Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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Jed Boal ReportingSince the war started families of Utah troops have tried to keep their nerves calm and focus on positive news from Iraq. Jed Boal introduces us to an Orem mother with a story of compassion from the war zone.
Each morning Bonnie Sorensen eagerly checks her e-mail. She hopes to hear the latest news from her son.
Bonnie Sorensen, Airman's Mom: "It's very comforting to know that we have that technology that we can be in contact and know they're still okay."
The Air Force Doctor is stationed in Balad, Iraq. He works on a team that flies critically injured troops from Iraq to Germany.
Bonnie Sorensen: "It's been scary, but also makes you feel rather proud."
He deployed two months ago.
Bonnie Sorensen: "He's doing something that's helping others. Because of him maybe somebody else will get to come home to their family."
But their care does not end with American troops, as her son writes in an e-mail. On patrol recently, American soldiers spotted a man acting suspiciously.
Bonnie Sorensen: "A group of American soldiers was approaching him, and as he stepped back, he detonated the bomb he was carrying to kill the American soldiers."
The blast blew off his right leg and right arm. The American soldiers were not hurt; they rushed the Iraqi to the nearest medic station. As doctors worked to save the insurgent, they ran out of blood.
Bonnie Sorensen: "The life-saving blood which he received at that crucial moment, before his otherwise inevitable demise, was none other than that which he would have spilt on the desert sand of his own country."
The Iraqi survived.
Bonnie Sorensen: "The American soldiers donated their blood to help save the life of this man who had been intent on taking their lives."
Sorensen was struck by the irony.
Bonnie Sorensen: "I cried and then I thought about the real heroes of this war, and the price these soldiers are giving for the freedoms of these people."
The Iraqi is expected to recover.
