Student veteran tells his story
When David Hoch signed up for the U.S. Army in May 2003, he said didn’t know what he was getting himself into.
Hoch had just spent a year at Arizona State University, where he said he “didn’t accomplish anything.” He had few options, and wanted to do something else for a bit.
Now a 23-year-old veteran and an integrative physiology major at CU, Hoch remembers his experiences in Iraq and how they have shaped his life today.
When he joined the Army, Hoch said his family was extremely supportive because his brother had already enlisted. Hoch’s friends were less enthusiastic, as the war in Iraq had just begun and everyone was being deployed there.
Hoch was first stationed in Alaska and went through training to prepare. He practiced his deployment exercises and cold weather training there. He also underwent a medic program and received advanced medical training.
Hoch was deployed to Iraq in July 2005, and remained there until December 2006.
He said he didn’t know what would happen..
“I didn’t really have too many expectations,” Hoch said. “All I knew was what I saw on the news, which is not accurate at all.”
Hoch said he was not at all nervous, or even scared.
“I was there to do my job,” he said. “I was fully confident in what I was doing. I just had some doubts as to why we were there. They never told us our purpose or exact mission, which was kind of shady. But I did my job.”
He said that Iraq was similar to what one would see in any impoverished country.
“It was what I expected to see out of a third world country- the poverty, the disparity,” he said. “The people weren’t too helpful. They don’t want us there. Those who do want to help can’t say too much or they’ll get killed. So we didn’t get too much help. Comes with the territory, I guess.”
In Iraq, Hoch served as the medic for his battalion, going on the missions wherever the battalion went and helping the thirty people in his group. Shortly after his promotion to Sgt., E-5, he was moved to an aid station where he supervised the medics and the patient flows and treatments.
In the clinic, Hoch said they saw typically between 15 and 20 patients a day. If there was an incident on the streets, the number of patients would grow as people came to them. Hoch said there were minimal injuries within his ranks, so they mostly treated members of the Iraqi Army and civilians.
The most common injuries he saw were made by gunshots or IEDs. An IED, or an improvised explosive device, could be anything- a cell phone, a rock, a can, a water bottle- with any type of explosive device and detonator.
Hoch said that while the ranks drive on specific routes every day, they look for anything out of place, like a can on the side of the road or a broken tree limb. If they noticed something, they would look for an IED.
Hoch said being with his friends was one of the good parts of his deployment.
“I really liked being with my buddies, obviously when you’re together for 16 months, you get to know each other,” he said. “The companionship helped people get through it. You learn a lot.”
The worst part though, Hoch said, was having someone die in your hands.
Of the three deaths in his battalion, one of them was with him.
“It takes a toll on you,” he said with hesitation.
Hoch said returning to the U.S. was a relief.
“We had a pretty big welcome ceremony when we got back,” he said. “That made it totally worth it, just seeing how everyone appreciated it. But it changes you. There’s no getting around that.”
Once he returned, he finished his service in Alaska, and was honorably discharged in May 2007. After that, he returned to his home state to go back to school.
Hoch said the transition back to life in the U.S. has taken some time.
“It takes a little time to get back into the groove,” he said. “It was difficult right when I got back to start living normally again. I think I’ve adjusted pretty well now.”
There have been few lasting effects of his deployment. Hoch said he still gets uncomfortable when people are walking behind him or when people are staring at him.
“That comes with the training,” he said. “Otherwise, I turned out alright.”
Hoch said that most people have many misconceptions about what the war in Iraq is really like.
“Most of what people know is what they hear or see or read in the news, which exemplifies the high points and leaves out the undesirable facts,” he said. “It’s misleading.”
Hoch said he felt it was his responsibility to get the word out to his fellow Americans, especially his fellow students, who will soon be changing the country.
“We’re the ones who are going to revolutionize the country in the upcoming years,” he said.
He said he wants to get across the fact that people are dying every single day.
“(The war) isn’t getting any better,” he said. “We’ve seen very little change. There are fluctuations of violence, but there’s still death- a lot of it. We’re kind of supporting that. Something needs to be changed.”
This is the first part in an ongoing series at the Campus Press on student veterans to run every Tuesday.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Marcy Franklin at marcy.franklin@colorado.edu.
