Paradise General: Riding the Surge at a Combat Hospital in Iraq 1st Edition

by Dr. Dave Hnida (Author)

89 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-1416599579

ISBN-10: 1416599576

Why is ISBN important?

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Share <Embed>

Condition: Used - Very Good

In Stock. Sold by Jadan5, Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

56 Used from $1.94

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Turn on 1-Click ordering

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Sold by Trust1ValueUSA and Fulfilled by Amazon. Gift-wrap available.

10 New from $19.28

FREE Shipping—or get FREE Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime

Turn on 1-Click ordering

Ship to:

Select a shipping address:

More Buying Choices

10 New from $19.28 56 Used from $1.94 2 Collectible from $9.80

68 used & new from $1.94

See All Buying Options

Free%20Two-Day%20Shipping%20for%20College%20Students%20with%20Amazon%20Student

IN 2004, AT THE AGE OF FORTY-EIGHT, DR. DAVE HNIDA, a family physician from Littleton, Colorado, volunteered to be deployed to Iraq and spent a tour of duty as a battalion surgeon with a combat unit. In 2007, he went back—this time as a trauma chief at one of the busiest Combat Support Hospitals (CSH) during the Surge. In an environment that was nothing less than a modern-day M*A*S*H, the doctors’ main objective was simple: Get ’em in, get ’em out. The only CSH staffed by reservists— who tended to be older, more-experienced doctors disdainful of authority—the 399th soon became a medevac destination of choice because of its high survival rate, an astounding 98 percent.

This was fast-food medicine at its best: working in a series of tents connected to the occasional run-down building, Dr. Hnida and his fellow doctors raced to keep the wounded alive until they could be airlifted out of Iraq for more extensive repairs. Here the Hippocratic Oath superseded that of the pledge to Uncle Sam; if you got the red-carpet helicopter ride, his team took care of you, no questions asked. On one stretcher there might be a critically injured American soldier while three feet away lay the insurgent, shot in the head, who planted the IED that inflicted those wounds.

But there was levity amid the chaos. On call round-the-clock with an unrelenting caseload, the doctors’ prescription for sanity included jokes, pranks, and misbehavior. Dr. Hnida’s deployment was filled with colorful characters and gifted surgeons, a diverse group who became trusted friends as together they dealt with the psychological toll of seeing the casualties of war firsthand.

In a conflict with no easy answers and even less good news, Paradise General gives us something that we can all believe in—the story of an ordinary citizen turned volunteer soldier trying to make a difference. With honesty and candor, and an off-the-wall, self-deprecating humor that sustained him and his battle buddies through their darkest hours, Dr. Hnida delivers a devastating and inspiring account of his CSH tour and an unparalleled look at medical care during an unscripted war.

Paradise General: Riding the Surge at a Combat Hospital in Iraq

$25.00 FREE Shipping—or get FREE Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime Only 1 left in stock - order soon. Sold by Trust1ValueUSA and Fulfilled by Amazon. Gift-wrap available.

Frequently bought together

Total price: $41.36

These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers. Show details

Buy the selected items together

This item:Paradise General: Riding the Surge at a Combat Hospital in Iraq by Dr. Dave Hnida Hardcover $25.00
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by Trust1ValueUSA and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
FREE Shipping. Details
On Call In Hell: A Doctor's Iraq War Story by Cdr. Richard Jadick Hardcover $8.00
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Ships from and sold by Captain Friendly.
$3.99 shipping
Rule Number Two: Lessons I Learned in a Combat Hospital by Heidi Squier Kraft Hardcover $8.36
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Ships from and sold by Brockett Designs.
$6.98 shipping

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Cdr. Richard Jadick

88

Hardcover
$8.00
Heidi Squier Kraft

107

Hardcover
$8.36
leo jenkins

270

Paperback
10 offers from $25.26
Mark L. Donald

199

Hardcover
$24.40
Cdr. Richard Jadick

88

Paperback
$11.58
Cdr. Cheryl L. Ruff

23

Hardcover
30 offers from $4.00

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Hnida never forgot the horror of his alcoholic father’s WWII experience, revealed as he drove his son to college, their last time together. The need to understand that horror later drove Hnida, as a middle-aged doctor, to war himself. He signed up for two tours of duty in Iraq. On the first tour, he was equipped with an M16 and medical tools and worked with convoys along the highways of Baghdad. His second time in Iraq, during the surge, Hnida worked at a combat-support hospital, the equivalent of a MASH unit. Hnida recalls the experience of working with much younger soldiers and doctors and the struggle to adjust to army discipline and protocol on top of the rigors of war and a hostile desert environment. A family doctor in civilian life, he was assigned to the ER, fighting his own constant fear as he worked on wounds no civilian doctor ever saw. Through it all, he developed close and abiding friendships with the other doctors and admiration for the young soldiers who risked their lives on a daily basis. --Vanessa Bush

Review

“Unforgettable . . . In another era, Homer would be telling this tale. Dr. Hnida’s tale of sacrifice and hope is a crucial, firsthand chronicle of our time and likely to become a classic of war literature.” —Christopher McDougall, author of Born to Run

“A true-life M*A*S*H tale of doctors, wars and field hospitals.” —Bill Husted, The Denver Post

“Page-turning . . . a sobering account of combat injuries and the courageous medical corps who work against the odds to treat them.” —Laura Landro, The Wall Street Journal

“Hnida grabbed me by the throat on the first page. What sets it apart from other accounts is the intimate look at the complicated motivations that drive a hometown doctor to answer the call to serve his country.” —Lee Woodruff, co-author of In An Instant

“Wonderfully moving and frequently very funny . . . a perfect guide through the confounding, terrifying, and strangely exhilarating world inhabited by the U.S. military in Iraq.” —Greg Jaffe, military correspondent, The Washington Post

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Series: Later printing
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1 edition (April 27, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416599576
ISBN-13: 978-1416599579
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 89 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,665,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #592 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Military > Afghan & Iraq Wars > Iraq War
- #945 in Books > Textbooks > Social Sciences > Military Sciences
- #1492 in Books > History > Military > Iraq War

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Start reading Paradise General on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Important information

Ingredients

Example Ingredients

Directions

Example Directions

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars

5 star		79%
4 star		16%
3 star		4%
2 star		0%
1 star		1%

Write a customer review

See all verified purchase reviews

Rated by customers interested in

What's this?

Medical Books

5.0 out of 5 stars

Reference Books

4.7 out of 5 stars

Medicine & Nursing Books

5.0 out of 5 stars

Is this feature helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Top customer reviews

A gritty, honest, and (at times) hilarious memoir of a doctor's war

ByCarrie Morganon December 30, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I grew up in Littleton, Colorado, and remember watching his medical segments on the local news. Years later, I was delighted to discover that Dr. Dave Hnida wrote a memoir of his experiences as an Army reservist in Iraq. With a witty narrative that reads as easily as any book I've ever read, Dr. Dave had me wiping away tears one moment and laughing out loud the next. Paradise General is wonderful, enjoyable, and vitally important story of the men and women who care for our injured soldiers overseas. A must-read among Iraq war narratives.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Best Book In Years

ByAshon May 27, 2012

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

First off, I don't write book reviews. But this book. Wow. If I could shout things from the roof tops I would.

This is a fantastically written book. It will pull you in and make you feel like you know every person. Dr. Hnida comes across not like superman, but like anyone else. He was able to do what many authors fail to do, show that everyone is human. We all have our fears & weaknesses, strengths & moments of glory. Even in a war zone people are still people. His ability to show many sides of everyone is beyond what I have read in a long time. Showing that many of the injured soldiers are still kids, many of the people just want to laugh to deal with the stress, and even someone you are fighting against has the same fears.

The book will make you laugh. It will make you cry. It will pull you into a different world. I work with retired Air Force and Navy guys on a daily basis and Dr. Hnida was able to pull me into the Army world without missing a beat.

I am excited to support a local Colorado author. Even happier to hear the real voice of people my work as a defense contractor supports. If I could shake your hand, Dr. Hnida, I would. Thank you. The guys like you across an ocean are why I do what I do.

Now, to a real challenge, finding another book that can top this one. This may take a few years. Even a book to read after this that may come close will take a while. This book is likely to be re-read for a very long time. I have already told one of the AF guys I work with that he has to read this book. He will be reading it shortly if I tape it to his computer screen page by page.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Solid behind-the-scenes look at a combat hospital

ByNathan WebsterTOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICEon January 2, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This provides a solid and fairly unique look at an Iraq combat hospital at the near-height of 2007's 'surge,' with violence at a peak. Author Dave Hnida did a short (but very busy) tour as an Army reserve surgeon.

It was actually his second tour, and his descriptions of his 2004 seemed pretty intense. Made me want more stories about that time. But, a good editor makes sure the writer stays on point, which this book does.

The best parts of this narrative deal with the intense and busy days in the surgical hospital. While it wasn't non-stop treatment, it was close. The doctors worked on Iraqis and US soldiers, so there were always patients - including insurgent fighters whose treatments provide Hnida an occasional moral dillema - but professional treatment always wins out.

It told me a story I didn't know, or didn't think much about - what happens to the soldiers after their injuries on the battlefield. It was often brutal, and while I don't know if 'rewarding' is the right word, these doctors could see the results of their effort, up close and very personal. The stress, speed and quick decisions the men and women must make on a constant basis are amazing.

My preference in memoirs is to see the good and bad (or at least less positive) sides of everyone. Hnida mostly shows slightly more one-dimensional portrayals. His friends are all heroic and selfless, the young medics are all salt-of-the-earth, and the 'villains' are administrators and occasionally those rear-echelon soldiers. They are either totally good or totally bad. I like to see more shades of grey, or at least less of putting people on a pedestal.

But, the value of the story is the behind-the-scenes look at the other part of the battlefield - where men and women go for help when the battle doesn't go their way.

I was embedded as a freelance journalist near Tikrit at the same time Hnida describes. An 82nd Airborne soldier whose sad death he describes was part of the larger unit I was embedded with, though I never met the man. I did know the name, though, and it's always strange having even a slight personal connection with these kinds of memoirs. Everything in Iraq always seems to connect.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Required Reading

Byjoe foxon July 10, 2010

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

If you're looking for a unique perspective on war, this is the book for you. It was written by a doctor who joined the Army at age 48- his reasons were many, but all centered on helping the young people in our armed forces.
Don't expect any politics here; this is a pure ground-level harsh, often sardonic look at life in a war. As a civilian, I especially enjoyed his adjustment to military life, which often seemed a battle of wills and a resentment to conformity. Yet I sense this non-military soldier was well-liked and respected while serving.
I was surprised at the stories of treating insurgents, horrified by the stories of suicide and sexual assault, awed by the skill and dedication of the author and his fellow physicians (reservists all) as they care for injuries not seen back home. Let's not forget the hospital staff- also reservists--- this unit had a save rate of 98%. Bless our military and those who care for them. What sets this book apart is thats it's written by an older volunteer, one who got his hands dirty (or in this case, bloody), had no axes to grind, and wasnt an embedded journalist. He not only walked the walk, he worked at a sprint 24/7.
If you have a loved one who is serving or has served, this is a must-read. If you are serving or have served, this is a must-read. If you are none of the above but want to learn about what our country is dealing with, and those helping to solve our problems, this is must-read.
Joseph Fox