Acute pain. You look down and see a red spot spreading. You know the end is near when you fall to the ground. Your rifle lands next to you. SLAM! The men around you shoot and advance. This land has been at war with itself for a year. In the distance we can see the gray uniforms of the Confederates. Then it's all black. You wake up to find a lull in the fighting as two men pick you up on a stretcher and carry you to the waiting cart. While Napoleon's personal surgeon, Dominique-Jean Larrey, invented the "flying ambulance", the world's first modern version of an ambulance service. .(5) True battlefield medicine, and correlated with this true EMS, did not begin until Dr. Letterman established the three-tier battlefield medical system (1). This included an aid station, the patient would then be transferred to a field hospital, and finally a regular hospital. This revolutionary system at the time of its conception (Civil War) increased survival rates and began to provide medical care quickly. (3) At the beginning and before the Civil War, there were few sanitary practices. There was also little real medical staff. The Surgeon General at the time, Thomas Lawson, a non-physician, believed that health practices were "unnecessary" and that his methods were "adequate and effective." Lawson rose to this position through seniority before being removed by public opinion. The impeachment then allowed the creation of the Sanitary Commission (former form of the Red Cross), as well as the implementation of Dr. Letterman's three-tiered approach. Without innovations like these, our entire medical practice would be years behind where it is.(1) Rat-a-tat-tat, Rat-a-tat-tat. The sharp crack of the machine ...... middle of paper ...... imitated as that of non-military MD or DO. Most military doctors are trained in several disciplines. The main reason for this is the instability of responsibilities. A military doctor can treat malnutrition one minute and rapid hemorrhage the next. The combat medic skill set hasn't changed much; however, they are now trained in psychology. Military medicine has a long and noble history full of twists and turns. Today, the practice of medicine in the military has allowed us to bring more men and women back from combat; A standard which, even if it unfortunately exists, is welcome. Military health care professionals are proving to be a vital and necessary, but overlooked, service. Today, military health professionals are warrior monks on the battlefield, practicing a peaceful art in a dangerous zone. Saving the lives of everyone, whatever their beliefs.