Jadick, Richard 1968(?)–

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Jadick, Richard 1968(?)–

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1968; married; wife's name Melissa; children: one daughter.

CAREER:

Urologist. Military service: U.S. Navy; served in the Iraq War and Operation Iraqi Freedom; achieved rank of lieutenant commander; awarded Bronze Star with Combat V for valor.

WRITINGS:

On Call in Hell: A Doctor's Iraq War Story (memoir), NAL Caliber (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Richard Jadick is a physician, urologist, surgeon, and Navy officer who served with the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. In his memoir, On Call in Hell: A Doctor's Iraq War Story, Jadick recounts his terrifying but ultimately heroic experiences serving as a military doctor in a combat zone. Jadick and his medical team were responsible for setting up a Forward Aid Station, or FAS, a mobile medical care unit designed to provide urgent treatment and life-saving emergency procedures for Marines injured in battle. As the fighting progressed, the FAS could be easily moved forward to follow the battle. "The FAS unquestionably saved lives by reducing considerably the amount of time" it took for seriously wounded Marines to receive critical trauma care, noted Will Holahan in the Officer.

Jadick's experiences were not confined to his aid station, however. Many times he went forward into hot combat zones to provide on-the-spot treatment to wounded Marines. During the second Battle of Fallujah in November, 2004, Jadick experienced firsthand the brutal effects of war. Leo Shane III, writing in Stars and Stripes, described how Jadick and his medical team left their aid station on November 8, 2004, to enter the Fallujah combat zone and tend to a wounded Marine. Soon, however, they were called deeper into the city and closer to the front lines. "The firefight was much more intense here: This time, bullets were striking all around their vehicle as soon as it stopped, and at least two rocket-propelled grenades bounced off the armor without detonating. And this time, it wasn't just one wounded Marine. It was seven and counting," Shane reported. Jadick plunged forward and worked to save lives. "Jadick said the corpsmen with him later told him bullets were bouncing within inches of him as he treated Marines and dragged them back to the armored ambulance. He said he didn't notice them, but knew how fierce the firefight was based on the wounds he was looking at," Shane reported.

Jadick is credited with saving more than thirty lives during that violent siege. Throughout his memoir, Jadick describes the terrible traumas endured by the Marines in combat, and his own and his team's efforts to rescue limbs, stanch bleeding, repair wounds, and save lives. "I didn't do it by myself. All I did was show up," Shane quoted Jadick as saying. "It's just stuff you do because it's your job." For his efforts, Jadick was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat V for valor. He was the only Navy physician to receive such an honor during Operation Iraqi Freedom, making him the most decorated doctor of the Iraq war. Holahan concluded that Jadick's memoir "should be a must-read for medical servicemembers and others interested in combat field medicine."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Jadick, Richard, On Call in Hell: A Doctor's Iraq War Story, NAL Caliber (New York, NY), 2007.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 1, 2007, Jay Freeman, review of On Call in Hell, p. 57.

Newsweek, March 20, 2006, Mark Whitaker, "The Editor's Desk," profile of Richard Jadick, p. 4; March 20, 2006, "On Call in Hell; He Left a Desk Job for the Front Lines of Fallujah—and a Horror Show Few Doctors Ever See. How Richard Jadick Earned His Bronze Star," p. 34.

Officer, June, 2007, Will Holahan, "Far-Forward Doc," review of On Call in Hell, p. 50.

Publishers Weekly, January 8, 2007, review of On Call in Hell, p. 45.

Stars and Stripes, June 14, 2006, Leo Shane III, "‘I Didn't Do It by Myself,’" profile of Richard Jadick.