Bass Visits Injured Marines in Washington
By Daniel Remin
WASHINGTON — On a dark, cloudy morning, Rep. Charlie Bass, R-N.H., helped brighten up the spirits of wounded Marines hospitalized here with some of New Hampshire’s maple syrup.
Bass joined about 11 other members of Congress, including House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., in a trip to the National Naval Medical Center in suburban Bethesda, Md., at 7:15 a.m. yesterday to visit Marines injured in the war with Iraq.
“You don’t understand just how much courage it takes to do what these Marines are doing until you see wounded Marines and know that this happened in the field under adverse circumstances,” Bass said in an interview.
The Congressmen saw about half of the 25 Marines who were brought to the hospital after being injured in Iraq. Most were 19 to 21 years old. None was older than 25.
Bass said most of the wounded Marines told him they were proud to have served their country and that they supported President Bush’s decision to wage war.
“They think they’re doing something that’s going to make a difference for generations in front of them,” Bass said.
Some of the Marines were seriously injured. A tank ran over one Marine while he slept in his tent. Hand grenades exploded in the faces of some others. And a bullet pierced the hip of one Marine and exited the other side, Bass said.
A field doctor cut that Marine open to make sure there was no damage to his arteries and then sewed him back up, Bass said. When he saw him at the hospital, Bass added, he was walking.
“Their friends or their fellow soldiers helped save their lives and bring them through a process where, in some instances, even as recently as Operation Desert Storm, (they) would never have survived,” he said, referring to America’s last war with Iraq a dozen years ago.
“I thought it was a very important part of my understanding and appreciation of the day to see the people who have made these kinds of sacrifices, talk to them about it and find out how they feel,” Bass said.
“All of them were very thin,” he said. “They explained to us, ‘We were this way because if you had to eat what (we’ve) been eating for the last six weeks, you wouldn’t be fat either.’ ”
Troops in Iraq dine on MREs, or meals ready-to-eat, standard pre-cooked military food.
None of the Marines Bass saw was from New Hampshire. But he said they enjoyed the maple syrup anyway.
“Their faces brightened up, and they thought that was wonderful,” Bass said.
He said he and the other lawmakers asked the Marines if they wished to share the stories of how they were wounded.
“You go into the room with them, and you’ve never met them or know them. They don’t know you,” Bass said. “You say, ‘Thank you, we admire and appreciate your heroism and we’re proud of you. Of course, they go, ‘Oh yeah, no big deal.’ ”
But Bass said the Marines were happy and willing to share their accounts.
“I think it makes them feel better that somebody cares,” he said.
(Daniel Remin is an intern with the Boston University Washington News Service.)
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
