Nurse from Kansas sees other side of Abu Ghraib prison

Published: 2004-08-25

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (CNS) -- While world headlines have blared the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. guards at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad, Iraq, there's another story as well, says 1st Lt. Deanna Steinmetz, an Army nurse stationed there. The Abu Ghraib story that everybody knows, of course, is that of American soldiers, some of whom now face prosecution, taunting and abusing naked prisoners. Steinmetz, 24, who comes from Holy Angels Parish in Basehor, Kan., said there are also stories of hope from Abu Ghraib. She is part of Task Force Oasis, a medical unit from the 67th Combat Support Hospital in Wurtzburg, Germany, which was deployed to Iraq early this year to serve medical needs at Abu Ghraib. While many Iraqi prisoners openly express their hatred of Americans, Steinmetz said in an e-mail interview with The Leaven, Kansas City archdiocesan newspaper, that she went to Iraq with a commitment to treat those prisoners just as she would any other patient -- with concern and professionalism. And it's paid surprising dividends. She recalled a prisoner who was brought to the intensive care ward vomiting blood. "I got a washcloth, started dabbing his forehead, and wiped the tears from his eyes -- as my mom would do for me when I was sick," Steinmetz said. "The patient started saying, 'I will never forget this. ... No, no, I will not forget.'"

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