Ambulances routinely rush war-wounded across the border from Syria to Turkey for treatment in Turkish hospitals.

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Headley Court has been treating the war-wounded and sick service personnel since World War II, but has rapidly expanded while treating the wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Applicable during times of armed conflict, they form the cornerstone of international humanitarian law, setting rules for the treatment of people who are not participating in the fighting -- civilians, health workers and aid workers -- as well as for the wounded, sick or prisoners of war.

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My grandfather went to other adventures, including service in the Army in France during the First World War (where he was wounded by shrapnel), but went on to live a long life - in San Francisco, of course.

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But the next time I saw him, at a dinner that we hosted here recently for Iraq War veterans, Max had gained 80 pounds -- or 40 pounds, and was training for the upcoming Wounded Warrior games.

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Wounded in France in the first world war, he became an intelligence officer in Tangier in 1942-43 and helped prepare the ground for the Allied landing in north Africa.

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By the time we reached a nearby field clinic the front line ambulance crews had brought in six dead, and 36 wounded fighters - a little higher than usual, but nothing out of the ordinary in this war of attrition.

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