know that they are still alive and are on their way to recovery.
Might be a little difficult to see, but that is our specialty made bus/ambulance arriving at the Walter Reed Main Entrance.
If you think about it on Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday nights around 5pm, say a prayer for our Wounded Warriors as they are arriving through the gates of Walter Reed.
1 comment:
Beth, I love your blog, which I came across several months ago while doing some research for a novel I'm writing). Just wanted to clarify something in your entry about the returning Wounded Warriors - DeWitt is at Ft. Belvoir, VA. My daughter was born at DeWitt in 1979 when I was stationed there. I was also born at Ft. Belvoir in 1952, but the hospital had a different name then. Thanks for your very moving account. Major (Ret.) Marcia Brinkley, ANC
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