Book Review: Paradise General by Dr. Dave Hnida

This is a beautiful, beautiful book. A book that will make you sob while you count your blessings. Paradise General: Riding the Surge at a Combat Hospital in Iraq by Dr. Dave Hnida is a worthy addition to any book collection. This was the first book that I read on my nook and while I saved a few dollars and it was easy to transport a part of is heartbroken that the book in on an e-reader instead of being in my hands as paper and ink because this is a book that I want everyone I know to read.

Dave (as he likes to be called) decided to join the Army in his late forties after two events in his life led him to believe that he needed to take action after what he believed to be his failure to protect. General Paradise depicts his second deployment to Iraq and his experiences working as an ER doctor in a hospital on a US base in Iraq. The base and the place do not truly matter what matters are the stories and the lives touched during his tour which was at the beginning of the surge in the summer of 2007.

The stories within this book are astounding. They cover all facets of the human experience: relationships, love, war, injury, hope, peace and death. The work the doctors and the medics and the nurses and the anesthesiologists do literally saves lives. Dr. Hnida does not forget to mention the medics who provide care for our soldiers on the fields and while transporting them to army hospitals. Nor does he fail to mention the pilots who fly into area's to pick up and transport the wounded. I think this is one of the things that makes this book so beautiful is the respect for all those working together to save lives that flows from the pages coupled with the true humility. This book is truly a gift and should be read by all whatever your position is on the war as the author states near the end that while the stories take place in Iraq and he is there because of war it is not a book about war it is a book about hope and courage and humanity.

There are also a number of laugh out loud moments and if you or a close family member has not served in the armed forces you will learn a thing or two and not all of it is good, like why the US government gives out long johns and parka's to guys who are going to Iraq in the middle of the summer when it never gets below 90 degrees and that upon returning home those parka's and long johns that have never been used cannot be returned even if the service member does not want them, this along with some of the other daily life information will leave you scratching your head and maybe wanting to write to your Representative but as you close your book (or turn off your nook) you will thank whatever is out there for putting people like Dr. Hnida and the men and women he served with on this planet.