by Major Eric Baden, MD
Emergency Medicine Physician
PROFIS C Co; 64 BSB; 3/4
Camp Taji, Iraq
In a different time or a different era and under different
circumstances, you might think you were at
Ellis Island during the height of immigration or at
the opening ceremony of the upcoming summer
Olympics. You probably would never guess that you
were sitting in the middle of a military dining facility
(“difac”) during the lunch rush, somewhere in the
Middle East during a war.
But that’s exactly where I was sitting when I realized
that I had never seen such a diverse representation
of all things great about America, right then and
there while I was sitting down to eat my lunch. To my
left was Captain Johnson. He is from Colorado. A
dentist who met his wife while doing missionary
work for the Mormon Church in Central America.
His kids look like Precious Moments centerpieces. To
my right was Lieutenant Colonel Ares. He is a physician
assistant of Hispanic decent from Hawaii. With
27 years of service, he has done it all, but his current
focus is on his finances and the well-being of his wife
and two kids.
As I peer across the difac at the more than 200
occupants, I see every skin tone shade, from the very
dark-complected soldiers from Uganda to my
extremely fair-skinned physician friend from Alaska.
There is also every shade of eye and hair color. There
are soldiers from Korea, Japan, Great Britain, and
Estonia. There are soldiers of all ages, from those who
don’t look a day over 18 to those who look decades
past AARP membership age. If you stop to listen you
can hear all kinds of languages with various accents.
They come from all over America and the world, representing different classes, educational levels, trades, skills, talents, fears, and hopes. Each
one has his or her own story to tell.
There is representation from all branches
of the Armed Forces here: the Army,
Navy, Marines, Air Force, and yes, even
the Coast Guard.
In contrast to the diversity, there are
many things we Service members do
have in common. We all wear a military
uniform. We all volunteered to
serve. We all adhere to the same military
standard for dress, appearance, and
courtesy. We are all paid according to
the same pay scale. We all get the same
benefits and allowances. There is no
classism. There is no racism. There is
no sexism.
The military is an entity whose
necessity can be argued and debated.
War is an evil whose necessity can be
argued and debated. But the one
thing that can’t be argued or debated
is the quality and character of the
men and women who in sum make
up the Armed Forces. They can only
be admired and appreciated, for they
truly represent everything that is great
about America — and the world, for
that matter.
Major Eric Baden, MD was born 14 April,
1975. He was adopted from Seoul, Korea,
at age 2 by Pam and Robert Baden. He
grew up in Southeastern Michigan in a
small township called Canton. He graduated
from Xavier University, a small Jesuit
school in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1997 and
Case Western Reserve University SOM in
2001. He completed his Emergency
Medicine Residency at Brooke Army
Medical Center (BAMC) in 2001. His
first duty assignment was at the 121st
Combat Support Hospital in Seoul, Korea.
While stationed there, he met and married
his wife Jiah Song at the U.S. Embassy,
Seoul, in October 2005. He returned to
BAMC in August 2005 as teaching staff
for the EM residency. He deployed to
Forward Operating Base Taji, Iraq, on
1 December, 2007, attached to the 3rd
Brigade 4th Infantry Division (out of Fort
Carson, CO), where he will be serving a
15-month deployment. Jiah’s due date for
their first child is 2 June, 2008.
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