Army pays tribute to Iowa medic's valor

Army pays tribute to Iowa medic's valor
Medical facility in Colorado named for Urbandale's Woods
DesMoines Register
Aug 6, 2012
Written by
William Petroski

Eric Woods was a junior enlisted medic who spent only 15 months in the U.S. Army before he died in Iraq, but his legacy endures more than that of many senior military commanders.

The Army has named a new $72 million medical facility at Fort Carson, Colo., in honor of the fallen Iowa native. The Pfc. Eric P. Woods Soldier Family Care Center supports more than 27,000 soldiers, family members and military retirees, and receives about 1,500 patient visits daily.

Woods, a 1997 graduate of Urbandale High School, was killed by a bomb blast on July 9, 2005, at Tal Afar, Iraq, while helping evacuate a badly wounded Army scout from the battlefield. Just two weeks earlier, he had earned a Bronze Star for risking his life under enemy fire to save another wounded soldier.

Woods, who was 26, is being remembered as a person whose life was filled with compassion and who wanted to be part of something bigger than himself.
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