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Top U.S. military doctor in Iraq dies in crash
■ Two Army physicians have died in action during the Iraq war.
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- » A friend remembers fallen soldier-doctor
Army Col. Brian D. Allgood, MD, could have gone into private practice as a surgeon. Instead, he decided to serve his country.
Dr. Allgood, a Colorado Springs, Colo., native, went to Iraq in July 2006. He was the top medical officer, overseeing care of coalition troops. He also was responsible for the coalition's support of Iraqi health care, military officials said.
On Jan. 20, Dr. Allgood, 46, and 11 other soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed north of Baghdad. He left behind a wife and a young son.
"[Dr. Allgood] was committed to doing what he was doing. He very much knew the risk involved," said Richard Allgood, MD, a thoracic surgeon in Lawton, Okla., and Dr. Brian Allgood's uncle. "He was absolutely doing what he always wanted to do, combining a military and medical career."
Dr. Brian Allgood was the highest-ranking physician to die in Iraq and is one of only two U.S. military physicians among troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to be killed in action, according to the military.
The other physician who died in Iraq was Army Maj. Mark D. Taylor, MD.
Dr. Taylor, 41, of Stockton, Calif., died on March 20, 2004, when the surgeon's living area in Fallujah came under rocket attack.
He had been stationed with the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, N.C. He gave his son his dog tags before he left for Iraq and told him to wear them until he returned home.
"He was very intelligent, had a great sense of humor and was a compassionate person," family friend Cathy Conrad told the Associated Press after Dr. Taylor's death. "There were lots of people who just loved him, and he was a very driven individual."
Active military and reservist physicians provide medical care to U.S. troops and coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. They also have treated civilians caught in the cross fire of war, operating on the most seriously wounded brought to military camp hospitals. In addition, they visit villages on humanitarian trips to distribute donated food and give basic medical care.
"They expect stress, and they have to deny themselves of certain things," said Army Reserve Col. S. Ward Casscells, MD, who served with Dr. Allgood for three months in Iraq.
Dr. Casscells heard about Dr. Brian Allgood's death while he was on his way to church.
"He was in charge of the whole U.S. medical effort there. He was a superstar on the command track [for general]," said Dr. Casscells, who is back working as vice president for biotechnology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
"He sacrificed more than the average person" by picking the military over an orthopedic surgery private practice, Dr. Casscells said.
Dr. Allgood was a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., then earned his medical degree in Oklahoma. In July 2004, he took command of the 18th Medical Command in Yongsan, South Korea. Two years later, he was assigned to an Army hospital as an orthopedic surgeon, then was deployed to Iraq.
Dr. Casscells described his friend as "a West Point graduate and ranger-turned-surgeon."
He said the two men served as the coalition's health policy liaison to the U.S. ambassador, working on what they could do to help Iraqi leaders and physicians improve the country's health care.
Dr. Casscells said Dr. Allgood's time in Iraq often was spent working 18 hours a day while being shot at and bombed. Throughout it all, Dr. Allgood was a quiet leader with a determined drive, Dr. Casscells said.
Dr. Richard Allgood said he has fond memories of his nephew, whom he last saw about three years ago.
"He was quiet. He was unassuming. He was always a positive guy," Dr. Richard Allgood said. "At family reunions, he'd always be out playing with the kids."
