Heaps of plastics, Styrofoam, paints and solvents, and other solid wastes, including medical waste from the combat support hospital, smolder in a massive dump at Balad Air Base known as the burn pit.

Suited in a protective Kevlar vest, Dr. Coppola mounts his mountain bike to prepare for a ride around the perimeter of Balad Air Base, also known as “Mortaritaville” due to frequent mortar shellings from nearby insurgents. While on his first tour in 2005, Dr. Coppola joined the impromptu bike gang, “Team Huffy Balad.”

Dr. Coppola relaxes on his back patio in San Antonio with his Standard Poodle, Loki.

Dr. Coppola pays tribute to lost friend Peter Gelinas at the foot of the San Antonio 9-11 Memorial.

Dr. Coppola displays a target riddled with M-16 fire after qualifying as an “Expert in Pistol and Rifle” during pre-deployment training. Though classified as non-combatants, Air Force medical personnel were required to qualify with both M-16 and M-9 firearms prior to deployment.

Dr. Coppola standing ready before the surgeon’s desk. To better care for his patients, Dr. Coppola learned basic Arabic phrases such as “Ana duktur” for “I am a doctor” and “Ayna al-alam” for “Where is the pain?” but often relied on support from Iraqi nationals hired by the US military as interpreters.

Head computed tomography (CT) scout image of a patient who suffered a gunshot wound to the head.

Chris Coppola and family, attempting to blend in as Texans after being stationed by the military in San Antonio, June 2003. This novelty photo was taken in a nostalgia shop opposite the Alamo.

Mass casualty in the 332nd Air Force Theater Hospital, 2007.

Chris and wife, Meredith Coppola, just before his second deployment, September 2007.

A young Iraqi child sleeps on the ward after being treated for burns. With the Iraqi health care system in crisis, Dr. Coppola provided state-of-the-art medical care, including artificial skin transplantation, to young children wounded by domestic accidents, improvised explosive devices, gunfire, and other calamities of war.

Snow outside Dr. Coppola’s hooch at Balad Air Base, January 2008.

Coppola: A Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq
ISBN 978-0-9840531-1-7
NTI Upstream publishing
www.coppolathebook.com