Captain Green is not your usual army guy. Not because he's a doctor or an officer, even though that would make him exceptional, but because he joined the Army a little later than most of the men and women he works with. He's a brilliant guy who has a charming spirit. When you couple that with a "won't take no for an answer" attitude, you have a doctor that really takes care of his patients-even in Baghdad, Iraq.
I met Captain Green at the Al Faw Palace in Camp Liberty in Baghdad, Iraq on the first day we arrived with the Voices of Soldiers Tour in July, 2005. He was from Atlanta, Georgia, so we had an immediate connection. We quickly found out that he had come to find us. He heard that we were coming and he wanted to be sure that he met us and spearheaded our trip outside of Camp Liberty into the International Zone (formerly called the Green Zone) in downtown Baghdad.
Daniel Green initially got a degree in Psychology specializing in Experimental Design from the University of Georgia in 1992. He was an average student and quickly found out that you can't get a good job with just a psychology degree. He worked for the Georgia Pacific Company for awhile and after that worked with the Coca Cola Company. Even though he wasn't an engineer by degree, he had the skills to do what most industrial engineers couldn't in working with experimental design and statistics.
A friend talked him into applying to medical school; he enrolled in night classes at Georgia State University to catch up on the pre-med core classes and for the first time in his life, got a 4.0 in his academics. That along with his entrance exams got him accepted to the Medical College of Georgia. At some point in this process, he joined the Army to pay for medical school and that required a 3 year active duty commitment upon graduation and that's how he ended up in Iraq.
When I met Captain Green he was carrying around his medicines and supplies. He is responsible for the care of the soldiers in the International Zone and he takes his responsibility very seriously. One morning, he told us that one of his guys didn't show up for maneuvers and he had to find out why. He was always talking about his guys. In my last email from him, it was clear that he was feeling the stress of the situation. He was tired of hearing shooting and he was tired of seeing good soldiers die or be injured. He was looking forward to a two week leave with his wife and his daughter in Georgia.
One think I learned in Iraq is that soldiers complain. In fact, Captain Green and other officers said that if soldiers aren't complaining, there is something wrong. Captain Green and the other soldiers I met did there share of complaining but there was also a resolve. Captain Green is resolved to do as much as he can to keep his soldiers safe and healthy and the soldiers are resolved to complete their mission.
Martha Zoller is the host of a daily radio talk show on WDUN AM 550 in Gainesville, Georgia. Her first book, Indivisible: Uniting Values in a Divided America, will be released in November, 2005. You may contact her at [email protected]
Thursday
April 25th, 2024
10:54PM
