Day 176

Still in Germany. I have to check the flight roster in about half an hour to see if I'm listed. If so, I leave here at 0445 tomorrow. If not, I wait another day. I have cable TV in my room. The Armed Forces Networks play. Some channels in English, some in German. It's odd to watch an episode of the Simpsons over-dubbed into German.
The staff and facilities here are great. But better than they are the other patients. All of us here have been flown in from either Iraq, Kosovo or Afghanistan. We are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. To be flown to Germany means there's something wrong with you, so you don't meet anybody that's not banged up a little bit. My knee seems to pale in comparison with some of the soldiers I've met here. One guy is being shipped home because he has Crone's disease; one guy was sent here because they thought he had MS. Turns out he doesn't have MS, but they're looking for the cause of his problems. One guy told me he had to go back to his room and lie down as his head was killing him. He said his brain is sloshing around in his skull. I met a guy that had his pinkie finger caught in door of a hummer. It was 30 seconds before anybody believed him and opened the door. It crushed his knuckle and he's going home to get a plate implanted. More than one guy is here with a broken leg or foot received from exercising. Several guys are here because they were caught in an IED blast and suffered a concussion. I am fully aware that it is not 1863 and it is not the Civil War, but I keep on thinking of "Red Badge of Courage". Left, encountered the wounded, go back. Maybe a bit of a stretch?