--- title: "This Might Be The Definitive War Doc About Medics In Afghanistan" date: "2016-04-28" modified: "2016-04-28" authors: - name: "Adam Linehan" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/adamlinehan/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/history/might-definitive-war-doc-medics-afghanistan/" categories: - "Afghanistan War" - "Culture" - "Entertainment" - "History" - "Past Conflicts" --- # This Might Be The Definitive War Doc About Medics In Afghanistan ![]() When people find out that I used to be an Army combat medic, they tend to say something like, “So if I get hurt you can fix me, right?” And my response, usually delivered with a touch of dark humor, is always something to the effect of, “No fucking way.” I don’t say that because my medical skills are rusty, which they are, but because there’s a certain poise I’ve lost since leaving the military. I *was* a combat medic — a pretty good one, too. Now, I can barely make it through a war movie without the aid of a few Bud Light tall boys. Being a medic is about more than simply having the ability to effectively apply a tourniquet, administer an IV, or stuff a wound. It’s a cockiness. An attitude. A mentality that bears an exceptional tolerance for gore and human suffering. It’s also, to some extent, a willingness to die. Because when the shit hits the fan, it’s the medic who’s expected to run headlong into the blades. ![]() Soldiers board a Blackhawk in Afghanistan.Photo by Harry Sanna And that’s precisely what director Harry Sanna sought to capture in his upcoming documentary. The film, aptly titled “Trauma,” centers around a U.S. Army medevac unit deployed to Afghanistan in 2011. Filmed over the course of several weeks, and including additional footage from the years Sanna spent covering the war as a journalist, “Trauma” offers a rare window into the insane world of combat medicine. Related: This is the Iraq War documentary every veteran must see » “The reason for making this film is to offer civilian audience an unfiltered glimpse at what it’s like to be a medic at war,” Ryan Cunningham, the film’s producer, told Task & Purpose. “It’s also about their individual journeys home, where struggles with PTSD and the other effects of war are very real.” With the film currently in post-production, the filmmakers have turned to [Kickstarter]() to raise the funds necessary to complete the project. I am, of course, biased toward anything that even vaguely resembles my war experience, but to someone who lived this stuff, “Trauma” looks like the real deal. I might need more than a few tall boys for this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s6neiXs_mg An extended version of the trailer is [available here]().