73 Soldiers Flown From Iraq to U.S. Hospital in Germany

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — More than 70 U.S. troops were flown Saturday from Iraq to a military hospital in Germany, most of them wounded in the battle for Fallouja, officials said.

The 73 new patients at the U.S. military’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center pushed the number of arrivals last week to 412, nearly all injured in Fallouja, hospital spokeswoman Marie Shaw said. The number of beds at the hospital in rural western Germany has been increased to handle the wounded.

“This is more than we usually get,” said Erin Zagursky, a spokeswoman at the U.S. Air Force’s Ramstein base.

Landstuhl is the biggest U.S. military hospital overseas, and its doctors also treat troops with noncombat injuries and illnesses. It usually treats 30 to 50 injured military personnel a day.