Keep this sort of thing in mind when you assume, incorrectly, that mindless support for foreign military interventions is synonymous with support for the American soldier:
During the incident in question, a Dustoff helicopter was approximately three minutes away, parked at Forward Operating Base Pasab. Both Dustoff and Pedro aircrews report being able to be airborne within roughly six minutes of receipt of orders.
However, because there were no Apache gunships available, the Dustoff flight for Specialist Clark was delayed. Official records state that he was delivered to hospital facilities 59 minutes after the MEDEVAC flight was requested by his unit—one minute from falling outside DoD standards, and within the “Golden Hour” from the moment of injury. But the military deceives here. Their fictitious Golden Hour does not begin at the moment of injury, but from the time the 9-line casualty report is received. This deadly deception was revealed in Golden Seconds.
Pedro helicopters also sitting at Kandahar Airfield could have completed this mission in less than 35 minutes. If Pedro or armed Dustoff had been stationed at Pasab, Chazray Clark could have been delivered to the trauma center in roughly 24 minutes.
The official record states that it took 59 minutes to deliver Chazray Clark to the combat support hospital. Video shot by Michael Yon provides conclusive proof that the military has deceived the Congress. Patient delivery took about 66 minutes from the time of injury, and about 65 minutes from the time of first report. There is no argument on this point. This clear deception brings in question all other military statements on this issue.
The death of Specialist Clark attributed to these delays is not an isolated incident.
It should be very obvious to anyone who is paying attention that the military itself does not appreciate being thrown into every hellhole that the Administration and various Members of Congress want to flex their muscle. And American soldiers are treated very, very badly by many historical standards; unlike Roman legionaries, few American officers can expect to retire wealthy as many centurions did.
I should say that the least Americans can do for their troops is ensure that their medical needs are being given priority over political concerns about long-abandoned aspects of the Geneva Convention. And any Pentagon officials who are proved to have been lying in order to play CYA games need to be fired at once.