Soldier's leg is gone, but not his will to serve (10/17/04)

Soldier's leg is gone, but not his will to serve
TUL0000020041102e0ah000l6
NEWS
ESTES THOMPSON Associated Press
917 Words
17 October 2004
Tulsa World
FINAL HOME EDITION
A5
English
Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. 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."