Medics, CA help residents of Hor al Bash

Courtesy Photo | CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Capt. Evan Jones, physician's assistant, assigned to 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, checks a local boy for medical problems at a medical operation at Hor al Bash Sunday. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Joe Flores, 7th Sqdn., 10th Cav. Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div.)  

TAJI, IRAQ

08.28.2006

Courtesy Story

1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Under the blazing Iraqi sun, Iraqi army and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers fought the Middle East heat to conduct a community health outreach for the people of Hor al Bash Sunday.

Soldiers of the 2nd Tank Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division, and 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, with the help of the 414th Civil Affairs Battalion, an Army Reserve unit attached to the 1st Special Troops Bn., 1st BCT, joined together with six Iraqi medics, with the support of medics from the 1st BCT, to screen patients and provide medical assistance to local residents of the village.

"Our mission was to conduct a medical operation at the Tartawar Primary School and provide local citizens with free pharmaceuticals and screening for the day," said Capt. William LeFever, civil affairs officer in charge from Company C, 414th CA Bn. "We supplied about $5,000 worth of pharmaceuticals purchased from a local pharmacy."

The combined effort also provided the Soldiers an opportunity to deliver school kits to the Tartawar School as faculty and community members prepare for the upcoming school year, he added.

"Today, we provided this school with notebooks, folders, chalk, pens, pencils, water coolers and other supplies valued at more than $2,500," he added.

While the effort to stabilize Iraq continues, Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers provide medical and humanitarian relief to Iraqi citizens throughout the region north of Baghdad.

For many Iraqis, this is the first time they have ever been seen by a doctor in their lives. The Iraqi army, along with MND-B Soldiers, continue humanitarian efforts in order to help the Iraqi citizens in the area.

"I have been waiting for Coalition Forces to come here to see my children," said a local Hor al Bash woman at the medical operation. "Two of my four children have had a bad cough lately and there really is no other way for them to be seen by a doctor unless I drive to Baghdad. What they (Iraqi army and MND-B Soldiers) are doing is wonderful."

• Date Taken: 08.28.2006
• Date Posted: 08.28.2006 11:34
• Story ID: 7553
• Location: TAJI, IQ