Soldiers with heart.

When seven-year-old Kadhem Kathem was examined at the hospital at Tallil Air Force Base near Nasiriyah, Iraq, his lips were bluish from lack of oxygen in his blood, and he was too weak to go to school or play. He had suffered from a heart defect since birth, and his condition was worsening.

Kadhem and his mother met with Major Brian Stevens of the Fort Worth-based 56th Brigade Combat Team, 36th Infantry Division, Texas National Guard. Major Stevens gave Kadhem's medical records to a staff cardiologist, who evaluated Kadhem and determined he needed help urgently. He had been born with a heart defect called Double Outlet Right Ventricle, or DORV, in which the aorta is connected to the wrong ventricle, and there's a hole between the right and left ventricles.

The military cardiologist searched the Internet and located Dr. Charles Fraser, Jr., chief of heart surgery at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, the nation's largest pediatric hospital. The military cardiologist e-mailed Dr. Fraser and asked, "If we can get the kid into the States, will you do the surgery?"

Thankfully, Dr. Fraser agreed to perform the operation.

With time in short supply, the military doctors and Kadhem's parents each worked feverishly to accomplish all of the prerequisite tasks needed to get Kadhem the operation. One of the first problems to overcome was that there simply is no commercial aviation operating out of Iraq, and the military is normally reluctant to allow civilians aboard military aircraft. However, persistent pleading from Kadhem's newfound friends in the Guard broke through the restrictions and Kadhem was flown to Kuwait. Once there, Kadhem's father, Jawad Kathem, waited months to obtain a visa from the U.S. embassy to allow him to bring his son to America. When he obtained a visa, the financial burden still needed to be overcome. To pay all travel and hospital expenses, an assortment of anonymous donors contributed, and the doctors in Houston all donated their skills.

Finally, Mr. Kathem and Kadhem flew to Houston.

Surgery as complicated as that performed on Kadhem is normally done in a series of operations, but because the boy had to return to Iraq, Dr. Fraser completed the lifesaving work in a single operation. All that remains to be done is for Kadhem to be checked periodically by a cardiologist back home, and to take an aspirin a day to prevent blood clots.

Mr. Kathem's expression of gratitude to Dr. Fraser highlighted the differences between Middle Eastern and American culture: the grateful father bestowed a multitude of kisses on Dr. Fraser's face, hands--and even feet!

Mr. Kathem conveyed his gratitude to those who helped him to an Associated Press reporter through an Arabic-speaking translator: "I am very grateful to everybody, to the American troops back in Iraq, to all Houstonians, and I'm very grateful to the doctors who did the surgery."

There is undoubtedly at least one family in Iraq that believes in the goodness of America.