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Duty In Germany Gives Airman Inspiring View Of Fight In Iraq

Airman first class Rolando Quiles Jr., of Temple Terrace, is stationed at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

Michael Egger/News Channel 8

By KEITH CATE kcate@wfla.com

Published: Nov 10, 2005

LANDSTUHL - REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, Germany -- Rolando Quiles Jr. turned 20 in August.

But the airman first class has seen and done things in the past few months that most people don't experience in a lifetime.

Quiles, of Temple Terrace, is stationed at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. For many troops injured in Iraq, Landstuhl is the first stop in a long journey home.

Like Quiles, the men and women who come through this hospital are usually young.

"Over the last eight months, I've seen [so many] people my age, you know? They come back from the field, and I can relate to a lot of them because we're the same age," he says.

Quiles' reasons for joining the military aren't unusual. He was inspired by patriotism after the Sept. 11 attacks, and he needed the money to pay for college. He signed up in May 2004, leaving behind his parents, a younger brother and three younger sisters.

Quiles is based away from the fighting, but he knows he could be sent to Iraq. The more experience he gahns working at Landstuhl, the more valuable he could be working with patients in the field.

"After seeing what I've seen here, I'm kind of looking forward to going out there and playing a bigger role than what's going on here," he says about the prospect of going to Iraq.

He says he has been inspired by the courage and grace of the wounded soldiers he has helped.

"You could be having a down day back at your room where we live and then come to work and meet a guy who just lost his leg or lost an arm or got shot in the belly or something, and his attitude is different from what yours would be for having a bad day."

Keith Cate