Book excerpt: "A Captain's Journal is a personal account of events from Balad Air Force Base Hospital in Iraq during a six month period from 2006 - 2007. The stories are told from the personal perspective of Eric Charles, an Anesthesiologist. Eric recounts his patient encounters that range from pleasant to gut-wrenching and from laughable to tear-jerking. The descriptions of the events are occasionally graphic, but strike a realistic chord. Eric also weaves into the narrative many personal and philosophicalohical interactions from the every day events of living in the midst of the Iraq War"--Back cover.