We mourn the dead. We protest the war and we work for peace. But all too often, we forget those who come home in pain. Please remember those whose bodies, minds, and hearts have been broken by the warring of our nation. The following stories are meditations on the horror that is our current reality, reminders for an awakened collective conscience.... - Roger Straw, websteward

January 31, 2007
The nation is failing its mentally wounded
It sends them into emotional danger, then disdains their injuries.

[MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, MN, (1/31/07), Editorial, Star-Tribune.com]
There is something truly grotesque about urging that the United States take better care of the mentally wounded men and women who come home from Iraq. Mental wounds are a given of any war, which is why Americans should be absolutely sure war is necessary before they ever agree to put the lives of U.S. troops on the line. The extreme anguish that can come from killing others, risking death and seeing friends die is a wound that relentlessly keeps on wounding.... (more..)

January 30, 2007
Australian badly hurt in Iraq blast

[TIKRIT, IRAQ, (1/30/07), News.com.au, (by Mark Dunn )]
ANOTHER Australian security contractor has been seriously injured in a terrorist bombing in Iraq. The West Australian man, 46, was hurt in Tikrit on January 17 when the 4WD he was in was hit in a roadside bombing.

The man, whose name has not been released, was flown to a US medical base in Germany after treatment in Iraq. He is understood to be a former Special Air Service Regiment soldier who had been employed with British-based firm Armor Group.

Sources said he'd lost a leg, could lose an eye and was on a ventilator, but was aware of his surroundings.

There is something truly grotesque about urging that the United States take better care of the mentally wounded men and women who come home from Iraq. Mental wounds are a given of any war, which is why Americans should be absolutely sure war is necessary before they ever agree to put the lives of U.S. troops on the line. The extreme anguish that can come from killing others, risking death and seeing friends die is a wound that relentlessly keeps on wounding.... (more..)

January 24, 2007
Ryan Major adjusts after losing legs in Iraq

[BALTIMORE, MD, (1/27/07), The Examiner, (by Karl B. Hille)]
On a Nov. 9, 2006, patrol, a homemade device exploded near Ryan Major’s squad. The Towson High School graduate lost both legs and sustained other serious injuries, including broken arms and substantial blood loss. Major was stationed in Ramadi — called by Iraqis “the graveyard for Americans” — in his second tour of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Major, 22...has begun learning to walk on his prosthetic legs and putting together a new life to accommodate his drastically altered body.

“He’s currently at Shock Trauma in Baltimore, but he is improving,” his mother, Lorrie Major, said. “He’s talking and eating better. ... We’re hoping he’ll be transferred to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington by the end of the week.” ... (more..)

January 24, 2007
Derek Gagne injured in explosion

[WILSON, MI, (1/24/07), Escanaba Daily Press, (by Lee F. Brown)]
Derek Gagne was on a mission in Baghdad when a mine exploded under his Humvee, said Gagne’s stepfather Len Mroczkowski.

“They’ve got him in a stable condition which is good news,” Mroczkowski said this morning. According to reports, Gagne suffered the loss of a leg, all of his toes on the other leg and some facial injuries. There was “a lot of shrapnel,” Mroczkowski said.

“Deep in my bones I never expected anything like this,” he said. “Sometimes your luck runs out.”....   (more..)

January 23, 2007
Brother and sister both wounded, Ty DeJane still unable to walk

[SALEM, OH, (1/23/07), SalemNews.com, (by Larry Shields)]
Ty DeJane, seriously wounded in Iraq last month, is still unable to walk, according to his mother, Charlene DeJane.

DeJane, 24, ...served as a cavalry scout and was wounded in action outside of Baghdad. He suffered a wound near his spine from a sniper’s bullet and had no movement below his waist. His mother said Ty is in a special unit for spinal injuries and was starting to get some feeling back.

His sister, ...Matte DeJane, was wounded in Iraq over two years ago and still serves in the army. They are the children of Twing and Charlene DeJane of Salem....   (more..)

January 22, 2007
Army medic Kortney Clemons recounts fateful day he lost his leg

[DELAWARE CO., PA, (1/22/07), Delcotimes.com, (by Patti Mengers)]
As an Army medic, Kortney Clemons was accustomed to going to the aid of many war heroes. He had served in Texas, Germany and Kosovo before being deployed to Iraq. "Once I got to Iraq, it was a lot more life-threatening, which made it a lot more stressful," said Clemons. In addition to aiding American soldiers, Clemons assisted injured Iraqis, some of whom died from gunshot wounds before he got to them. He knows of at least 10 fellow medics who died while serving in Iraq. "I knew it could happen to me, but I never really thought about it," said Clemons.

..He had been in Iraq 11-½ months and was just a few weeks shy of coming home when his unit encountered a flipped-over military police jeep while on routine patrol in an armored Humvee Feb. 21, 2005. Clemons grabbed his medic bag and started tending to one of the passengers who was badly injured with a broken leg and head wound.... "We got the guy on the stretcher and got ready to maneuver him onto the Black Hawk and there was an explosion. It was an IED," said Clemons.

The three military police officers who were helping him load the stretcher onto the helicopter were killed instantly.

"Everything just seemed like it stopped. All I remember is I picked up the guy. The second thing I remember is the blast. Then the next thing I knew, I opened my eyes and I was hurt pretty badly," said Clemons.

Both of his femoral arteries, which feed blood to the legs, were severed, but because he was in shock, said Clemons, he did not feel pain. Members of his patrol unit who were not medics applied tourniquets to try and stop his bleeding.

..He was airlifted to the trauma center in the Green Zone/International Zone, then transported to Landstuhl where, about two days after the bomb attack, he learned he had lost his right leg. His cousin, Debbie Poe, an Army reservist stationed in Iraq, was permitted to travel to Germany and be by his bedside when he got the tough news.

"It was just a shock. You think it's a dream you'll wake up from, you know. You can't believe it happened. I was just happy to be alive. Then the depression and all that stuff comes in," recalled Clemons.

About three days later he was at Brook Army Medical Center where, inspired by other war veterans with similar injuries, Clemons learned to walk again. He borrowed another soldier's prosthesis to take his first steps.

..Visits from family members and his girlfriend helped his rehabilitation, he said.... Recreational therapists, who encouraged him to ski, bike and play wheelchair basketball after he lost his leg, had such an impact on Clemons, that he is following in their footsteps.

.."Never let anyone tell you what you can't do in life," the champion sprinter said.  (more..)

January 21, 2007
Brain injury ends Raymond Lee's military career

[WEST COLUMBIA, SC, (1/21/07), TheState.com, (by Chuck Crumbo)]
Raymond Lee’s dream of returning to his Army unit and leading soldiers is gone. It vanished when doctors ruled the West Columbia soldier had not recovered enough from a brain injury to carry a rifle.

Lee...was injured April 6 in Iraq when a roadside bomb rocked his Humvee while he was patrolling a Baghdad highway. It was his second tour in Iraq.

...Up to 20 percent of wounded troops suffer traumatic brain injuries, the signature injury of the Iraq war, various medical and military sources estimate. Lee was in a coma for two weeks after he was injured. Doctors told his parents that if he survived, he might have the mental capacity of a 5-year-old. Despite that dire prognosis, Lee battled back. By fall, he was at a group home in Charlottesville, Va., planning his return to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. But those hopes were ended after a battery of tests and examinations. Lee said doctors ruled out allowing him to return to active duty because he can’t tolerate loud noises. “They are afraid I may flip out some day at a (rifle) range because loud noises still bother me.”

...Lee, whose young marriage also was a casualty of war, plans to enroll in college in the Washington, D.C., area, where he lives.  (more..)

January 17, 2007
Brothers battle wounds, army orders

[LAKE OKEECHOBEE, FL, (1/17/07), The Palm Beach Post, (by Teresa Lane)]
Joshua Shirley has won his fight to stay in Washington. Now he faces an even bigger battle: The one to keep his wounded brother alive.

The siblings, who grew up in LaBelle west of Lake Okeechobee, were stationed in Iraq last month when 28-year-old Luke Shirley stepped on a land mine, severing his right arm and leg and piercing his body with metal shards.

Although the Army allowed 32-year-old Joshua to fly back to Washington with his brother for surgery, commanders ordered Joshua back to Iraq within a month, saying there were other family members who could help with Luke's recovery.

Close-knit relatives and friends launched an all-out campaign to stop the orders, fearing Luke wouldn't survive without his brother nearby....After weeks of ups and downs - and countless calls to federal officials, members of Congress and the media - the family's efforts paid off...Joshua Shirley will remain in Washington at least 10 days, and he'll be reassigned within the United States after that.   (more..)

January 16, 2007
Wounded man’s wife thanks the community

[NEW BERN, NC, (1/16/07), The Sun Journal, (by Sue Book)]
Stephanie Edmundson stood before a room full of Craven County people Monday to thank the community for giving her and her wounded husband Eric a chance for a better life....

Eric Edmundson was injured Oct. 2, 2005 by an improvised explosive device while serving with the 172nd Stryker Brigade in Iraq. The 26-year-old Army sergeant had injuries to his abdomen, right leg and two vertebrae....

Complications from cardiac arrest while awaiting transport to Germany caused anoxic brain injury, leaving him unable to walk, talk, eat or drink....  (more..)

January 13, 2007
"It all happened so quick," Gordon Bloom recalls

[LANSING/JACKSON, MI (1/13/07), WILX10, (by Tony Tagliavia)]
Gordon Bloom and three other men from Lansing-based 1st Batallion, 24th Regiment Charlie Company were hit on New Year's Day in Iraq after an explosion apparently triggered machine gun fire. He took eight bullets in the chest, abodomen and leg. "It ripped through their barracks," Teresa Bloom told us. He was flown to Germany where doctors operated on him three times to fix a collapsed lung and liver damage. From there it was on to Bethesda Naval Hospital outside Washington, D.C. where Teresa got her first chance to see her son....  (more..)

January 13, 2007
Hell for Afghan hounds

[GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, UK, (1/13/07), DailyRecord.co.uk, (by James Lyons In Afghanistan)]
Two Army sniffer dogs have fallen victim to the Taliban and are shell-shocked. Golden labrador Max was on patrol with his handler in the Afghan capital Kabul when a suicide bomber struck. Luckily, the soldiers escaped serious injury, although the bomber was so close they were blown off their feet by the blast. But Max has been suffering shellshock ever since. The four-year-old dog is happy around British troops at the sprawling Camp Bastion desert base he currently calls home. But he is now too frightened to work around local Afghans in traditional dress....

Blue, a German shepherd, is also suffering from shell-shock after being mortared while on patrol in the north of Helmand province. All dogs serving in Afghanistan are taken out on practice ranges to get them used to being under fire. But Blue had only experienced gunfire and small explosions. One mortar landed just 30ft away while bullets hit the ground inches from his feet. He curled into a ball, refusing to move, and troops had to help his handler carry him to safety. Back at Bastion, Blue seemed his usual self until mortars were used on the range next to his kennel. He immediately hid at the back of his cage and curled back up into a ball, cowering and shaking. As a guard dog, trained to attack on command, he cannot be given a new home. So Blue will be sent home to guard bases in the UK....  (more..)

January 10, 2007
Wounded man's woes spur family to help others

[POMPTON PLAINS, NJ (1/10/07), NorthJersey.com, (by Elaine D'Aurizio)]
Kathy Sturla fought back tears as amputees from Walter Reed Hospital got off the bus to attend ceremonies for the 229th birthday of the Marine Corps at nearby Bethesda National Naval Medical Center. "You look at these guys in wheelchairs, with canes, and they're so young. They suffered life-changing injuries. ... You just know how long the recovery period is going to be. It's impossible not to be moved."

Also recovering at Bethesda was someone close to her heart -- her son, Marine Staff Sgt. James Sturla. His left arm had been torn up and the skin stripped from his right hand when his tank was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade on the Syrian border in Iraq in September 2004.

"It was a difficult time. ... We almost lost him during the surgeries," said Sturla, who stayed in Maryland with her husband, Bob, for six weeks to be near their son, whose injured arm was reconstructed..  (more..)