Paradise General: Riding the Surge at a Combat Hospital in Iraq

This “wonderfully moving and frequently very funny…guide through the confounding, terrifying, and strangely exhilarating world inhabited by the U.S. military in Iraq” ( The Washington Post) is “a true-life M*A*S*H tale of doctors, wars, and field hospitals” ( The Denver Post ).

At the age of fifty-one, Dr. Dave Hnida volunteered as a trauma chief at one of the busiest Combat Support Hospitals in Iraq during the Surge. The 399th CSH practiced fast-food medicine at its best: working in a series of tents connected to the occasional run-down building, Dr. Hnida and his fellow doctors raced to keep the wounded alive until they could be airlifted out of Iraq and achieved an astounding survival rate of 98 percent.

His deployment was filled with colorful characters and gifted surgeons, a diverse group who soon became trusted friends as together they dealt with the psychological toll of seeing the casualties of war firsthand. On call round-the-clock, the doctors had a prescription for sanity that included jokes, pranks, and misbehavior. Told with humility and candor, and the goofy humor that sustained him and his battle buddies through their darkest hours, Paradise General is an unparalleled look at wartime medical care—and the inspiring story of an ordinary citizen turned volunteer soldier trying to make a difference.