War Amputee

War amputee
By MICHELLE ROBERTS

Even the simplest task becomes monumental for a US Army bomb technician who lost her arms to a bomb in Iraq.

MARY Dague hears the catty whispers sometimes. “So ugly,” the strangers say when they think she can’t hear.

The 24-year-old has bright green eyes, a quick smile, and on the days she gets her husband’s help, perfectly applied mascara and blush.

But all the gawkers really see are her arms, each amputated above the elbow.

MLB honors America's heroes at parks

MLB honors America's heroes at parks
Veterans throw out first pitches in pregame festivities
By Mike Scarr / MLB.com

On Friday it was time to stand and deliver.

To honor our nation's 232nd anniversary of its birth, a select group of veterans tossed honorary first pitches at ballparks hosting games for the Fourth of July holiday.

The gesture is part of Major League Baseball's "Welcome Back Veterans" initiative taking place at big league games across the U.S. this weekend. Baseball will also honor veterans during games on Sept. 11.

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."

Iraq veteran gives back to soldiers

Iraq veteran gives back to soldiers
By Chris Foreman
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, July 4, 2008



Tim Boots pointed to the logo of the Wounded Warrior Project, a silhouette in which one soldier carries another to safety.

Three years ago, the Connellsville Area High School graduate was aided by a fellow Army National Guardsman after he was severely wounded in a car-bomb explosion in Bayji, Iraq.

"Now, I'm getting the chance to be the guy on the bottom, giving somebody else a hand," Boots said Thursday.

Boots is one of 16 wounded veterans serving as summer interns for the Jacksonville-based nonprofit organization. They are traveling the country to answer Iraq and Afghanistan veterans' questions about possible health and educational benefits and disability claims.

Yankee Intern, Injured in Iraq, to Throw Out First Pitch Friday

Yankee Intern, Injured in Iraq, to Throw Out First Pitch Friday
Barton Silverman/The New York Times

Tony Odierno, an Army officer who lost an arm to a grenade, has helped in planning for the All-Star Game and the new stadium.

Barton Silverman/The New York Times

Tony Odierno, left, and his father, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, threw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 2005.

Odierno lost his left arm when a rocket-propelled grenade smashed through his Humvee in Iraq almost four years ago. As an Army lieutenant, he was leading three vehicles through southwest Baghdad when his life changed. The grenade cost Odierno an arm and his driver his life.

Odierno calmly but vividly described what happened that night. As he spoke Wednesday, he sometimes clutched the prosthesis under the sleeve of his gray shirt. His story validates why the Yankees consider him an overqualified intern in their stadium operations department.

River search scaled back

Sunday News
Published: May 25, 2008
00:20 EST

By PAUL FRANZ and JON RUTTER, StaffThe search for Chris Johnson, a former Marine Corps lance corporal and Iraq war veteran, continued Saturday along the banks of the Susquehanna River.
Rescue workers search the Susquehanna River for Chris Johnson, missing since Wednesday.

Searchers found no trace of the West Hempfield Township fisherman by the time the operation wrapped up at dusk, said Brian Morrin, the public information officer for the York County Office of Emergency Management.

Morrin said searchers are now scaling back efforts to find Johnson, who has been missing five days.

"Unfortunately, we've come to a point where we've run out of leads," Morrin said. "We couldn't bring this situation to a close.

"It's been a long four days," Morrin said

THE DAY I CHEATED DEATH

THE DAY I CHEATED DEATH
1 reader has commented on this story. Click here to read their views.
BY ALAN THOMPSON

10:30 - 19 May 2008



A wounded airman who cheated death in Iraq when he was caught in rocket fire has told of the terrifying moment shells rained down all around him.

Senior Aircraftman Jon Butterworth was blasted into the air by the force of the explosions at Basra airfield.

The 22-year-old, who is based at RAF Cottesmore, in Rutland, was left lying in a pool of his own blood after the attack.



Military surgeons battled in vain all day to save his injured arm, which had to be amputated at the elbow.

The father-of-one had been driving his Land Rover to work with a colleague when the siren sounded at the base last August.

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."

TaylorMade Golf provides clubs and instruction to benefit wounded veterans program

TaylorMade Golf provides clubs and instruction to benefit wounded veterans program
By Tod Leonard
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

April 29, 2008


CRISSY PASCUAL / Union-Tribune
Jake Williams eyes the flight of his ball on the TaylorMade driving range.
CARLSBAD – A bright smile on his youthful, clean-cut face, Jake Williams looked down at the beautiful golf clubs arranged in a new black bag just for him, and he didn't quite know what to say or do. He could almost see his reflection in the shine, the irons' soles not yet stained by a single blade of grass.
“I'm afraid to touch 'em,” Williams said with a giggle, handling the irons as if they were made of crystal.

Triple Amputee Iraq Vet Stars On CSI: New York

Triple Amputee Iraq Vet Stars On CSI: New York


Regine Schlesinger Reporting
CHICAGO (WBBM) - A wounded war veteran from Rolling Meadows says he\'s finding a career in Hollywood. You can see him on tonight\'s broadcast of CSI: New York on CBS.
WBBM\'s Regine Schlesinger reports Bryan Anderson lost both legs and an arm in Iraq, but not his spirit or dreams.
Bryan Anderson says the star of CSI: New York, Chicago native Gary Sinise who won an Oscar as a wheelchair-bound Vietnam vet in the movie Forrest Gump, has told him, "You\'re the real Lt. Dan," referring to Sinise\'s Forrest Gump character.

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.