Fighting For Life

The horrors of war are something for which few soldiers are prepared. This is true, also, for the military doctors and nurses who are responsible for caring for the injuries sustained in battle. FIGHTING FOR LIFE explores three juxtaposing groups: soldiers injured in Iraq, seasoned doctors and nurses saving limbs and lives, and students at Uniformed Services University, studying for a career for which there seems to be no adequate training. At USU's medical school, students are told that if they are working less than 80 hours a week, they should perhaps consider if they are studying enough. If this seems harsh, one only needs to experience an injured American solider– traveling from Iraq, to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, to Walter Reed in Washington, D.C. for recovery– in order to understand. Academy Award winning director Terry Sanders takes on this medical journey with adeptness and grace. The level of skill and strength each doctor and nurse must commit to the astonishing number of injuries is startling and sobering. From the time they are students at USU, military medical staff are devoted to the often quipped idea of “service over self,” a notion that trumps any concern over whether the war in Iraq is a just one. – JBH