The worst assignment in Iraq

A nurse at Abu Ghraib — "Reaching Past the Wire: A Nurse at Abu Ghraib" is written by Lt. Col. (Ret.) Deanna Germain, who served at the notorious Iraqi prison for 18 months.
Image courtesy of Borealis Books

"Welcome to the worst assignment in Iraq." That's the greeting Lt. Col. Deanna Germain got when she arrived at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

Germain is a Minnesota nurse and member of the Army Reserve who was called up for service at the notorious prison early in 2004.

Within weeks of her arrival, disturbing photos surfaced that seered Abu Ghraib into the American memory as a place of torture and abuse.

An Iraqi prisoner at the Abu Ghraib prison in May, 2004. The prisoner was hooked to wires and threatened with electrical shock.
Photo by AFP/Getty Images

The photos were taken before Germain arrived. But even before she learned about them, she recalls thinking Abu Ghraib was going to be a "dreadful, dangerous place."

That's how she puts it in her new book, "Reaching Past the Wire: A Nurse at Abu Ghraib." MPR's Tom Crann talked with Germain about life inside the Abu Ghraib she knew.

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Deanna Germain — Deanne Germain, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves, served for 18 months as a nurse at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. She wrote about her experiences in a new book.
MPR Photo/Jeff Jones

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The worst assignment in Iraq

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