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Coppola: A Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq

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I was a bit hesitant to read this book, as I was afraid it might be too political or slanted. What is amazing is to read it and realize there is no hidden political agenda or mindless promotion of the military presence. Instead, it focuses on people: Doctors and nurses and staff that take devoted care of people, whether troops or civilians, and work in the most unimaginable of circumstances.
I hadn't really considered how many people are working in Iraq who may disagree with the politics, but are serving to fill their obligations. And not just doing it for an audience, but toiling in the dark and dirt and noise of temporary hospitals. These are providing patient care with no idea of what will be rolled in next: a child riddled with shrapnel, or a civilian who was ambushed as they tried to vote, or a soldier injured in a roadside bomb. These doctors, specifically Dr. Coppola, are working out of their comfort zone, with very few opportunities to recover emotionally before the next ambulance arrives.
I found the whole book fascinating, and wish more people could look at the Iraq war from this perspective, within, rather than simply what they see the spin doctors say on the nightly newscasts. My mental picture of Iraq, prior to reading this, featured sand, heat, dirt, machine guns, women in long black gowns and camoflaged soldiers. After reading this I now understand that there is an entire population that exists hidden from popular view: real people with real issues (both American and Iraqi), trying to sift life and death from the sand.

Chris Coppola is the kind of guy you want to have serving your country: a dutiful, sincere husband, father, surgeon and soldier. If everyone involved in the war machine were like him, there would be no war. In this memoir, Coppola makes his way through two tours in Iraqi. He lives in a base station right outside Bagdad and works first tour in a tent, later in a high-tech facility, where he patches together bodies--many children's--who have been riddled with shrapnel, burned, blown apart, bulging entrails, and missing faces. His story recounts, in detail, his encounters with the teetering area between the life and death of both Americans and Iraqi enemies who depend on his care. Not a spiritual or psychological journey, it's a diary-structured story told in day-to-day events. Coppola lets us know he does not necessarily believe in the war, or understand why America is involved, but he does not expound on his views. I was struck by how much blood is needed and wasted in the medical facility. Lieutenant Colonel Coppola, his fellow doctors, translators, and family members make up the book's cast of characters. There are no surprises; some pictures and drawings. Anyone employed in the health profession will surely enjoy the camaraderie and feel right at home in the pages of this book; all of us who wonder about the fate of war casualties and the devotion of doctors will be grateful to read this book; everyone who needs confirmation about the resiliency of life in the face of war would do good to pick Chris Coppola: a Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq.

The nightmare never ends for a pediatrician in war. "Coppola: A Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq" delves into the tale of Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Chris Coppola, a war surgeon who with a defiant act of kindness, finds himself in a parade of tragedy from critically injured Iraqi children. Through his works, he gains reputation throughout Iraq as a healer, and here he tells his story of working in harsh conditions for a greater good. "Coppola" is a riveting, and dually depressing and uplifting read, highly recommended.

I bought this book partly out of interest in becoming a pediatric surgeon, and also because I felt it was unique that there is an actual chronicling of war-time medicine centered around children.

This book was a fast read because of it's un-put-downability: it follows Dr. Coppola through his first deployment, time at home, and second deployment. Dr. Coppola is a descriptive and talented writer, and what sold it for me is his humility, honesty, and expressiveness in his writing. Among those in medicine and especially in a theater of war, there is a lot of machismo and hiding of feelings, but Dr. Coppola talks about everything he hopes for, is afraid of, and what he is grateful for in a theater of war where so many have made great sacrifices.

I particularly enjoyed some chapters which were letters to his wife, and especially enjoyed his description of his camp and those he worked closely with and bonded with. I enjoyed reading such an exciting book that wasn't a gung-ho Hollywood depiction of medicine during war-time, but rather Dr. Coppola keeps it honest, exciting and very insightful. You feel like you're included on his team, and one of the strengths of the book is how you feel a real setting, that is, a psychological atmosphere built up from Dr. Coppola's descriptions and expression of his thoughts on those he worked with, operated on, and interacted with.

In short, it's a must-read, as I've never read a military medicine book as expressive and human as this one.

I had the rare privilege of working with Chris during his second deployment to Balad. You can probably find lots of "there I was" books relating to this war, but you would be hard-pressed to find a more accurate book, or one that better reflects the feelings of those medics deployed in support of our fighting forces and the people of Iraq. If you want to know what it was like to serve as a medic in Balad, you need only to open the cover of this book and start reading.

Dr Coppola has kindly shared his experiences of caring for children caught in a war zone. The difficulties of being away from his own family, having no offical remit to care for local children, and not having the desirable equipment to care for local children are just some of the strains that he discusses. As a paediatric surgeon who has worked away from "civilization" I can empathize! I would recommend this book to all paediatric surgeons and to all surgeons and doctors who get involved in the humanitarian side of disasters.

This book came as a total surprise to me. I've always had respect for those who serve in our military, and the doctors who serve there hold a special place. But somehow I never thought that the medical staff is not only taking care of our wounded soldiers. They also take care of the civilians caught up in tragedy, and even take time to aid enemy combatants. As such, they provide two major services. The main mission, and their main contribution, is allowing the survival of so many more military casualties. But their work with the civilian population serves as an ambassadorship, showing other countries that America is willing to help all.

Dr. Chris Coppola served two surgical rotations in Iraq. He is a pediatric surgeon and found quite a scope of work for his specialty. There are many children who are burned in bombings, shot, or hurt by falling rubble. Since the medical capacities of Iraq have been pretty much destroyed by the war, Dr. Coppola also found himself as the doctor of choice for birth defects, or diseases that disfigured and harmed the children there. Often, he was able to provide life-saving or enhancing medical care that these children would never be able to get otherwise.

Much of the book talks about how anyone in the military serving overseas in a battle situation feels. There is the fear when battle hits contrasted with everyday boredom. There is the overwhelming lonliness of being without their family. There is the satisfaction of knowing that they have completed a mission, and hopefully have made the lives of those around them better. Regardless of whether they agree with the mission or not, these men and women are serving a life of service to others, and I admire them greatly for their sacrifice.

This book is recommended for those interested in current events. It is an interesting take on the war not often heard, and it adds to the reader's knowledge of the conflict while helping them clarify their feelings about this situation.

When Dr. Coppola first deployed he was a Major, and had never been overseas. He tells of trying to sleep with the sound of Black Hawk helicopters coming and going directly overhead at all hours of the day. Since he is a pediatric surgeon by training, whenever a child was brought to the hospital, he was called, day or night.

I found the book to be a fascinating glimpse into the workings of a major trauma center located in the middle of war zone. A behind the scenes telling of the emotions, the dedication and the frustration of a man who has dedicated his life to saving the lives of others. A healer turned soldier.

Conflicts occur between Dr. Coppola and the head of the hospital when it comes to performing an operation on an Iraqi child. The nurses refuse to be a part of assisting with the operation.

An operation that is not available to the child unless it is done by the American doctors. What exactly is the role of a doctor in the middle of a war? These are questions Dr. Coppola faces. Must he treat only the wounded military personnel? What happens when those very same soldiers bring a wounded child to him for help.

This book brings a different perspective to the war in Iraq. There is much here to think about after you have read this book. Think about the potential for personal conflict if you were attending medical school, wanting to be a surgeon to save lives and joined the Air Force to help pay for med school costs.

Suddenly you are trained as a soldier whose role is often to take a life vs. a surgeon whose role is to save a life. Should it matter if a critically wounded trooper is male or female? To the staff of the ER that day it did.

We follow Dr. Coppola as he transitions back home. After several years he is deploying again, and must try to explain to his young son that he can't delay it just because the child's birthday party will be missed. He explains that the military people need him to take care of them. When he arrives back in Iraq, as a Lt. Col. he finds the hospital has changed greatly and so has the attitude of the staff. Is it all for the better? Certain activities bring back memories of his childhood. He touches on the many ways people try to bring a touch of home to their corner of Iraq at the holidays.

Overall, I found this book to be an easy read, one that was quick to catch my interest. It made me stop and think, at several different points, what would I have done, had I been there and been faced with those decisions.

FANTASTIC!

When I began reading this book, I was worried there would be some kind of political slant to it. Would the doctor say he was for the war, or against it? But this book wasn't about that.

Dr. Coppola focused on what he set out to write about: His experience as a Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq. It was told with such fluidity, honesty, and rawness, that your own feelings about the war melt away and you are left to face the sacrifices of the children of Iraq.

I'm sitting here staring at the computer wondering what I could possibly write about this book to express just how deeply it moved me, and I can't find the words.

The topic is on point, the feelings are written from heart and soul, the editing is tight, the cover is perfect. This book has all the markings of a best-seller.

It's just another example as to how quickly we make judgements as to what goes on across the world, without thinking about the men and women who are there, putting their lives in jeapardy, to save human beings. Because like Dr. Coppola said, and most importantly did, we are all human beings. Those children didn't ask for any of this.

I give thanks to Dr. Coppola for giving us an insider view of what our medical personal deal with and do without judgment. With this book, he is giving us a look into the going-ons in war we rarely get to hear about.

This book will be appearing on best-seller lists. It just will.

War is Hell. But for a child it's ten times worse.

Dr. Christopher Coppola knows that all too well. He's seen how a child's large head and closeness to the ground make it an easy target for explosives. He's seen how burns that cover more than 50% of a child's body - cases that could be easily treated in US hospitals - are often fatal in war-torn Iraq.

Dr. Coppola went through two deployments to Balad air force base in Iraq during his time as a Pediatric Surgeon for the US Air Force. During his first deployment, he saw the damage done to children during the war. But he also saw the overall hope of a nation that was certain after the war things would be better. Then in his second deployment - some two years later - he saw new threats to children as troop numbers surged and al-Qaida turned its focus from targeting US troops to targeting civilians.

Working in extreme conditions while battling bureaucracy and lack of modern equipment, Dr. Coppola did his best in every surgery or procedure to save lives.

And in his memoir `Coppola', the good doctor tells what happened during those years in Iraq.

The book is nicely written, nicely paced, and sprinkled with diverse elements: Coppola's letters home, sketches of Iraqi bases and palaces, and his academic papers.

But it doesn't seem enough. There always seems to be something missing.

It's certainly not that the book is overly censored. Coppola is bringing you the honest truth, no matter how shocking it may be. Like the story of how he consulted the Iraqi family of a hermaphrodite who insisted on raising the child as a boy. Or the story of an unforgettable little girl named Leyla, and how the Doctor unknowingly treated the insurgent who started the house fire that killed her. These are all stories that will stay in your mind and come back to visit you when you least suspect them.

But still... it's never quite enough.

Perhaps its Coppola's kindness and compassion, so evident in the care of his patients, that prevents us from seeing what we're looking for. We can see in his anecdotes of breaking bad news to parents, fellow soldiers, and even his wife, that Coppola understands the necessity of being candid about the true face of difficult situations. But when it comes to discussing the nitty-gritty variables - the things he and he alone has to worry about in order to turn the situation around - things get strategically left out.

It feels as thought the good doctor treats his readers like his patients. We see the circumstances that fuel his worry, his insomnia, and his frustration. But we never seem to be lurking by his side. He wants to show us the exposed, beating heart of the situation of Iraq. But not so close that we might compromise the operation.

"Coppola" is a book two inches from greatness. By the end of this book you will know the man, know the necessity, and instinctively understand why the doctor is so good at what he does. This book will get you thinking things about US involvement that tend to get pushed to the back of your mind.

I'm glad I was given the opportunity to read it. More people need to read it. More people need to understand the lives US soldiers and surgeons are living thousands of miles away from US soil. Brave men and women are dying for a mission most people would rather go to the mall than think about. And the more I read Coppola's story the more outraged I felt about that sense of national disinterest.

But the book, as it stands, is more school assignment than masterpiece. Perhaps a little more openness about the facts, perhaps a ghost writer's polish, perhaps one more heart-wrenching story of a patient in need could have pushed it those last two inches.

"Coppola" cannot be said to be a great book. But it is a good, though-provoking read, and one that I highly recommend.


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