HBO documentary featuring Moline soldier brings back powerful emotions of war
MOLINE -- The soldier lay on a bed in a Baghdad Army hospital, bare-chested and bloody, looking straight up as a tear rolled down his cheek.
Major Arther Fager, of Moline, stood above him as he placed the Purple Heart on the soldier's chest.
"I told him it was one medal I had hoped he would never get," Major Fager, commander of Milan's Alpha Battery, 2nd Battalion, 123rd National Guard Field Artillery, says now.
That day, June 6, 2005, was recorded forever, another page in the annals of war coming to millions of homes through the HBO documentary "Baghdad ER." Major Fager's comments to the soldier were featured as part of the documentary focusing on the daily life in the 86th Combat Support Hospital.
The power, the poignancy of that moment in the documentary, when the soldier from Southern Illinois lay wounded, drew former soldiers who had been in Iraq back into the conflict.
"That evening, those soldiers were coming back from a mission north of Baghdad," Major Fager said this week from his Milan headquarters. "We got the call that our convoy had been struck.
"Myself and the first sergeant loaded (into their vehicles) as soon as we could to see them. Depending on the injury, we knew it might be the last opportunity.
Spec. Brian M. Romines, 20, of Simpson, Ill., didn't survive.
"I lost a soldier that night. That was the main thing those two men (in the documentary) cried about. They could have cared less about the medals, the cameras.
"It takes a special person to do the job of a soldier, a certain determination and dedication to be able to do the job as needed."
Moline residents Scott and Angela Snyder watched the program at their home with Scott's mother, Patricia. He is also part of the 123rd field artillery out of Milan, but served his time in Iraq under the 106th Aviation unit based in Davenport from February 2003 to June 2004.
Sgt. Snyder lost friends while in Iraq, including Chief Warrant Officer Bruce Smith, of West Liberty, Iowa, and two other soldiers of the 106th who were killed in 2004 when their helicopter was shot down.
"He and I were going to start an astronomy club," Sgt. Snyder recalled Thursday. "I was coming home on leave, he was going to Fallujah. I told him we would meet when I got back.
"He said, 'Great, Scotty. See you when you get back.' It didn't happen."
Sgt. Snyder is a federal employee who works for the 123rd in Milan. He wears his uniform to work everyday, repairing humvees, trucks and howitzers. He sees Major Fagen often.
Sgt. Snyder's wife, Angela, still helps with a Family Readiness Group (FRG).
The group helps keep soldier's families together through communication. When someone is hurt, they call other families to tell them their soldier is OK.
It brings them directly into the conflict. Major Fagen has commended Mrs. Snyder for her work in supporting the troops.
"It was real emotional for me to watch this," Mrs. Snyder said of the program. "It really drives it close to home. We were responsible to notify these families as to what was going on."
The documentary is graphic at times -- body parts being cut off and put in garbage bags, soldiers screaming from injuries, others dying. But, the program doesn't make soldiers like Sgt. Snyder regret their duties.
Like many of the soldiers who have served, they speak with a mixture of emotions when it comes to the war.
Sgt. Snyder was an M60 doorgunner on a Chinook helicopter, flying over the infamous Highway 1. Helicopter crews could have been shot down in an instant by rocket-propelled grenades.
Shrapnel tore through his tent one night, just missing him as he slept. He called home regularly with bombs landing 50 yards away.
"It feels like I was just there in Iraq yesterday," he says now. "That's how vivid it is.
"On my way to work, I ride my motorcycle past the water treatment plant. The plant smells like Iraq.
"Certain times, I'll see the Chinooks fly over from the Davenport unit. That sound is so familiar, almost heartwarming. It's confusing, and it's irritating.
"You can't pinpoint what it is. A mix of elation and sorrow rolled up into one."
Baghdad ER shows the parts of war many don't see.
"It's accepted," he said of the film and the soldiers he has spoken to. "It puts a human element to the situation."
But, it doesn't deter his devotion. He said that's the way it is for a lot of his comrades.
"I hated being in Iraq, but at the same time, I really loved doing my job in whatever capacity it meant for the United States," he said. "What an awesome feeling to know you served your country.
"I can't think of an honor any greater than that. I would go back."
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