*Soldier who lost leg in Iraq wants to return to action (10/17/04)

Soldier who lost leg in Iraq wants to return to action
SLMO000020041017e0ah000gr
News
BY ESTES THOMPSON The Associated Press Associated Press reporter Allen G. Breed contributed to this report.
769 Words
17 October 2004
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Five Star Lift
A17
English
Copyright 2004, St. Louis Post-Dispatch. All Rights Reserved.
FORT BRAGG, N.C.

George Perez still feels the sweat between his toes when he exercises. He's still plagued with nagging cramps in his calf muscle. And sometimes, when he gets out of bed at night without thinking, he topples over.

Perez, 21, lost his leg to a roadside bomb in Iraq more than a year ago, but despite the phantom pains that haunt him, he says he is determined to prove to the Army that he is no less of a man -- and no less of a soldier.

"I'm not ready to get out yet," he says. "I'm not going to let this little injury stop me from what I want to do."

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