FORWARD OPERATION BASE BUCCA, Iraq - Members of the 33rd Military Police Battalion based in Bloomington gave a special Christmas gift to a 15-year-old Iraqi boy who was dying of brain cancer.

About a month after arriving in Iraq in October, the U.S. soldiers arranged for the boy to be transported to Kuwait where doctors performed an operation to remove the large tumor.

The growth had stunted his growth. He appeared to be just age 6 or 7 and was barely conscious when the boy's father, Mussa Abbud of northern Rumailah, carried Sattar to the gates of the base located in south Iraq near the city of Um Qasr, said Master Sgt. Matt Feit of Normal in an email to the Pantagraph from Iraq.

Abdel Ouldmamady, a linguist from New York who was outside the World Trade Center having a smoke when terrorists crashed two jetliners into the structure on Sept. 11, 2001, translated as Sattar's father described how the boy suffered with the growth for about 10 years. Iraqi doctors had operated in 2004, but were unable to remove the tumor, his father said.

"The health care system in Iraq is still recovering from decades of sanctions and the lack of qualified personnel," Feit said. "That is why there are many cases that can not be handled properly in the local Iraqi medical facilities."

Part of the American mission in the region is to rebuild and equip the local hospital in Um Qasr in cooperation with British forces, Feit added. In the meantime, many of the most severe cases wind up on the doorstep of the American forces serving there.

"The families simply end up taking their patients out of the Iraqi facility and bringing them to our gate," Feit said.

First stop for Sattar was an evaluation by Lt. Col. James Liffrig, a base doctor who has a reputation for helping Iraqi civilians with severe health issues, Feit said.

In Sattar's case, Liffrig determined the tumor was beyond the ability of the American facilities to handle. That's when Feit and Capt. Kent Ketter, Staff Sgt. Dan Hinds and Sgt. Lucas Jockisch, all of Springfield, came up with the idea to seek help from Kuwait Leaders, a contracting firm doing work at the base.

Company officials contacted Lilas Ouissi of UNICEF, who told government health administrators in Kuwait about the boy's plight. Dr. Abbas Ramadhan agreed to oversee the operation free of charge, and Kuwaiti government officials helped clear red tape and issue necessary visas.

"He is doing great and is scheduled to go home around Jan. 8," Feit said. "He has a great sense of humor and has a lot more energy."

Reaching out to help Iraqi families wins victories that battles cannot, Feit said. "With Sattar, we accomplished something that can never be taken away," he said.

"These projects benefit every citizen and put a positive face on the U.S. soldiers in the area." Hinds added.