Reseda High School Class of 1966 Web Site
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Reseda High School Class of 1966 Web Site
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The following emails were received in chronological order and okayed for sharing:
Received 3/29/03 In case anyone is interested in writing to him, Steve McCartney is in Iraq right now He is a surgeon at a mobile hospital with the first marines expeditionary force.
Capt. Steve McCartney
Received 4/16/03 RHS' 66 classmates: A short update on my brother Steve.from Steve’s brother Stan: Now that the shooting, major engagements are closing down, the Alpha Surgical Company has switched modes. They are deployed up SE of Baghdad and standing down a bit. They will hopefully be the first Surgical co. to rotate back out stateside, as they were first in and saw 99% of the casualties from the onset. Steve is going (if not there already) into Baghdad as part of a humanitarian effort and will be advising the Iraqi medical community on how to get there hospital (s) up and running again and advise them on their surgical function. Probably will help in some civilian surgeries (not anxious to do so) but main effort is to display goodwill towards the Iraqi populace. He slipped out a phone call to his wife several days ago and said he was fine. Lots of Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders & Int'l. Medical Corps medical staff trickling in to Iraq. He expressed some frustration in the way the news was reporting evacuation and "good care" provided the injured Marines & soldiers. The BBC reports gave the impression that their care "really" started when they would arrive at Landstahl AFB, W. Germany. The truth was that Steve's unit saved their lives by operating on them, closing the shrapnel/GSW's, stabilizing their wounds and THEN medevac'd them when the critical phase was past. He said his unit was "good....but ugly", i.e., in the field, dirty and hammered by the battlefield injuries but doing their jobs brilliantly. When they arrived on the USS Comfort or in Germany, they were clean, starched medics & doctors standing at attention as the ramp lowerd, etc. More like a parade. They don't get real news there yet but the word is out, due to cessation of hostilities, that the shooting is over. Steve said they will be there for awhile with the military trying to put forth some humanitarian service/civilian benefit projects. The weather is 110 F in the shade without a breeze. Starting to get hot meals again (1-2x per day) and, since 90% of the 1st Marine Division (MEF) deployed North to Tikrit and Baghdad, there is plenty of water for showers. Handi-wipes still a runner-up for a shower: keeps the fine dust/sand off. His last few letters were dated 3/23 & 3/24 and the fighting was still going on. They had completed 68 surgeries in one 24 hour period. He is over about 5-8 trauma surgeons) and about 50 Nurses. The phone call last Sunday was the most recent info I have. So glad our military took care of this for a relatively few casualties/KIA's. I have no more doubts that, possibly, our last generation computer/Nintendo kids had lost the resolve to sacrifice for the USA. Things seem more complicated nowdays, compared to 1966, but look what 100,000 19 and 20 year olds did. Steve will really get a kick out of the letters from you RHS '66 that wrote him. Hasta Luego classmates. Will send another update in a week or so. Stan McCartney
Received 5/21/03 from Steve’s brother Stan: RHS '66 Classmates: Attached is another picture of Steve McCartney in Iraq a few weeks ago. He received a substantial promotion while there and turned over command of the Alpha Surgical Hospital to his XO and he is acting Fleet Surgeon for 1st Marine Division (42,000 Marines & Navy). Right now he is traveling to various parts of Iraq where medical activity is taking place or problems exist. The Naval Reserve units have arrived and are slowly transitioning to take over the medical operation from Steve's unit. They are getting ready to return to Camp Pendelton and San Diego Navy Hospital. Steve said the part of this war he was not prepared for was the number of deaths/injuries that have taken place since the official end of hostilities. Lots of accidents in Humvees, ordnance handling and a few chopper crashes. Many are due to boredom and carelessness. With any luck, Steve writes that he may be out of there in June. His youngest son graduates high school in San Diego next month and Steve is trying to get rotated back by then. He will have some leave and then be packing up to move to Okinawa for three years as Fleet Surgeon to the 3rd Marine Division. So, this will probably be the last snippet I send on his adventures. Hope these little updates gave everyone a slightly different slant on the war from the perspective of one of the RHS '66 grads.
See everyone in '06 reunion, |
| Click here for story about Steve receiving his Bronze Star |
