Day by day, Marine battles adversity

Day by day, Marine battles adversity

By Sarah Bultema
Loveland Reporter-Herald
Chris Hahn, a Marine, lost his leg a few years ago while serving in Iraq.

Now, back in Loveland, the veteran’s lost his job because of complications from the amputation.

But through it all, he’s kept his faith that life always works out the way it’s supposed to.

“Like I said when I lost my leg, I think everything happens for a reason,” Hahn said from his Loveland home.

What’s left of his left leg, which was amputated just below the knee, was propped up on a couch pillow.

Wounded veterans participate in program established to aid their recovery

Wounded veterans participate in program established to aid their recovery

By RICK MALWITZ • STAFF WRITER • July 10, 2008


EDISON —The last act John Wayne Walding did when he was perfectly whole was come to the aid of a fellow soldier shot in Afghanistan.
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"My buddy was shot. He said, 'Help me,' and gave his location, and then I got shot,'' said Walding, a 27-year-old U.S. Army staff sergeant from Waco, Texas.

Walding, who suffered a below-knee amputation of his right leg as a result of the attack, was asked if his buddy is recovering. "Yep. We all lived,'' he said.

"I'm fine,'' Walding said. "There's no remorse. I was doing my job.''

Group helps local veteran regain freedom

Group helps local veteran regain freedom

Updated: July 5, 2008 09:20 PM

WALES, N.Y. (WIVB) - In the fight for freedom, one of America's bravest from western New York lost his independence.

His right arm had to be amputated along with one of his legs below the knee.

Marine Lance Corporal Mark Beyers was severely injured in Iraq nearly three years ago..

Now, he finally has a home where he can regain his independence.

This is reality for Marine Lance Corporal Mark Beyers nearly 3 years after being injured by an improvised explosive device. "When you're a Marine, you kind of think you're a little bit invincible."

Amputee Marine has long recovery at Walter Reed

Amputee Marine has long recovery at Walter Reed
The Evening Sun (Hanover)
Article Last Updated: 05/13/2008 07:52:09 AM EDT


The pain reads like a book on the face of U.S Marine 1st Lt. David Borden.

Between winces and saying words he later apologizes for using, Borden struggles to move leg muscles that have not supported his weight in months during a recent physical therapy session at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Sometimes the pain is so bad his attention focuses entirely on fighting through it.

Borden said the area where his right leg was amputated from the knee down felt like it was on fire as he worked through the different stretches and exercises.

It has been nearly four months since a suicide bomber detonated an explosive near the 27-year-old Delone Catholic High School graduate in Ramadi, Iraq - a blast that took the life of another Marine and injured three others.

Before and after Iraq

Before and after Iraq
The war there is not an intellectual exercise. It has real, personal consequences.
By Michael Hastings
May 12, 2008
In July 2006, four young American Army officers sat at an Italian restaurant in Sackets Harbor, N.Y., about 20 miles from Ft. Drum. Three lieutenants and a captain, they were all friends, all platoon leaders in the 10th Mountain Division; one of them was my younger brother, Jeff, then 23 years old. It was their last meal together before deploying to Iraq.

Two years later, none of the infantrymen remembers what he ordered that night; they all remember what was said: "Statistically, one in four of us is going to get injured or killed over there."

A month later, they arrived in Baghdad, right before the "surge."

Amputee says leg loss a small sacrifice

Amputee says leg loss a small sacrifice

By Mike CroninTRIBUNE-REVIEWTuesday, April 8, 2008
pittsburgh_tribu:http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_561184.html

Long before he arrived in Iraq, Luke Cassidy gave his heart and soul to his country as a Marine and police officer.
Surrendering part of his left leg later didn't seem like much of a sacrifice, the Plum man said.
Nine days after arriving in Al Ramadi in 2004, an improvised explosive device detonated beneath the vehicle Cassidy was driving. The explosion broke his legs, shattered his heels and tore off the big toe of his right foot. An insurgent also shot him in the right calf, he said.

Wounded Iraq veteran from Menifee says his sacrifice was worth it

Wounded Iraq veteran from Menifee says his sacrifice was worth it

09:25 PM PDT on Friday, April 4, 2008
By JOE VARGOThe Press-Enterprise
Video: Jesus De La Cruz talks about rehabilitation following injuries sustained in Iraq
SAN DIEGO - His left leg is shattered, amputated below the knee from a rocket-propelled grenade that slammed into him while on patrol in Iraq three weeks ago.
Tiny pieces of shrapnel, the size of a match-head, work their way through his skin to the surface, where he pulls them out and collects them for keepsakes.

Where are they now? New legs will help vet regain old life

Where are they now? New legs will help vet regain old life
By Kate WiltroutThe Virginian-Pilot© March 18, 2008
NORFOLK
Jon Bartlett is finally learning how to run again.
Bartlett was a 19-year-old private first class when his Humvee hit a roadside bomb in September 2004 in Iraq. The blast tossed the vehicle hundreds of feet, turning it into a mess of shredded steel.

Camera On America's Iraq War Wounded

Camera On America's Iraq War Wounded
NEW YORK, March 13, 2008

(CBS) This story written by The ShowBuzz.com's Ken Lombardi As Hollywood and independent studios continue to release films on the Iraq war, evidenced by several of this year’s Best Documentary Oscar nominees, director Terry Sanders puts the spotlight on GIs who have been wounded in Iraq in his latest release, “Fighting For Life.”

Wounded veterans smile on the slopes:

Wounded veterans smile on the slopes:
Skiing temporarily erases painful memories of war

Ian CroppMarch 12, 2008
The light was flat, the wind was blowing and there wasn’t much new snow to speak of. For most Vail skiers, it wasn’t a day to be on the mountain.But for a group of 27 wounded veterans at Vail’s Golden Peak, the skiing conditions were of little importance; last Thursday was a day on the mountain and that’s what counted.After some breakfast at the Larkspur restaurant inside the Golden Peak Lodge, the soldiers met up with their private instructors and headed to the adaptive skiing building next to the high-speed lift. Inside the building, a trio of double-amputee veterans waited to be outfitted on monoskis — a ski attached to a bucket-style seat. When all their equipment seemed to fit, they got back into their wheelchairs and headed to the slopes.

Job Relief For Battle Weary

Job Relief For Battle Weary
Joshua Lipton 02.23.08, 11:39 AM ET


Justin Callahan doesn't remember much about the landmine explosion that crippled him. He recalls only the echo of a large blast, and a shower of dirt raining down on top of him.

The young soldier, then a 22-year-old sergeant in the Army's 10th Mountain Division, was on a routine patrol in Afghanistan. It was a January morning in 2004. Callahan was in charge of an eight-man squad, conducting area clearance and counter mine operations, walking along a dirt road, about 10 yards behind a Humvee.

Face of Defense: Wounded in Iraq, National Guardsman Wants to Return

Face of Defense: Wounded in Iraq, National Guardsman Wants to Return
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service



WASHINGTON, Feb. 21, 2008 – For an Arkansas Army National Guardsman, the war in Iraq came to an abrupt end in the alley of a Baghdad neighborhood on June 13, 2004.WASHINGTON, Feb. 21, 2008 – For an Arkansas Army National Guardsman, the war in Iraq came to an abrupt end in the alley of a Baghdad neighborhood on June 13, 2004.

Disabilities: Iraq Veteran fights Disability

Disabilities: Iraq Veteran fights Disability


By Daniel J. Vance
Thursday, February 14, 2008 11:46 AM CST



Disabilities: Iraq Veteran fights Disability


By Daniel J. Vance
Thursday, February 14, 2008 11:46 AM CST


On June 18, 2006, Sgt. Joshua Gutierrez of the 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas, was on patrol near Osut, Iraq, searching for missing U.S. soldiers.

“At first, we went into the city and did a peaceful door knock, asking the people there if they'd seen our personnel,” said 25-year-old Gutierrez in a telephone interview from the Naval Medical Center San Diego.