Rule Number Two: Lessons I Learned in a Combat Hospital [Hardcover]

Heidi Squier Kraft (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 24, 2007

When Lieutenant Commander Heidi Kraft's twin son and daughter were fifteen months old, she was deployed to Iraq. A clinical psychologist in the US Navy, Kraft's job was to uncover the wounds of war that a surgeon would never see. She put away thoughts of her children back home, acclimated to the sound of incoming rockets, and learned how to listen to the most traumatic stories a war zone has to offer.
One of the toughest lessons of her deployment was perfectly articulated by the TV show M*A*S*H: "There are two rules of war. Rule number one is that young men die. Rule number two is that doctors can't change rule number one." Some Marines, Kraft realized, and even some of their doctors, would be damaged by war in ways she could not repair. And sometimes, people were repaired in ways she never expected. RULE NUMBER TWO is a powerful firsthand account of providing comfort admidst the chaos of war, and of what it takes to endure.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A necessary...book for anyone wishing to understand." (Booklist )

"Wins respect with genuine empathy." (Military Times )

"Direct and honest...every page provides evidence of the long-lasting effect [Kraft's] time in Iraq has had on her." (Bloomberg.com )

"Emotional and powerful, it's a piece of work that is worth sitting down with." (Palos Verdes Peninsula News )

Review

"A necessary...book for anyone wishing to understand." (Booklist )

"Wins respect with genuine empathy." (Military Times )

"Direct and honest...every page provides evidence of the long-lasting effect [Kraft's] time in Iraq has had on her." (Bloomberg.com )

"Emotional and powerful, it's a piece of work that is worth sitting down with." (Palos Verdes Peninsula News ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (October 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316067903
• ISBN-13: 978-0316067904
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,577 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Social Scientists & Psychologists
  • #57 in Books > History > Military > Iraq War
  • #71 in Books > History > Middle East > Iraq

More About the Author

Heidi Squier Kraft received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the UCSD/SDSU Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology in 1996. She joined the Navy during her internship at Duke University Medical Center, serving as both a flight and clinical psychologist. Her active duty assignments included the Naval Safety Center, the Naval Health Research Center, and Naval Hospital Jacksonville, FL.

While on flight status, she flew in nearly every aircraft in the Navy and Marine Corps inventory, including over 100 hours in the F/A-18 Hornet, primarily with Marine Corps squadrons. In February 2004, she deployed to western Iraq for seven months with a Marine Corps surgical company, when her boy and girl twins were fifteen months old. RULE NUMBER TWO is a memoir of that experience.

She left active duty in 2005 after nine years in the Navy, and now serves as a consultant for the US Navy and Marine Corps' Combat Stress Control programs. She treats active duty patients who suffer from PTSD, and provides invited talks on combat stress, stigma and caring for the caregiver, for 50-60 audiences per year. She lives in San Diego with her husband Mike, a former Marine Corps Harrier pilot, and twins Brian and Megan, who have no memory of their mother's time in Iraq.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who cares for the caregivers?, October 19, 2007

By 

John D. Olson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rule Number Two: Lessons I Learned in a Combat Hospital (Hardcover)

Dr. Kraft has written a fresh, emotionally bruising record of what it is to be a care giver not just to those who obviously need it, but to those whose experiences lash them from the inside. This is the book for anyone who ever wanted a concise version of the direct and indirect mental cost of combat.

The wrenching depictions of comrades in arms openly weeping for those who used to sit and laugh beside them, of leaders expressing love and care for those for whom they are responsible, of the small things and large which provide relief and anchors for those caught up in chaos all leave a reader wondering how it is anyone can truly survive combat unscathed. Intervention after intervention trod upon each's heels; from the schizophrenic Marine who argues with his combat knife, to the weathered veteran who wants hypnosis so he can stop his two-pack a day smoking habit, to talking down a Marine with a rifle muzzle to her head, weeping as she apologizes for what she is about to do, even when the interventionalists themselves find themselves on the receiving end of an ad hoc group session held by a commander of a neighboring unit who happens to be a practicing psychiatrist, even addressing the stress of being one of the new "untouchables" - graves registration Marines. "We did the best we could" is the strong underlying theme throughout this memoir. This is a powerful rendering of what we ask others to do, and suffer, in our name.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rule Number Three, December 10, 2007

By 

InterLinkOperator "BioRealist" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rule Number Two: Lessons I Learned in a Combat Hospital (Hardcover)

Rule number three: Rule number one and two compel us to provide our armed forces with the compassionate combat stress care of doctors like Lieutenant Commander Heidi Squier Kraft.

Rule number one and two refer to a particular episode of M*A*S*H. Use the search inside feature for more about this. I met Alan Alda once. Having followed his career, I noticed he gives medical commencements. His advice after a near death surgical crisis is, "Treat me like a human being".

That is exactly what Dr Kraft describes in her memoir as a Navy flight psychologist, marine pilot's wife, submariners daughter, colleague friend and confidant. She is one of the Marines "Alpha" female care givers at the Combat Hospital in Anbar Province, Iraq.

I recall reading the news story of Marine Corporal Dunham's heroism and susequent Medal of Honor. It is comforting to know he was treated with such dignity and compassion by Dr. Kraft and her team at Alpha Surgical.

This book is a compelling read and allays some of my fears about how our military addresses combat stress. You will meet members of our military requiring the assistance of Heidi Kraft. Many looking for someone to talk with, at Alpha Surgical Hospital, so they can rejoin their units. Some would not make it.

I was also pleased to see 10% of Dr. Kraft's royalties are donated to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund. As if she hasn't already given enough.

Ma'am, thank you!

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read brings the war close to home, October 25, 2007

By 

E. Wallace (California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rule Number Two: Lessons I Learned in a Combat Hospital (Hardcover)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and within the first chapter found that I had a hard time putting it down. Kraft gives a real-life perspective of the experiences and impressions of a modern day war. She provides a realistic view on the emotions and every day details that haven't been captured by the media. And after reading this, I feel closer to the war in Iraq and the individuals who give their time, hearts and minds to fighting.