FMF Doc Retired's blog: "Corpsmen Lost"

Well, I think I finally hit my mid-life crisis. Went out and bought my Suzuki DL650 V-Strom last night. First bike I've ever owned, and now I can't ride it until my foot heals. I broke it after I got the bike back to the base, so I can't put enough weight on it to hold the bike steady at stops. Go figure. My luck never has been any good with stuff like this. I actually had my friend ride it from the dealership since I didn't want my first ride to be on a busy highway, so the only time I've been on it was getting it from his truck into his garage.

For the second time, a corpsman that I was acquainted with was killed in Iraq. The first was several years ago, but Hospital Corpsman First Class Gilbert Minjares from 2D Marine Air Wing was killed three days ago, along with a young corpsman names Hospitalman Manuel Ruiz in a CasEvac (Casualty Evacuation) helicopter crash. This was, to the best of my knowledge, the first time people have been killed while performing CasEvac missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom. I know there have been other injuries (Including one of my friends while I was in Iraq in 2004), but I don't think we have lost anyone up until now. Earlier in the week, another young corpsman named Hospitalman Matthew Conte was killed while operating with the Marines. Numerically, there are not many corpsmen killed, due to several factors: our training, our Marines, and the fact that there are only thirty-some-odd thousand of us serving. Please give these men a thought while you're going through your day.