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| A Hero on the Battlefield |
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30 August 2007 , 17:14
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| Dr. Marina Kaminski. Photo: Shay Skif, Bamahane |
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By Elad Shalev
Dr. Captain Kaminski was amongst the thousands of IDF combat soldiers fighting in the Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil and while under fire worked to save the lives of those same soldiers. "This is how the battalion becomes part of your family," she said, discussing her time served as the unit's combat doctor in the "Bukaim" Battalion of the Armor Corps during the Second Lebanon War.
Lieutenant Ariel Gino, team commander in the Egoz Battalion of the Golani Brigade and one of the prominent heroes of the Second Lebanon war, was shot in the face by a Hezbollah sniper during combat. The troops under his command placed him in a tank-bulance (a tank fitted as an ambulance for evacuating and treating wounded troops during combat operations) and transported him to the Rambam hospital in Haifa. Dr. Kaminski treated Gino while inside the tank-bulance. Her patient was close to death. She immediately administered an oxygen mask and morphine drip and dressed the wounds. "A doctor is not a god, he just tries to do what he knows, but he cannot do everything," said Marina. She returned to the battlefield in Bint Jbeil that same day, after completing the evacuation and care of Lieutenant Gino by helicopter, thereby saving his life.
Six years ago, when Marina Kaminski was in Russia, her country of origin, she decided to follow her family and immigrate to Israel. Following her emigration she volunteered to serve the IDF as a combat doctor. She quickly went from being a talented doctor in the Russian military hospitals to becoming a renowned doctor in the Israel Defense Forces. "I don't see how being a woman changes anything. I am a combat soldier like every other combat doctor. Obviously, I don't have a high physical fitness as a Paratroop Corps doctor, but I am sure I am as strong as some of them," added Kaminski. Following completion of the Medical Officers' Course with honors, Kaminski fought her way into becoming the highest ranking female doctor in the IDF. In 2005, Kaminski took part in combat operations on the axis routes in the Palestinians territories. In a number of instances, she treated both Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians injured in the field. These incidents present only further proof of the great work she has done in her position as combat doctor.
Kaminski's moment of truth came in July of last year, a year and two months after beginning her duty as combat doctor. The Bokim Battalion entered Lebanese territory on the first day of the war and was involved in combat operations in Kanatra, Maroun-A-Ras and the town of Bint Jbeil. Her entrance into Lebanon, with the troops of the battalion, signaled an anomaly Kaminsky never thought would occur. "There is a law that states that women are not allowed to enter Lebanese territory during war. When my entrance into Lebanon was first forbidden, I informed my commanders that if I took upon myself a position in the battalion, my gender should not play a role. There would be no way I would leave my soldiers behind," she stressed. In the end Marina received permission to enter Lebanon and to accompany her battalion in a tank-bulance. Marina came very close to getting injured during combat, after Hezbollah operatives fired AT-3 Sagar anti- tank guided missiles at the building her battalion was using as a stronghold. The destruction was catastrophic; two soldiers were killed and more were wounded; many were in severe condition. "I didn't think about myself, I immediately began tending to the wounded even while the shooting continued. I felt no fear; during instances like those there is no time to think of fear, you just think about tending to the wounded. A doctor is truly tested during these tense moments, it's all part of the job," explains Kamiski.
During combat in Bint Jbeil Marina tended to 25 wounded soldiers, which earned her a merit award from the Minister of Defense for her personal acts of courage. She also was awarded a merit award from the GOC Central Command. Her wedding following the war was a prize of no less importance. "I think I matured from my experiences in the war. I began looking at my life in a different way and appreciating it much more. I only did what was asked of me during the war, the soldiers of the brigade really deserve all the praise," she humbly said. In the meantime, the battalion has returned to routine operations and with it Marina, who made it known she didn't plan to abandon her troops following the conclusion of the war. "I usually spend more time with the troops than with my family. If there is one thing I did learn about myself in the war its that I will never abandon my second family, the children of the battalion."
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