*His foot is gone, but airman stays on track (10/10/04)

His foot is gone, but airman stays on track / Runner injured by grenade in Iraq hopes to compete again soon
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JESSIE MILLIGAN
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
575 Words
10 October 2004
Houston Chronicle
2 STAR
6
English
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
It was 5 a.m. El Paso time, and Jesus Palomino knew something was terribly wrong.

His son, Air Force Airman Scott Palomino, was calling from overseas.

"Dad, don't worry. I'm OK."

As a greeting, "I'm OK" always means something is wrong.

"Just tell me what's wrong," Jesus Palomino said that April day.

A rocket-propelled grenade had hit Scott's tent at Balad Airbase outside Baghdad.

The explosion tore off most of the 20-year-old airman's left foot as he lay sleeping.

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