The US military’s race to make fake blood

Its call sign was Morphine 1-2.

In February 2007, the hulking dual-­rotor casualty evacuation helicopter had just flown three wounded soldiers to a field hospital in Balad, north of Baghdad, when another call came: an emergency mission to fly through an insurgent-controlled area in broad daylight. Typically, helicopters would be in a spot like this only at night, and with all lights turned off.

As it passed near the city of Karmah, in the eastern side of Al-Anbar province, an…