77 percent of soldiers evacuated to Germany or the United States had noncombat problems that bought them a one-way ticket out of the war.

From Paradise General by Dr. Dave Hnida, Chapter 12.  A reminder that a major American hospital in a war zone provides care not only to soldiers wounded in battle but a whole range of ailments for a much larger population of support personnel.  

Though the majority of patients we’d get were the wounded, I was surprised at the number of everyday medical problems similar to what we saw day to day in the States. Overall, 77 percent of soldiers evacuated to Germany or the United States had noncombat problems that bought them a one-way ticket out of the war. Bad backs, high blood pressure, and bum knees beat shrapnel as the chief reasons combat commanders had trouble keeping their units filled with warm bodies. As a full-service hospital with an oversized welcome mat, we also took care of a lot of contractors. They also had bosses who growled when we had to pull their workers off the schedule because of an ache, pain, or something more serious.

There had been a regular flow of patients with appendicitis, several each week, as well as a steady stream of kidney stones. Both problems were probably due to the searing heat and the fact it was nearly impossible to swill the ten to fifteen big bottles of water needed to head off dehydration, especially for the soldiers who went outside the wire in full battle gear. Migraines were another big-ticket item as well as, of all things, heart attacks. It was the rare soldier who had a heart problem, usually it was overweight contractors in their forties and fifties who smoked like chimneys and ate like pigs at the trough.