Lt. Marcus Lai: Letters From Afghanistan

Lt. Marcus Lai, a 2004 graduate of Monte Vista High, always knew he wanted to serve in the Army and in the medical field.

For about two months, Lt. Lai has worked as a medical platoon leader in Kunar Province in Northeastern Afghanistan, where he will be for the next 10 and a half months. He has worked as a medical platoon leader for 18 months.

Lai works for an infantry battalion in the 101st Airborne Division where he supervises a 41-person platoon of medics, a physician and a physician's assistant, making sure the battalion and its operations have medical support.

Every month or so he will write Danville Patch a letter about his work and life.

You can post a comment for Lai here or write to him at the address provided.

—Elizabeth Shemaria

Liz,

My soldiers have been diving into their jobs and new environment face first. We've already treated countless casualties and unfortunately we'll treat countless more.

One of my medics is receiving a Purple Heart,  for treating minor injuries not requiring any sort of evacuation. Two are receiving valorous awards and seven others are receiving their Combat Medic Badge, awarded for treating casualties while under fire. Though I have medics spread out across five bases, we all experience the same, very kinetic area of operations.

Unfortunately, most of the activity we experience is at the expense of the locals. They are certainly bearing the brunt of this conflict's negative effects, whether they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, or if their conditions are the result of the epidemic poverty here.

It's not easy preventing their injuries and ailments, not just because of the environmental hazards but also due to their cultural wares. We've seen ailments due to poor hygiene standards or a complete lack thereof. We've seen traumatic injuries to children, because that's just what parents are accustomed to doing to their kids.

Consequently, we've found that treating the innocent is harder than it sounds. 

We feed into the dependence on Western medicine every time we accept a local patient who refuses to or simply "can't afford" to see a local clinic. This is a consequence we very openly underwrite with either the real or perceived hearts and minds we're winning.

Barring the dependence, our public welfare is not without its societal leeches.

Often it is the locals who work on base who present false illnesses in hopes we'll dish out Tylenol or Mucinex that they'll subsequently sell at the local bazaar. 

Afghanistan is dirt poor and one must think in those contexts when dealing with locals. Their corrupt nature is an effect of the poverty and ironically, our cash and big heartedness do more to perpetuate the corruption than abate it.
 
All barriers and frustrations aside, the soldiers are doing great. Many are finding the time to continue online college classes and study for promotion boards. Morale is great, after setting up personal internet lines into each soldier's room.

We do love hearing from home. If you wish to write us, our address is as follows:
 
First Name Last Name (NO RANK)
HHC 1-327 Medics
1BCT 101st ABN
FOB Blessing
APO AE 09354

—Lt. Marcus Lai
   Kunar Province, Afghanistan
   June 13, 2010