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Iraq battlefield flag dedicated to
SCCP
by Mary
Helen Yarborough
Public
Relations
The American flag once flown above the 10th Combat Support Hospital,
LSA Adder, Iraq, was presented to the South Carolina College of
Pharmacy (SCCP) by an MUSC pharmacy graduate who also was the first
student to earn a Master of Business Administration in collaboration
with The Citadel in 2004.
Capt. Derek Underhill, PharmD, served for a year as a combat pharmacist
in the only level 4 combat support hospital, serving the most severely
injured, in Iraq. Underhill was recognized for his extraordinary
performance and responsibility and received the distinguished Bronze
Star for meritorious service.
Drs. Joseph DiPiro,
left, and Arnold Karig accept the American flag and certificate of
authenticity from Capt. Underhill and wife, Dyan.
The flag that flew at the hospital near Tallil Air Base was presented
by Underhill April 6 to SCCP and its deans Joseph DiPiro, PharmD, and
Arnold Karig, Ph.D. The flag will be displayed at the dean’s office at
SCCP’s MUSC campus.
While most of Underhill’s fellow graduates may have been basking in the
handsomely paid, safe environs of civilian pharmacies, the Nashville,
Tenn., native was ducking mortars, attending to emergency medical needs
in foxholes, and treating wounded soldiers—American, allied and even
some enemy soldiers.
“And we had Romanian, British, and Japanese soldiers,” Underhill said.
“We treated a lot of the Iraqi Army.”
And, of course, he treated villagers and their children. “It’s very
humbling,” he said of his experiences. “We saw the most severely
wounded; those hit with IEDs (improvised explosive devices), gunshot
wounds, and broken limbs. We saw a lot of burn victims, a lot of
children with severe burns. That was the tough part. And the burns were
not necessarily from warfare.”
He didn’t sleep long or often. “It was rare that I would sleep right
through the night,” said Underhill, who lost 62 pounds while in Iraq.
“Anytime there was a trauma, I’d be in ER to make sure the right
medications were being administered, or whether the drip [intravenous]
was prescribed properly. Sometimes, if it was off, I’d have to make it
up myself.
“We may have seen about 30 people in a day who were injured in Humvee
rollover accidents,” he said. “On the average day, I’d say we saw about
100 patients. Some of those were civilians. A lot of Iraqi children. …
If you could get in the gate, we could see you. We treated everybody.”
Operating in a war zone in rather uncivilized circumstances is “totally
bizarre,” Underhill said.
“Supplies can be scarce. If the Air Force had a small treatment clinic
and would have extra supplies, we might trade with them. I would do
some procurement when I could. And our special forces (Green Beret)
could tell you who needed pediatric antibiotics,” he said. “We took
care of the villagers’ kids. In return, we’d get tips, or combat
intelligence.”
And when the nurse anesthetist was not available, Underhill would have
to step in.
Drug addiction was another issue Underhill had to manage. On occasion,
an investigation might have to be ordered on a soldier thought to be
abusing drugs. Illicit drug use, however, generally originated not from
the military, but from contractors operating in the war zones.
Underhill, who left for Iraq just after marrying fellow College of
Health Professions graduate Dyan Whitlow Underhill, spent more time
away and in battle than he has in his marriage—404 days to be exact.
His wife is anxious to start a home with her husband. But their home
still will not be the type of settlement enjoyed by nonmilitary
families. “I think you can expect to spend about four years at each
base,” Underhill said.
Dyan expressed delight to be heading for Ft. Carson, Colo., and leaving
Ft. Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C. When they move, she will work to
complete her Ph.D. in education and enjoy making new friends, she said.
So why would the over-achieving pharmacist elect the military over a
calm, cool civilian life? He admits that he first had to get his wife’s
permission and gain her commitment. “A military life is not only your
own, but it’s your family’s life, too,” he said. “I decided to go
straight into the military, because there are a lot of perks in the
military.”
The perks wouldn’t be international travel to desolate, dangerous
deserts, but that of a financial kind. “The Army has a lump repayment
benefit on student loans,” Underhill said. “I was looking at about
$200,000 in student loans when I graduated, but the Army paid off about
$120,000 in exchange of a four-year obligation from me. …I think I’ll
make the Army a career.”
Friday, April 20, 2007
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