USWarWatch.org - Stories of the Wounded

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

May 15, 2007
Craig Ardry: "50%" disabled ...
"I can play with my kids, but..."

PITTSFIELD, ME (5/29/07), [S. Kiley Mack, bangordailynews.com ]
On Memorial Day, Craig Ardry took the dirty diapers outside to the trash bin. Just like any other husband.

He unrolled the hose to offer water to the driver of an overheated car that stalled by his driveway. Just like any other homeowner.

He carefully put hats on his two children to shield them from the sun as they waited for the holiday parade to pass by. Just like any other dad.

...Ardry was an engineer with the largest Maine Army National Guard deployment since World War II. The 133rd Engineer Battalion was based in Mosul, where it worked on roads and buildings. It had been in Iraq for a month when Ardry was wounded in April 2004.

He talks about his injuries easily: a shattered leg and broken kneecap, a paralyzed vocal chord, fractured pelvis, broken ribs, a thigh covered with skin grafts, burns to both hands, shrapnel in his face, a shattered eardrum and a concussion. Ardry died twice and was resuscitated. He remained unconscious for 11 days.

But Ardry is a quiet man, one who doesn’t talk easily of his experiences or how he deals with them.

He admitted Monday that his wounds are still painful but still couldn’t reveal his feelings about the explosion or his war experiences. "I don’t know what the aftermath is supposed to feel like," he said.

The nerve damage to his leg is such that when he touches the inside of his calf, he feels it on the top of his foot.

"There is only so much the doctors can do. I’m missing stuff in there," he said, referring to his leg.

Friends gently tease him and call him Lizard Man, referring to the pattern on his bulging and bent leg created by netting that held the skin grafts on.

..."I can play with my kids for now," Craig Ardry said. "But that will be limited as they get older. I don’t have the endurance I once had, and I always have to watch out for my leg."

Nanette adds, "They have told us that if he breaks it or injures it again, he’ll lose it."

Three years have gone by since the devastating explosion, and Ardry now has a bit of perspective. "Most days I find it hard to wrap my mind around the fact that we are still there, fighting, three years later," he said.

He won’t go so far as to say publicly how he feels about the war.

"I still like the Army. I still like the people," Ardry said. "What bothers me most is the apathy, I guess. Whether you are for the war or against it, act. For the war? Enlist. Against it? Stand up. But do something. Sometimes it feels like no one really cares about it ... (continued...)

May 15, 2007
Michael Fletcher Faces His Future...
Baltimore Surgeons Rebuild His Nose

BALTIMORE, MD (5/15/07), [K. Lynn, WJZ]
At times the Iraqi battlefield shows mercy. Soldiers survive combat amid bullets, bombs and suicide attacks. Medical miracles are also saving injured soldiers who would have died in past wars.

But a soldier's homecoming is complicated. For Airman AIC Michael Fletcher reclaiming his life and identity was as much of a challenge as his fight on the battlefield.

Fletcher's life changed forever on August 12, 2005 when the Humvee he was riding on flipped over and crashed on a highway near Camp Bucca in southern Iraq. Michael's left arm was ripped off. He also lost a sizeable portion of his midface, including his nose.

WJZ 13 and Healthwatch Reporter Kellye Lynn have followed a team of 40 Johns Hopkins specialists for more than a year as doctors worked to rebuild his nose.

"I look at pictures everyday. It reminds me of how far I have come, and the decision I made," said Fletcher. "It was a risky decision because if the surgery had gone wrong I would have to have gotten a prosthetic and would have lost the majority of the nose."

The decision Michael made to go through with nasal reconstruction surgery has turned into one of the most complicated cases Johns Hopkins facial surgeons have ever encountered.

...The plan to rebuild Fletcher's nose, in fact, resembles techniques used to help nasal cancer survivors. But what made this case unique was the severe facial injuries Michael suffered during the roll-over accident. Michael's face had little bone structure to support a new nose. Arteries in and around his forehead had also been slashed in Iraq. This not only left him with a widened gap between his eyes, but it also left him blind in the left eye.

...Michael developed an infection that almost threatened the entire surgery. But five months later, agony turned to jubilation. As Doctor Byrne and a colleague removed the final sutures from his nose, Michael expressed his relief over what took place.

"After the injuries, I expected the worst for the rest of my life and it's better than it could have imagined," Michael said... (continued...)

May 5, 2007
Sgt. Jason Pepper working through hardship ...
High-ranking official: 'There's no place for a blind soldier in the U.S. military'

PINEWOOD, TN (5/5/07), [M. Kline, Tennessean]
One of the last things Army Staff Sgt. Jason Pepper ever saw was a rocket-propelled grenade heading in his direction. He didn't see what blinded and almost killed him — an explosive device hidden in a tree beside his armored vehicle.

He pushed two soldiers out of the way of the RPG that flew past. Three feet away, the bomb detonated.

Pepper, 30, was badly injured. Both eyes were shredded. His arms and hands were torn apart. Major arterieswere severed. His skull was split open. Metal fragments lodged in his brain. His olfactory nerve was damaged. Body armor protected his chest and vital organs.

The blast that nearly sent him home in a body bag occurred May 7, 2004. Pepper was in Iraq on patrol in Karbala.

Three years later, Pepper said he's still searching for some semblance of a normal life.

"I just keep thinking I'll wake up and everything will be fine … I'll see again," Pepper said.

He lives in western Williamson County with his wife, Heather, their two young daughters and his brother-in-law. They own six acres in the rural Pinewood community. They dream of buying a field next door, building a barn and owning horses. They moved there a year ago, hoping for a fresh start and looking for a place to heal.

...The Peppers are upset about the way the Army treated Jason after he was injured. Jason said he was hoping to remain in the military but was turned down. He feels like once he was injured he became nothing more than a statistic, a casualty of war.

"A high-ranking official told me, 'There's no place for a blind soldier in the U.S. military,' " Pepper said.... (continued...)

May 1, 2007
Wounded Larry Gill finds new purpose in life ..."

SEMMES, AL (5/1/07), [G. Werneth, Press-Register]
Larry Gill of Semmes [Alabama] -- severely wounded by a grenade explosion in Baghdad on Oct. 7, 2003 -- spent the next few years struggling with intense physical pain and the dark agony of post-traumatic stress disorder.

But he has found a sense of salvation and a new purpose in life by helping a young Marine whose wounds from Iraq were worse than his own.

Gill, 46, who served with the Fairhope-based 1165th Military Police Company, a National Guard unit, lost more than 9 inches of flesh from his left calf, and sustained nerve, muscle and artery damage in both legs. He said in a recent interview at VFW Post 49 in west Mobile that he underwent "eight or nine" surgeries and that his wounds caused him to have to give up a career in law enforcement. He was medically retired from the military in July 2005, and wears a brace on his left leg to aid him in walking.... (continued...)

April 20, 2007
Former Boy Scout, missionary arrested in bomb case; Psychiatrist says, "Lots of soldiers go to Iraq and don't become bipolar ..."

SAN ANTONIO, TX (4/20/07), [M. Roberts, theState.com]
Paul Miles' family knew something was different about him when he came back from Iraq. The Eagle Scout and former church missionary was jumpy. Behind the wheel, he would suddenly drive as if under attack. Later they would learn he built a bomb and used it to damage a statue of the Virgin Mary. Then, he killed a cat.

Ultimately, the 22-year-old National Guardsman was arrested in November on federal charges, accused of building explosives in his apartment, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, or manic depression. He could get 10 years in prison.

Thousands of soldiers and Marines who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are believed to have been damaged psychologically by the experience. Whether the 22-year-old Miles is one of them - whether he was unhinged by the war, as his family suspects, and a psychiatrist who examined him says is possible - is not clear.

But Miles' father wants authorities to take his Norman Rockwell youth and service record into consideration.

...The prosecutor on the case said he cannot simply let Miles go. "I'm not in a position to give him a pass," said John Ratcliffe. "There is no 'service exception'" for criminal activity, he said, adding: "It could be argued that anyone who makes explosive devices and blows up personal property has mental issues."

...Dr. Gregory Seal, the psychiatrist who treated Miles right after his arrest, diagnosed the soldier as bipolar, and he was given therapy and medication. "I can't say for sure Iraq caused this. ... Lots of soldiers go to Iraq and don't become bipolar," Seal said. But, "it's possible."

Bipolar disorder, characterized by episodes of depression and manic behavior, often shows up in people in their teens or early 20s. Victims probably have a genetic predisposition, but life experiences, including stressful events, can trigger its onset, experts say. In can lead to suicide or violence.

The American Psychological Association estimates 30 percent of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from a mental disorder, with some cases mild and others requiring heavy medication.

Miles is in jail, awaiting a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation....(continued...)

April 13, 2007
Chad Staples wounded in firefight

DIXFIELD, ME (4/13/07), [E. Adams, sunjournal.com]
A 22-year-old from Jay, Maine, was severely injured in a firefight in Baghdad on Tuesday, April 10. ...Chad Staples, a 2002 graduate of Jay High School and a Ranger with the 82nd Airborne Division deployed from Fort Bragg, N.C., was one of 16 soldiers injured during the battle, his mother, Shannon Staples, said Thursday.

She said her son has lost part of his colon and his right kidney, suffered fractured vertebrae and has unknown neurological deficits. She said he has undergone three operations, one in Baghdad and two in a Landstuhl, Germany, U.S. military hospital.

She is a nurse at Stephens Hospital in Norway. Staples' father, Bob, is a sixth-grade teacher at Dirigo Middle School in Dixfield.

She said her son may be airlifted on Friday to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., depending on his condition. Both she and her husband will fly to either Germany or Walter Reed Hospital on Friday, she said.

...[Staples] was deployed shortly after Christmas for an 18-month tour of duty. This is his second tour. He first served in Iraq in 2005.

...[Chad] is the eldest of three sons....(continued...)

April 4, 2007
Wounded Warriors; Robert Gass Battles Through Recovery

CHARLESTON, SC, (4/04/07), [Jenny Fisher, WCBD-TV2]
The U.S. Marine Corps announces the establishment of a Wounded Warriors regiment to track and assist wounded marines and sailors throughout their recovery. It's an effort to make sure they don't fall through the cracks. Camp Pendleton in California and Camp LeJeune in North Carolina have existing Wounded Warriors programs, which will be included in the new regiment based in Quantico, Virginia. The regiment should be at full operating capacity by the end of the summer.

It's a program a wounded Marine in Moncks Corner supports. If there's a story behind each scar, 24 year-old Robert Gass will be talking for awhile. He pointed to his arm and showed a scar, explaining how he got it. "Gunshot wound from an AK 47. Entrance and exit wound."

His hands and wrist are mottled from the third degree burns he received in Iraq two years ago as Marines drove through Karbala. Gass said, "About a 2,000 pound suicide vehicle car bomb ran into the right side of our truck. A little 13 year-old kid driving a Toyota pick-up truck. Ran right into the side of our truck and blew up."

The marine suffered burns to his hands and side. A half inch of fuel line also entered his skull and pierced his brain....

Now out of the military and back in Moncks Corner [South Carolina] job searching, it's clear Gass has battled through recovery....(continued...)

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