Deanna Germain

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More About

• Abu Ghraib
• Baghdad
• Connie Lounsbury
• War and Conflict
• Iraq War

After the third extension was placed on her tour of duty, nurse and Lt. Colonel Deanna Germain was sent to the notorious Abu Ghraib. Stepping off the military plane amid rifle shots and hundred-degree heat, she was met with the following greeting: "Welcome to Baghdad, Ma'am. You have accepted the worst assignment in Iraq." What follows in Reaching Past the Wire is a sober retelling of Germain's experiences as a wartime nurse. Faced with limited medical supplies, unbearable heat, and daily mortar blasts, Germain recounts nights spent housed in a prison cell, soldiers' limbs lost, and the strange dynamic involved in taking care of wounded enemy soldiers. Though Germain arrived in Bagdad after the abuses of power at Abu Ghraib caused a media frenzy, she discusses the shock and sadness she felt upon hearing of the events, as well as frustration that reporters failed to cover the humanity and kindness soldiers and medical professionals brought to their jobs daily at the facility, despite the constant stress of trying to live a functional life in a time of war. Tonight, the Blaine, Minnesota, native takes a difficult trip down memory lane. With Connie Lounsbury.
Mon., Sept. 17, 7 p.m.