Ruff's War: A Navy Nurse on the Frontline in Iraq

By Cheryl Lynn Ruff, Cdr. K. Sue Roper, Cdr. Cheryl L. Ruff

Book Overview

Twenty-five years in the Navy had made Cheryl Ruff an independent, resilient, strong woman - and a master at providing patient care while serving at various Navy hospitals around the world. But... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591147395
• ISBN13: 9781591147398
• Release Date: December 2013
• Publisher: Naval Institute Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.07 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 0.8" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Well Done to Cheryl and Sue

This is a very personal and heart-felt account of one Navy Nurse's experiences with the fast moving situations during the initial phase of the Iraq incursion. Cheryl's willingness to share her professional and personal story is a welcome addition to the history made daily by Navy Nurse Corps officers and corpsmen who go 'In Harms Way' to assist the Marines and other personnel in need of excellence in patient care.

Great Book - Will be one of the classics

I have family members who have served in IRAQ. 2 Army and 1 Marine. This book helped me to understand what they went through. It takes a lot of courage to write about an experience like this. I found myself laughing out loud at parts of the story and sobbing through other parts. Well done!

Great book!

This book was awesome! As a future Navy nurse myself, I found that I was feeling each moment as she wrote about it. I felt her desire to go home every day, and at the end, I felt her passion for what she did, how proud she was, and how every moment was worth it. It was inspirational, and eye opening. Cdr Roper did an excellent job in relaying Crd Ruff's story. I highly recommend this book.

An amazing first hand look at Iraq and war

"Ruff's War" is a great read --- it's a true story of a nurse on the front lines in Iraq. Having been a Navy nurse myself during the VietNam war, I heard many accounts of military nurses during that war. But this is my first read about Iraq. I found it to be truly a terrific book. It was like reading Cheryl's personal diary of her every day encounters and struggles while serving in Iraq. I kept thinking that this was a relatively short time in that country. And I try to imagine what it must be like for the military who are there for a much greater amount of time. Reading about her experiences has given me a look at how much those soldiers must endure daily for perhaps a year or more. It makes me wonder how any human being can survive living in that country under those conditions and fighting for their lives and others at the same time. Obviously, Cheryl survived to return home, landing in the U.S. under her own ability to walk off that airplane. Reading about the war, makes me appreciate more what these men and women do for our country every day. It helps me know that they deserve much credit and support for their efforts and also makes me very sad to know that there are some who only return home in body bags. I'm very patriotic and proud of our troops. As an ex-Navy nurse, I applaud all they do and am proud to read of Cheryl's "adventures" in Iraq knowing she served our country and did what she needed to do. A terrifying time indeed but she gave us insight into that war and our military's endurance and dedication. I'm so glad I read this book. Cheryl is from my home town area, grew up in my church in PA----a home town girl "done proud". Thank you for sharing your story of inspiration and struggles. It was an amazing read.

A Story from the Front Lines

We are now beginning to see the first person reports of people coming back from serving in Iraq. It's only when you start to get the books that you can begin to make sense out of what's happening. The newspapers and especially the television reports are so brief, so headline oriented that you can't get the real story. And it will be ten or more years before the history books come out to put the whole story of the war into perspective. Cdr. Ruff's story is one of a Navy nurse operating in close support to the Marines during the invasion of Iraq. She served with the 'Devil Docs' made famous by the embedded reporter Dr. Sanjay Gupta an embedded correspondent from CNN. This unit performed numerous surgeries under trying conditions on Marines, Iraqi prisoners of war, and Iraqi civilians. Cdr. Ruff was with the unit during the most crucial times during the war. Her story is filled with factual notes, and more important gives the overall feelsings of an American serving in Iraq. Good Reading.