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.
