The War Nurse

The War Nurse
By Rachel Buckland

Boom!!!!! The ground shook from the impact of the explosion. The air was filled with the deafening noise of guns, and blood chilling cries of the wounded and dying. I felt sick. I wanted to run and hide. To hide from the stench of death. To hide from the reality of war. But there was nowhere to hide. No matter where I went, I would be surrounded by death. I was trapped.

Why am I here? You might be wondering. Why am I in the middle of a war? The answer is simple, I am a nurse. When the war started I decided to train to become a nurse, then I would be able to help the wounded. Little did I know of the horror of war. I thought I was brave and strong. Now I know that I am not.

My days are spent scouring the battle field for wounded men who could be saved. I take them back to our makeshift hospital and do my best to help them. It is like nothing I could ever have imagined. I see men lying mutilated in there own blood. I sit with men who have been crushed, who have no hope left. I have heard men breath their last. Husbands, fathers, brothers, sons.

As I look upon young men lying dead, I think of the life they could have had. The life that has been stolen away from them. I think of their families back home. Did they have family waiting anxiously for them? Mothers, wives, children, sisters, sweethearts? I cry. I cry for those who have been lost. I cry for those who are still to die. And I cry for those left behind.