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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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