From First MNF-Iraq

     Soldiers, Marines pour their hearts into helping local Iraqi boys.

       AL TAQADDUM — In the United States things can be relatively simple. If someone is ill, he goes to the doctor. If a person is very ill, then they go to the hospital.

      In Iraq, on the other hand, it is not always that simple. Medical care is very expensive and many times the wait to be treated can be weeks long.

      While on patrol, soldiers from Company A, 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 136th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward), stumbled upon two boys who were truly sick, took a stand,  and decided to help them.

      One of them has a serious heart condition.

      “He has what’s called Tetralogy of Fallot,” said Spc. Eric Rasmussen, a medic with the company and Maple Grove, Minn., native. “It’s pretty much a hole that keeps the heart from receiving oxygenated blood.”

      Mohommed Yesier Abdula Essa has been living with the hole in his heart for quite some time.

      “Once we decided to help him we contacted a group called the National Iraqi Assistance Center in Baghdad,” said Army 1st Lt. Gordon P. Giswold, a civil affairs officer with the battalion.

      “They said they could sponsor these kids to receive surgery.”

      Once the ball began to roll, it was a matter of getting the children to Baghdad to receive treatment.

      “The (commanding general) made things happen,” said Giswold, a Cold Spring, Minn., native. “Pretty much everyone was trying to make this work.”

       Once they arranged for transportation, the company went out and retrieved the sick children and family.

Read it all here.

     The story speaks for itself.  It still amazes me what the average American service member is willing to do for someone he has never met before, with no expectation of recieving anything in return.  If you see a service member or veteran give them a thank you for their service, they deserve it.

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