Maimed face new fight

Maimed face new fight
Fort Bragg soldier steels himself for post-Iraq struggle / Since March 20, 2,076 U.S. soldiers have been wounded in action.


During Mass at Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church near his New Jersey home, Army Pfc. George Perez gives an emotional prayer of thanks in Spanish. Seated next to Perez is his stepmother, Frances Perez, who is holding his stepbrother, Mario.
Staff Photos by Chuck Liddy

By JAY PRICE AND CHUCK LIDDY, Staff Writers

The Humvee was jolting across the median of a four-lane highway near Fallujah, Iraq, when it rolled over a bomb fashioned from an artillery shell. The blast shook the ground six miles away and tossed the three-ton truck into the air in a cloud of dust.
In a disorienting instant, Pfc. George Perez of Fort Bragg's 82nd Airborne Division saw a friend sitting beside him vanish -- the man was killed. Perez briefly blacked out before the burning truck fell to the ground and the impact woke him to a new life.

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