Dash finds herself once more in the nurse's office after being injured at practise. However, Nurse Redheart is more distant than her usual self.
A framed insignia patch and picture sitting on the nurse's desk hints towards the reason, but worries that broaching the question would be asking something too personal.
The story she hears will change her view on the nurse for the rest of her life...
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Cover art modified from totallynotabrony, and used with permission.
Note: Featured within 24 hours of being published? All of you guys rock, seriously! Never expected a story like this to reach the featured box. Thank you all!
Chapters (2)
Damn you, Pulling on my heartstrings like that.
Wait
This story is featured
tf
Served 8 months in the Canadian Army Reserve myself. One of the guys I knew in Basic volunteered for deployment, and well...yeah. Poor bastard.
That was actually about as accurate as it gets.
'nam!!! my granddad seen it to!
The sad part is, I know a couple guys who came back and they've never forgotten the names and faces of anyone they tried to save but couldn't. Sometimes, the ones they never saved were from the same town. And to read this story, it reminds me of the looks on their faces when they first told me. For this story, I have great respect for, because of how accurate it was. Respect, man. Absolute respect.
I worked with the CAS Helos and PJs my last deployment, thems some dedicated motherfuckers. And mentally unstable, in all of the best ways
My father served in the Marine Corps. in engineering, 1984-'88. He always did have a respect for medics
I have a few buddies that were PJs. The training is hell, the deployments are hell, but everyone of them would strap that gear on with pride and mount up to go into the fire and save lives. I myself never had need of their skills, but I do know a couple of guys that survived to fight another day because of them. If I had the ability to go back and do it again, Pararescue is what I would go into.
Pretty good, aside from all the lingo that most civilians won't understand. Best to keep it laymans terms lest you lose the reader in all the jargon. But overall, a very touching story.
8317523
8317954
I'm very humbled to hear that you think that of this story. I just saw the picture whilst looking through some things on dA, and after binge-watching "Inside Combat Rescue" a few days earlier, I felt that this was a story that had to be told. I didn't expect it to blow up like this (featured within the first 24 hours) or to have the impact that it has had on you guys.
8318031
8318387
Those PJ's and CRO's are no joke. One of the highest washout rates of all of AFSOC and SOCOM, trained to the standards of other units as well as comprehensive first aid training comparable to those of advanced life saving (ALS) paramedics in the civilian world, and their general workspace is either in the middle of a firefight or in the back of a Pavehawk or other helicopter.
Major respect to the PJs, and to anyone that dons camouflage and body armour to face death as a job.
8318593
Believe me, I could have made this a lot more technical and confusing. But I also didn't want to dumb it down and undersell just how much work these PJ's have to do on any given mission. I tried to aim for the perfect balance of military jargon and terms and use them in a manner easily understood by civilians like you and me. But I shall take your comment into consideration if/when I write another military-centric story. Appreciate the comment!
8319130
gotcha, just gotta strike that balance. And I'm actually Active Duty Army mate
Responded to myself earlier
War is hell. Even if it's not exactly war but "small" skirmishes.
Yeah, losing someone so young, and so close to getting help... that was quite the blow.
No wonder she looked for a quieter life after that.
Lest we forget... lest we forget..
Very well done, made my Best Story list.
I liked this story! I am a fan of making certain ponies (or humans in this case) veterans. This story caught my eye because while I'm in an air assault battalion, and not a medevac (and also not in the air force) I am first and foremost a blackhawk driver. I'm glad that you did your homework on the terms and TTP, it really shows in your story! I've actually worked with the PJ's and they're good people. As one aviator to another, we pilots would always make fun of each other. We'd laugh at the air force guys for not being able to park their own aircraft (they had to use ground guides to taxi and park their birds) while they'd laugh at use for only having 240H's for our door gunners when they had the 50 cal. All in good fun. But this story was really well thought out and put together. Medics of all kinds do a seriously dirty and sometimes heartbreaking job, and they do deserve recognition. Thanks for writing this! Hopefully more folks read it!
An excellent one-shot - and good backstory.
8319130
Well, I have high respect for the military. So, to read this and remember what my friends told me, it brings a bit of tear to my eye. But, I love how accurate this was.
not the best pony fic but a damn good soldier fic. Thank you.
8319884 I fly on AWACS, we have to use guides, especially in heavies. We aren't allowed to otherwise depending upon location.
8318387 Wash out rate is that of Navy Seals. I know a guy who was an enlisted flyer, cross trained to PJs, was referred to as a beast, but still washed out anyway. Not easy.
8317345 Did he die? I'm in an American E-3 AWACS unit. The groupd down here has a 10% Canadian Defense Forces manning unit here. They are spread out across a few units because of NORAD. Cool People.
8319130 You did a good job. Recommend you keep the lingo simple to understand. Acronyms and phrases are too many and to confusing to understand for a reader. It turns them off and cuts off many people that may otherwise want to read your fic.
8319884
Yeah. Mortar air burst right on his head. At least it was quick
Good story, but there are some typos. Also, for said tags, you have a period after the sentence like so...
It should be a comma like so...
Other than that, great story.
8322678
Not saying it would be. The indoc portion is where most wash out. Get past that, everything else is just paying attention and learning and honing the skills.
8327107 I know. I saw them do crazy shit.
Ohh thats very noice m8
Edit:
Seriously though, nice epilogue
Oh my, this isn't gonna be an easy tale to tell...
A defibrillator will not restart a stopped heart. This is what ig us used for:
(Heh... chrome now copies formatting, and automatically adds the correct BBC when you paste)
I salute all Veterans and Active Duty on this site and around the world. Take it from a person who has experienced this. It is not easy.