Soldiers Treated in Desert Hospital

K U W A I T   C I T Y, Kuwait, March 27 -- In the desert of Kuwait stands an unassuming-looking tent that leads to an oasis for wounded U.S. soldiers.

But the 47th Combat Support Hospital is bigger than it appears, a 12-acre facility with 300 beds, separate intensive-care units, and state-of-the-art radiology.

The Pentagon says 26 American soldiers have been killed so far either in combat or accidents, while seven more are listed as prisoners of war and eight are missing.

There has also been a small stream of wounded soldiers taken to military field hospitals in the rear, like the 47th Combat Support Hospital.

The military built the hospital with a pressurized environment so that if there is a chemical or biological attack, no one inside will need a gas mask. The four expandable operating rooms can handle everything from neurosurgery to orthoscopic surgery.

Expandable Operating Rooms

If the 500 people caring for the wounded need more space, they make it.

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"These operating rooms are in expandable shelters," Cmdr. Ray Costable told ABCNEWS' Diane Sawyer. "We drop the floors and raise the roof, and the walls expand in a 3-to-1 capability."

Some 100 casualties have come through the hospital, but Costable said that he could not say whether any soldiers had been lost.

"It would be hard for me to say at this point," Costable said. "You certainly can't cure everybody, unfortunately."

Bullets Fly in Ambush

Cpl. Henry Lopez, a military photographer in southern Iraq, is one of those saved. A bullet that hit him Sunday is still lodged in his right shoulder.

"We were going through this town and all of a sudden we got ambushed," Lopez said. "I was really scared. You could just hear bullets flying by. They were firing artillery also. And it's just scary. I never felt that much fear in my life. Ever."

He realized right away that he had been struck.

"When I got hit it felt like somebody just pushed me and it hurt at the time," Lopez said. "My whole body went asleep. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't move anything, I felt like I was paralyzed."