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The War Through the Eyes of an Army Medic

While many of us are certainly concerned with the war in Iraq, it’s easy to let our day-to-day lives take center stage. Though CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and all of our local and national newspapers work to bring us the latest coverage on our troops, fatalities, governmental objectives, political backlash and so on, Iraq can seem very far away when we are in the comfort of our own homes, dorm rooms, lecture halls and offices. For 24-year-old Nick Amsler, however, growing comfortably numb to the war effort is highly unlikely.

Serving as an Army medic from 2001-2005, Amsler spent over a year in the thick of Iraqi combat. It’s hard to imagine that when many of us were doing keg stands at frat parties, Amsler was braving harsh desert winds, tending to fallen soldiers and getting a first-hand taste of life on the frontlines. What he experienced within that year is more than many of us will experience in a lifetime, and while it was certainly life changing, it is also an experience Amsler wouldn’t change in the least.

Like most high school students, when Amsler graduated in 2001, he began preparing to attend college. Between UC Santa Barbara and UCLA, Amsler had many acceptances to choose from, but something he couldn’t change was the hefty tuition costs that accompany higher education. Amsler was certain he wanted to study medicine, but he had no idea how he would finance such an endeavor. After some hard thought, he made the decision to forgo college for the time and enlist as a medic in the US Army. The fast paced environment allowed Amsler to gain an education he wouldn’t receive in any academic institution. “Individualized training for medics is about six months total,” he explains. “It isn’t a lot considering we’re doing stuff most third year medical students aren’t even allowed to do.” Amsler was eager to put his skills to the test.

After being stationed in Germany for seven months, Amsler was in the midst of spending an additional nine months in Kosovo when the war in Iraq broke out. “Looking back,” he says, “that was a vacation compared to Iraq.” After being sent back to Germany to complete a six-month training cycle, Amsler was deployed to Iraq in February of 2004 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom 2. Since soldiers must first be acclimated to the desert climate, Amsler spent three weeks in Kuwait before heading into Iraq. The new environment immediately made an impression upon Amsler. “Getting off the plane in Kuwait, the weather hit us —the heat hit us,” he recalls. “Above all, it was dark. Even when the daytime came, there was nothing to see; just sand, no structure, no city. It was actually the complete opposite of Iraq.”

Something Amsler is quick to point out, and what has often become a point of discussion in political discourse, is that this war is particularly unique because it is occuring within a city environment. War tactics used in the past, therefore, have had to be reworked in order to adapt. Insurgents are not in uniform, civilians are in war zones, and Amsler explains that a tactic that might have worked one day might fail the next as insurgent city dwellers would catch on and adapt their strategy accordingly. “That’s what makes this war in an urban environment difficult to explain and difficult to understand,” he says.


Amsler had increased responsibilities working as an army medic. “As a medic my duties were different than your average infantry soldier, he explains. “Your job has a different dynamic because you are expected to know their [the soldiers’] job and yours, and also you have a daily responsibility of looking out for their welfare when maybe they’re not even looking out for it…you get to carry the extra bags too,” he says.


Amsler soon caught on to the fast-paced environment of Iraqi combat and put his skills to good use watching out for the safety and well being of his fellow soldiers. Like most people who serve in the military, Amsler bonded with the other soldiers over the time he spent in Iraq. Many experiences made lasting impressions – some good and some that are the result of unfortunate consequences of war. “There were people very close to me who I lost,” he says, explaining that talking about them now has become therapeutic for him. “I lost three very close friends of mine who I consider my best friends.”


Amsler remembers one experience in particular when he was returning from a late night mission at an IP station (police station) near the city of Baquaba and found himself in the middle of an attack. The event was a reminder of how vulnerable Amsler and the other soldiers were at any given time and stays with Amsler today. He recalls:

It was a crazy night. We traveled really quick about 60 miles an hour in the back of the HumV – no cover or flat; a couple benches, basically all of us facing each other on an open bed of a truck army style and we were trying to crouch down to get out of the way. It’s freezing out there… surprisingly despite how hot it is during the day, it gets really cold at night. Nobody talks about that, but it gets so cold. So we’re crouching down. and a close friend of mine – I told him to get down, get out of the way because he was kind of standing up tall so he got down and a couple seconds afterward there was a huge blast. I can’t accurately describe it but a blast kind of blurs your senses, and, at the same time, you get a sensation in your mouth – it feels scratchy; you get blurred vision, but at the same time, you feel more alert than ever. So we check immediately – you check everyone. You tap everyone. You try to yell out, try to look for visuals. Thumbs up is usually the first thing you see that’s what you’re looking for… because you usually can’t really talk or hear anything. So we’re heading back to the base and the guy next to me, my best friend, he kind of slumped down, and he puts his head back and drops his weapon. I tap him on the shoulder and roll him, and I didn’t get a response. After 10 minutes of CPR while riding in the humvee, we arrived at the aid station. Our docs and surgeons took over and did everything they could, but it was about that time they found that what happened. It was a straight shot from an IED, a bomb that had been hung from an arch we were passing through. Incidents like that, where it happens right next to you, it doesn’t really matter who you are, what you do, what your job is, where you stand politically or don’t stand politically; if you’re in a danger zone, you’re in a danger zone… period.



Amsler returned home in February 2005 to a cheers and positive well wishing by those waiting to welcome the troops back to the states. Amsler says he has always been given the utmost respect and admiration from the public when in uniform. He wonders if it’s because there is still some guilt over the treatment of the troops during the war in Vietnam, when those who opposed the war politically chose to aim their disdain toward those serving our country.

Amsler’s positive reception seemed to indicate that, wherever people stand politically in regards to the war in Iraq, most are pleased to welcome home those willing to put their lives on the line for our country. Though he was back in the states, however, Amsler couldn’t shake the lasting effects of serving in intense combat. Shortly after his return, he was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and is currently receiving treatment through the Veterans Administration. Amsler explains, “PTSD is a disorder that affects short term and long term memory system storage in your brain. During a traumatic event that memory you have is triggered. I’ve had a couple real legit flashbacks…I have lack of concentration, lack of sleep and I have extreme lack of patience.” Amsler informs us that the therapy and medical treatment he has received from the V.A. has helped tremendously when it comes to dealing with his diagnosis, but adds that “working through his issues” is an ongoing process.


When asked how he feels about the war now, Amsler says he is careful to look at the overall picture. “Our media has its own agenda, and they’re pointing the finger in every direction,” he says. “I do my best to look at as many sides as possible and ignore stereotypes. Many people can’t distinguish between the truth and generalizations.” Moreover, he explains that pulling out of the war altogether, an issue that has dominated campaign speeches this election season, is not something he would advocate. “The way it started in the beginning shows that it’s not going to end easily or quickly. With the amount of money and infrastructure that we’re putting into that place, I don’t see Iraq being any different from Vietnam, North Korea… anything,” he explains.


Today, Amsler lives in Riverside County and works as a boat salesman while attending Riverside Community College. deciding not to pursue civilian medicine, Amsler has since developed an interest in business management. While his life is much different now than it was as a medic, Amsler’s experience remains in his heart. his time in Iraq was profoundly life-altering and life-affirming and, in his words, “made him into the individual [he] is today.”