Posted on 03/08/2005 11:01:59 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Healing hands welcomed home
(staff photo by Steven Georges) LOS ALAMITOS — As a rifleman in Somalia and a sniper protecting former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Army Spc. Salvador Romo had empathy for the wounded soldiers he helped treat at a U.S. Army hospital in Germany.
*****************************************************
Healing hands welcomed home
Members of 349th General Hospital cared for service members hurt in Iraq.
LOS ALAMITOS — As a rifleman in Somalia and a sniper protecting former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Army Spc. Salvador Romo had empathy for the wounded soldiers he helped treat at a U.S. Army hospital in Germany.
The Downey reservist was one of about 170 members of the 349th General Hospital, which flew back to Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base late Monday morning. The 349th was at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where the unit cared for severely wounded soldiers who needed to be treated outside Iraq.
"I have mixed feelings," said Romo, a respiratory care practitioner. "It's been a wonderful year. I really did help those soldiers, those American soldiers, but it was difficult because I had to be away from my family."
"When I looked at those soldiers, I would shake their hands and it would really inspire me. I said, 'You know…"
His voice trailed off. With his wife Vivian holding him, Romo stopped to rub the tears from his eyes before he finished his sentence.
"'I've walked where you walked. I've seen what you've seen. I'm here to help."
Vivian Romo said her support for her husband's mission helped sustain her while he was away.
"It was sad, being away from my husband," she said. "But at the same time, I feel so proud of him. He was doing something for the country and for other soldiers."
Spirits were high at the base Monday, where the returning soldiers were outnumbered by family members and well-wishers. Parents hoisted their children into the air, mothers held their sons and daughters for long embraces, and families shed tears of happiness.
Los Alamitos Mayor Kenneth C. Parker said his city was "proud of our long history of supporting our forces." And Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, R-Long Beach, said the nation "will never forget your service," and expressed his appreciation to the reservists' families.
"My wife gave birth to triplets 10 months ago, and I know how that pulls on someone's heart to be away from family," he said.
Maj. Jorge Swank said more than 10,000 patients were treated at the hospital in the months that the 349th served there, and that the soldiers are highly skilled in medical work.
Staff Sgt. Eric Ortega of Norwalk was an X-ray technician in Germany, but he also got to experience the hospital's care first-hand when he found out in November that the thyroid cancer he was treated for in 2002 had spread to his lymph nodes. He has a long scar from the full neck dissection he had in December; but other than a small cold, Ortega said he was feeling great Monday.
His Army buddies made sure of that.
"I had constant concern from my fellow staff (during treatment)," he said. "They came in every half-hour and said, 'Is he done yet? Good!"
Local news here.
Thanks for the ping Ernest_at_the_Beach.
Welcome home healing hands!!!
>>Members of 349th General Hospital cared for service members hurt in Iraq.
My old unit!!! During Desert Storm this unit was picked apart slowly and sent over to Kuwait...
Too bad I am no longer with them.. (My brother was born in Landstule, where the 349th was sent...)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.