8th FST in Logar

From left to right, Sgt. Erin Aretz, Capt. Martha Serbus, Maj. Terry Dickinson, and Spc. David Dela Cruz treat Spc. Derek Godin, 23, a medic with the 10th Mountain Division’s 4-25 Artillery Regiment.

Godin arrived at the trauma center after a rocket-propelled grenade hit his armored vehicle and pierced the door. Godin, who is a medic for his unit, treated himself at first.

“After the RPG hit, there was black smoke pouring everywhere inside the truck and I couldn’t see anything,” Godin said during a telephone interview from Fort Bragg, N.C. “It hurt when I got hit, but I knew I just couldn’t lay there and scream, so I put a tourniquet on my leg.”

The FST staff had worked alongside Godin during training so he felt secure with them.

Photo: Erin Trieb, who spent six weeks with the 8th Forward Surgical Team (FST) in Logar Province, Afghanistan.