This year, in addition to its annual “all county read” book,
my library system also selected a book in honor of Veteran’s Day, with lots of
related events planned. Since I
participate in my library’s noon book group when I can, I read Rule Number
Two: Lessons I Learned in a Combat Hospital
by Dr. Heidi Squier Kraft.
Everyone in the book discussion agreed it was a fascinating memoir about
the author’s time in Iraq.
Dr. Heidi Squier Kraft is a psychologist who spent nine
years working for the US Navy. In
January 2004, she was deployed to Iraq to serve as part of the medical support
team for a group of Marines stationed there. She was given only 11 days’ notice, and her twins were just
fifteen months old at the time. This
memoir follows her experiences in Iraq – the good, the bad, and the ugly –
while counseling soldiers enduring unspeakable horrors and trying to maintain
her own sanity.
The book’s title refers to a line from M*A*S*H (which taught
most of us all we know of a wartime medical group): “There are two rules of
war. Rule number one is that young men die. Rule number two is that doctors
can’t change rule number one.” In her experiences in Iraq, Kraft found that
many people – fellow medical personnel as well as soldiers – struggled to
accept these basic rules of war.
At the same time, she herself was also struggling to compartmentalize
the part of her that was a wife and mother.
She writes in a very direct and honest way, though she
doesn’t dwell too much on any single case (other than one soldier’s death that
especially haunts her). Many of
her experiences were things I had never even considered about war, like the
isolating role of the soldiers assigned to prepare the dead for transportation
home or the difficulty of hearing about problems at home during her very brief
turns at the computer. I found it
particularly interesting to hear her perspective as a woman, since so many
wartime memoirs are written by men.
Overall, it is a captivating memoir that shines a light on
something that most of us probably never think about (and something that we may
purposely try not to think about, if we are honest). I felt enlightened as to the possible experiences of my
nephew who served in Iraq in the Marines’ Special Forces. It was certainly a very appropriate
book to read near Veteran’s Day, to remember the sacrifice that so many
Americans have made, whether you agree with the reasons for the wars or not.