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05/25/2009: "Local Man Wounded While Serving As Combat Medic In Afghanistan"

(Tom Bauschke freshly pinned with the CMB (Combat Medical Badge): at Kudu Village next to Karamār Mountain in Afghanistan.).

In the most simple of explanations, a Combat Medic waits until someone needs medical attention because they are right smack in the middle of a location that is actively blowing up, or receiving enemy fire, or both, and then he runs as fast as he can to also be there, not to fight, but to give medical aid -even while the attack continues.

Tom Bauschke is from San Juan County and in his first column for The Island Guardian he wrote about his experiences, his observations and his insights of what it is like to be over 40 and decide to leave civilian life in San Juan County and volunteer to become a medic in the Army; and then be assigned to the infantry as a combat medic in Afghanistan.

As the columns came in for posting, it seemed almost certain that Army Specialist Thomas Bauschke would be injured in Afghanistan, after all, he not only serves in the infantry, he is a medic, and not just a medic, but a combat medic with the 10th Mountain Division.

And now it has happened. In his latest column Bauschke explains what happened when his unit came under attack.

Today is Memorial Day. Not a day for celebration, but a day to remember those who have served, those who are serving, and to say “Thank you.”