...More than 10,000 U.S. soldiers have been wounded in the Iraq war. More than 90 percent of those who have been hurt in battle survived, according to a Harvard University study - up from 76 percent in Vietnam and 70 percent in World War II. That is due in no small measure to the men and women who make up the medical evacuation helicopter units.
They aim to fly to the scene, pick up the wounded and rush them to a combat support hospital within 30 minutes. Each Black Hawk can carry as many as six stretchers and a seventh patient in a seat.
They're among the only helicopter crews in Iraq whose job is to land in potentially hostile areas outside the fortified bases that most U.S. soldiers never leave. They're armed only with M-4 rifles and handguns.
...
Knight Ridder spent four days recently with the 50th Medical Company, which covers greater Baghdad from Taji base. The 50th is part of the 101st Airborne Division, which was involved in the Iraq invasion and later occupied the northern town of Mosul. Most members of the company are on their second Iraq tour. They expect that it won't be their last.
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In a recent week, Neuenschwander's crew flew more than a dozen missions. Although they don't usually retrieve dead bodies, they helped pick up the seven National Guard soldiers killed Jan. 7 when their Bradley hit a giant bomb in the road, to spare their comrades the gruesome work, said the company commander, Maj. William G. Howard of Shinglehouse, Pa.
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/10661302.htm 
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