Medic takes a gritty look at his time in Iraq in acclaimed memoir

RAYNHAM, Mass. —When Michael Anthony headed off to serve as a medic in Iraq, he thought it would be like a John Wayne movie. It turned out to be more like an episode of "M*A*S*H" - except it was anything but funny.....
He was surrounded by rampant drug abuse, crass extramarital affairs and corrupt and incompetent officers who put their own interests ahead of the needs of their soldiers, even when they were depressed enough to try to commit suicide.

“I expected to see soldiers who lived by the Army values, loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage. What did I find? I found an underbelly of the military that no one wants to talk about for fear it makes the Army look bad,” said Anthony, 23, of Raynham.

Anthony, who has turned to writing to express himself since he was a child, kept a daily journal of his experiences in Iraq and has turned them into an acclaimed memoir, “Mass Casualties: A Young Medic’s True Story of Death, Deception and Dishonor in Iraq.”

“I’d love to stay silent as much as the next guy, but these are stories that need to be told. A lot of people just want to pretend it’s all right, but if we want to fix anything we need to talk about it,” he said.
(Thanks vza)