Take me back to the Oral History landing page.
Scott Blomberg - War On Terror
Scott Blomberg enrolled in the U.S. Army's Health Professional Scholarship Program while attending medical school, where he trained to be an optometrist. Following his graduation in 2000, he was required to serve on active duty. He was assigned to the 101st Airborne at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, and deployed to Kosovo in March 2001. His division was mobilized again for the liberation of Iraq in March 2003.
Interview Links
Feature Excerpt
The Other Guy Is A Bad Guy
Abstract
Interview Session 01 (Audio)
Early life, training as an optometrist & assignment to 101st Airborne Div
Interview Session 02 (Audio)
Deployment in 2001 to Kosovo with the 502nd Airborne Regiment
Interview Session 03 (Audio)
Service during initial occupation of Iraq with 101st Airborne in 2003
Transcript
Photos
Caption
In the city of Bicevac, Kosovo locals create an outdoor ‘waiting room’ as they stand in line to see the eye doctor.
Where:
Bicevac, Kosovo
When:
Unknown
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo
Caption
Deployed to Kosovo May 14, 2001, Scott Blomberg stands before the tent hospital or Combat Area Support Hospital (CASH), which is similar to a MASH unit. Blomberg’s optometry facility is the green tent to the left of the tan tent.
Where:
Kosovo
When:
Kosovo May 14, 2001
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Sergeant Priest, Dr. Dimitriy, a Russian Ophthalmologist, and Captain Scott Blomberg photographed in Pristina, Kosovo.
Where:
Pristina, Kosovo
When:
Unknown
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Scott Blomberg is photographed by Task Force Med Falcon for a write-up about his optometrist services in Strpce, Kosovo.
Where:
Strpce, Kosovo
When:
Unknown
Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.
Caption
While stationed in Kosovo, Scott Blomberg gave eye exams to school children, such as the boys that joined him for this photograph in 2001.
Where:
Kosovo
When:
2001
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Scott Blomberg fits eyeglasses on a local woman who providing free eye checkups in Ferizaj, Kosovo in May 2001.
Where:
Ferizaj, Kosovo
When:
May 2001
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Scott Blomberg stands before the United States of America’s Marine One in Kosovo, in 2003.
Where:
Kosovo
When:
2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
President Bush makes a speech to troops at Camp Bondsteel during a visit to Kosovo. According to an Associated Press article about the visit, President Bush “told cheering U.S. troops he hoped to ‘hasten the day’ they can return home.”
Where:
Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo
When:
Unknown
Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator
Caption
It was cold and snowy on the morning of February 26, 2003, when Scott Blomberg arrived at the 801st Headquarters in preparation for deployment to Kuwait.
Where:
801st Headquarters
When:
February 26, 2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Scott Blomberg, holding his 19-month old daughter, Faith, is joined by his wife, Kimberly, and 3-year-old son, Logan at the 801st Headquarters. The Blomberg Family posed for this before he boarded a bus to the airfield to make the long trip to Kuwait.
Where:
801st Headquarters
When:
February 26, 2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
This map indicates the route that E Company, 801st Main Support Battalion, Blomberg’s unit, took through Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
Where:
Unknown
When:
2003
Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.
Caption
Scott Blomberg in Camp Pennsylvania Optometry Clinic in Kuwait where he served soldiers in 2003.
Where:
Camp Pennsylvania Optometry Clinic in Kuwait
When:
2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Scott Blomberg poses with his weapon in Kuwait in early 2003, while waiting for the war to start.
Where:
Kuwait
When:
Early 2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
A Humvee accident on a drive from port in Kuwait in. A Humvee in a previous convoy had gone off the road and tumbled.
Where:
Kuwait
When:
February 2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Two soldiers relax in their fox holes. Holes like these were dug at each regular stop as the Ground Assault Convoy (GAC) crossed the Iraqi desert in March, 2003.
Where:
Iraqi desert
When:
March, 2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Captains Andy Gregory (left) and Scott Blomberg photographed after getting lost in a sandstorm in Kuwait.
Where:
Kuwait
When:
Unknown
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
At U. S. Army Camp Pennsylvania, in southern Iraq, a soldier demonstrates the disposal of fecal waste by burning it in a 55-gallon barrel.
Where:
U. S. Army Camp Pennsylvania, in southern Iraq
When:
Unknown
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
While in , Scott Blomberg makes last minute gas mask inserts for soldiers in early 2003.
Where:
Kuwait
When:
Early 2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Scott Blomberg during a northbound, night drive in Iraq, April 2003.
Where:
Iraq
When:
April 2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Captain Blomberg joined a sunrise service. About twelve baptisms were performed that morning on the banks of a clean water reservoir, as the river contained feces and blister agents. The 801st Chaplain is pictured performing one of the baptisms.
Where:
Near the banks of the Euphrates River
When:
Easter morning, April 20, 2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Sergeant Major Graben (left) and Colonel Methvin photographed in Iraq, March 2003.
Where:
Iraq
When:
March 2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Three children pose for the camera of a soldier of the 801st in Baghdad during the spring of 2003.
Where:
Baghdad
When:
Spring of 2003
Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.
Caption
A crowd in Mosul, Iraq give the Americans a thumbs-up when they arrive in the city, in a photograph taken by a soldier in 801st in the spring of 2003.
Where:
Mosul, Iraq
When:
Spring of 2003
Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.
Caption
Iraq’s Mosul Palace photographed by Scott Blomberg in the spring 2003. The Palace served as the headquarters for the 101st for General Patraeus and his staff.
Where:
Iraq’s Mosul Palace
When:
Spring 2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Scott Blomberg at Chemical Ali’s residence, home to Uday Hussein and Chemical Ali’s Iraqi “love shack.” Spring 2003.
Where:
Chemical Ali’s residence, Iraq
When:
Spring 2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
An American soldier guards a group of enemy prisoners of war in Mosul, Iraq in the spring of 2003.
Where:
Mosul, Iraq
When:
Spring of 2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Heeba, 6, seated on her roof, fell and hit the left side of her head during a bombing incident. The right side of her body became paralyzed and she was unable to move or shut her left eye. Blomberg's team cared for Heeba by surgically closing her eyelid.
Where:
Unknown
When:
Spring 2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Scott Blomberg, joined by Lyle Onstad and Captain Andy Gregory, seated with Heeba’s family following the young girl’s eye surgery. Pictured on the left are Heeba’s father and little sister, with Heeba’s brother in the center. Spring 2003.
Where:
Unknown
When:
Spring 2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Scott Blomberg poses with Dohuk, Iraq residents in the summer of 2003.
Where:
Iraq
When:
Summer of 2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Scott Blomberg performs an optometry exam for an American soldier while in in 2003.
Where:
Iraq
When:
2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Scott Blomberg photographed Specialist Cory Priest writing home during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
Where:
Iraq
When:
2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
In this photograph by Scott Blomberg, Colonel Nathan Methvin takes a catnap when the Company was stationed in Mosul, Iraq, July 2003. Colonel Methvin served as the 801st Dentist.
Where:
Mosul, Iraq
When:
July 2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Scott Blomberg in Mosul, Iraq, with Staff Sergeant Woolf (left) and Specialist Sanchez in 2003.
Where:
Mosul, Iraq
When:
2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
After watching the film “Band of Brothers” Echo Company staged their own series of photos with each man stepping out of the picture as he left for home. In this first shot, Blomberg (left) stands beside Andy, Colonel Methvin, Novak, Onstad, and Schaller.
Where:
Unknown
When:
Mid-2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Scott Blomberg reunited with his family on August 4, 2003.
Where:
Unknown
When:
August 4, 2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo
Caption
Young Faith Blomberg surrounded by the American flags that decorated the family lawn on the day her father, Scott Blomberg, returned home from Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
Where:
Family lawn
When:
2003
Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo