ALL THE WORLD knows about the factions in the former Yugoslavia that are killing and injuring each other and destroying historic landmarks while seeking to carve out their ethnically based domains. A less-often-told story, perhaps, is that of the United Nations (UN) personnel who are being killed or injured while trying to cope with these challenges and of the US military medical personnel who are supporting them.
A major role in this regard currently is being played by the US Navy in a huge transportable tent hospital—the same type used during Desert Storm (JAMA. 1991;265:833)—in what is now the Republic of Croatia on the grounds of the former Yugoslavian army Camp Pleso near Zagreb.
Nearly 2 years ago, shortly after the UN Security Council established the Protection Force for the Balkans, the surgeons general of the US Army, Air Force, and Navy began planning to meet the medical needs of