After ten years of active duty state side, Hoang Tran, a orthopedic surgeon in Woodland, was called upon by his country to serve once more - this time in Iraq.

He spent 10 years in the Air Force working in extremity surgery and teaching surgeons. He finished his active duty but stayed in the Air Force reserve.

Photo: Dr. Hoang Tran, right, has joined Woodland Healthcare as chairman of the department of orthopedic surgery after recently completing 10 years of active duty military service with the Air Force.

Since 2006, Dr. Tran began working as a part time orthopedic surgeon at Woodland Healthcare while serving active duty as a U.S. Air Force surgeon at Travis Air Force Base Hospital.

He recently returned from a four-month tour of duty at the Balad Air Force Theater Hospital, the U.S. military's main combat hospital in Iraq. The hospital is a Level I trauma center caring for U.S. soldiers and Iraqi citizens.

"It's the limbs that get blown up a lot," Tran said. He did a lot of amputations. He said he tries to save the limb but if he can't save the limb he saves the person.

"As a surgeon you have to focus on the injury," Tran said, "instead of worrying about the patient in general."

After the surgery he worries about his patients.

Tran was born in Vietnam and his family immigrated to the United States because of the war.

He said the experience helped him appreciate his family and our country more.

He has three sons in Elementary School and a wife. He talked to them every day while in Iraq. He still spends about 15 minutes a day talking with his family, a tradition left-over from his time in Iraq.

Tran said he witnessed the suffering of people and the struggle to create a better life, "you appreciate what you have here," in regards to security, infrastructure, education and a stable government.