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Volume 78, No. 147B ©SS 2019 CONTINGENCY EDITION SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2019 stripes.com Free to Deployed Areas Coalition Immediate troops left response unharmed Air Force doctors fly by barrage BY QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA 16,000 miles to save Associated Press BAGHDAD — A barrage of soldier in Afghanistan Katyusha rockets targeted an Page 2 Iraqi air base that houses Ameri- can troops south of the city of Mosul on Friday, officials said. Trauma surgeon Lt. Col. Valerie Sams, No members of the U.S.-led coali- left, and physician Lt. Col. Scott King tion were injured. perform an ultrasound on a critically The rocket fire appears to have wounded servicemember during a originated in Mosul and struck nonstop flight from Afghanistan the Iraqi army to Texas on Aug. 18. base in Qa- ‘ We will yara, about 38 RYAN MANCUSO miles south of U.S. Air Force not be Mosul, where deterred coalition forc- es are helping by these the Iraqis bat- attacks. ’ tle remnants of Capt. Marisa Islamic State, Roberts Iraqi security U.S. Marine officials said. Corps They spoke to The Associ- ated Press on condition of anonymity under regulations. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, nor was it clear whether any of the rockets struck the base. Iraqi officials did not imme- diately say whether there were any casualties, though a coalition spokeswoman later said no coali- tion troops had been injured. “Coalition forces are in Iraq at the invitation of the Govern- ment of Iraq to defeat ISIS rem- nants,” said U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Marisa Roberts. “We will not be deterred by these attacks and maintain the right to defend ourselves.” Iraq announced victory over ISIS two years ago, but the ex- tremist group is still active through sleeper cells and fre- quently mounts attacks on Iraqi security forces. SEE UNHARMED ON PAGE 3 BOOKS WORLD MILITARY Medal of Honor 30th anniversary of Judge: Lawsuit alleging recipient shares the fall of Berlin Wall improper discharges road to recovery marked in Germany post-9/11 can proceed Page 15 Page 11 Page 3 Memphis’ season in sudden turmoil » College hoops, Back page PAGE 2•STARS AND STRIPES• Sunday, November 10, 2019 MILITARY Medics take on first-of-its-kind ‘We just move immediately’ mission to save injured soldier BY JAMES BOLINGER Video of the Air Force crew’s mission Stars and Stripes available at stripes.com/go/airsurgeons When an Afghanistan-based Special Forces soldier was critically injured in combat over the summer, medics in Texas somewhere over Europe and one over jumped into action for a 16,000-mile, first- Maine. of-its-kind mission to bring him home The injured soldier has been “doing out- alive. standing,” Sams said in a recent email, and The soldier suffered from serious wounds should soon enter rehab after being dis- that in the past would have prevented such charged from San Antonio Military Medi- an evacuation. However, advancements cal Center at Joint Base San Antonio. in battlefield medicine and trauma care While there’s nothing groundbreaking — honed from decades of fighting in Iraq, about ECMO itself — the treatment was Afghanistan and Syria — have led to a so- developed in the 1950s — Sams said her lution being carried out solely by the 59th team’s missions are unique because of the Medical Wing’s ECMO program at Joint great distances they travel. Base San Antonio. “The building and development of the ECMO stands for extracorporeal mem- ECMO program was born out of the wars brane oxygenation — a heart-lung bypass in Afghanistan and Iraq,” she said. “If we system that circulates blood through an can provide it, the survival rate is very external, artificial lung and sends it back high. Without it, patients would certainly into a patient’s bloodstream. The tech- die.” nique allows diseased or injured lungs to The Air Force began using ECMO in heal and enables the wing’s ECMO team to 2012, Sams said, adding that the program transport critically ill patients around the has grown exponentially since 2016. The world while caring for them. Above: Natasha service the 59th Medical Wing provides “We don’t delay to see if they’re going Cardinal, a critical care is now a certified ECMO Center of Excel- to get better. We just move immediately,” nurse for the 86th lence, according to the Extracorporeal Col. Phillip Mason, director of the wing’s Aeromedical Evacuation Life Support Organization. ECMO program, said in a recent Air Force Squadron at Ramstein In 2005, a group of Air Force critical video. Air Base, Germany, care transport specialists out of Land- On Aug. 16, within hours of being noti- monitors a patient stuhl, Germany, explored transferring fied about the injured soldier in Afghani- during a nonstop flight patients suffering pulmonary failure using stan, a six-member ECMO team was from Bagram Airfield, a Novalung. However, that program was aboard a commercial flight to Germany, Afghanistan, to San phased out when casualty rates in Afghani- Lt. Col. Valerie Sams recently told Stars Antonio, Texas, on stan decreased, according to the 57th Med- and Stripes by phone. She’s one of only two Aug. 18. Left: Lt. Col. ical Wing’s website. critical care surgeons in the Air Force able Valerie Sams monitors Sams said going through such lengths is to perform ECMO. the critically wounded the least that can be done for those who put “We hooked up with a C-17 Globemaster soldier. their lives on the line. III in Germany and left for [Bagram Air- PHOTOS BY RYAN MANCUSO “I am certain they would do it anyway, U.S. Air Force field in Afghanistan], where surgeons were but we should absolutely assure them that working on him,” she said. if they are injured or killed, we will be Once at Bagram, the team determined “He needed continual renal replace- to tolerate his critical illness, and I felt he here, either to patch them up or bring them that the soldier didn’t need ECMO, but ment therapy — continuous dialysis for would survive the flight home.” home to their families when we can’t patch that his kidneys were failing because of the entire flight home, which can be diffi- The nonstop, 20-hour journey back to them up,” she said. the muscle damage. He risked going into cult,” Sams said. “He was critically ill but San Antonio with patient in tow required [email protected] cardiac arrest. demonstrated enough physiologic reserve two nighttime mid-air refuelings — one Twitter: @bolingerj2004 T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ............ 14 Books .............................. 15 Business .......................... 13 Crossword/Comics ............ 19 Gadgets ............................ 20 Music .......................... 16-17 Opinion ............................ 22 Sports .........................24-32 Weather ........................... 13 Sunday, November 10, 2019 •STARS AND STRIPES• PAGE 3 WAR/MILITARY Judge denies Navy’s request to dismiss suit BY STEVE BEYNON 2017 study from the Government Stars and Stripes Accountability Office. The less-than-honorable dis- WASHINGTON — A federal charge can create a lot of hurdles judge on Thursday denied the Na- for veterans. Manker said he lost vy’s request to dismiss a class-ac- his GI Bill benefits and he has had tion lawsuit alleging thousands of issues attaining VA health care, post-9/11 Navy and Marine Corps despite his level of discharge still were improperly discharged after qualifying him for care. How- suffering from injuries and post- ever, he said it’s common for VA traumatic stress disorder. staff to believe he isn’t entitled to Tyson Manker, 38, filed the benefits. suit in 2018 against the Navy “It felt like I was alone, I put PHOTOS BY HADI MIZBAN/AP after receiving a less-than-honor- myself through college because able discharge from the Marine I lost my GI Bill,” Manker said. Iraqi riot police fire tear gas to disperse anti-government protesters gathering on bridge in central Corps following his 2003 deploy- Baghdad on Saturday. “A lot of guys were getting kicked ment to Iraq. The suit seeks to out right when the war was really guarantee the fair treatment of starting.” veterans when they apply to have When Manker’s unit returned More than 100 hurt in Iraq clashes their discharge characterizations from Iraq, they filled out a health changed. There is a similar ongo- evaluation to assess mental ing lawsuit against the Army. health. But according to Manker, BY QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA “[The] ruling, in time for Vet- there was no follow up from the erans Day, reaffirms the rule of Associated Press Marine Corps., despite his PTSD law and brings us one step closer symptoms. He said the screen- BAGHDAD — Iraqi security to getting justice for every vet- forces fired live ammunition at eran who was unfairly dismissed ing process for PTSD was “just a anti-government protesters in from the military with post-trau- check list.” central Baghdad on Saturday, matic stress disorder, traumatic Manker was investigated for killing four and wounding more brain injury, and military sexual using marijuana shortly after than 100 others, medical and se- trauma, and denied their honor- returning home. He attacked the curity officials said. able discharge,” Manker said in a process of discharging Marines The deaths came hours after statement. as unfair and it motivated him to security forces cleared three Manker, a former mortarman, become an attorney. One of his flashpoint bridges of protesters, fought in the invasion of Iraq. He goals is to change his discharge using stun grenades and tear gas was kicked out of the service and status to honorable. amid heavy clashes. The bridges booted down to the rank of lance “I was interrogated without span the Tigris and give access to corporal after admitting he used counsel, I was threatened with 50 the heavily fortified Green Zone, marijuana to self-medicate and years at Fort Leavenworth right after my deployment,” he said.

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