MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

Duty, Honor, Country

• Posted by Beth on March 7th, 2005 filed in General, Support the Troops    

From the March 14th issue of Newsweek, a breathtaking story of truly selfless heroism: combat veterans who have endured–or rather, overcome–amputations, and fight to return to the battlefield:

March 14 issue - Army S/Sgt. Daniel Metzdorf figured his career as an infantryman was over when he lost his right leg to a roadside bomb in Iraq in January 2004. But back at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital, Metzdorf saw other amputees ambling by on high-tech prosthetic legs and had a crazy idea: he wanted to go back into battle with the 82nd Airborne. It was a long and painful struggle. The 28-year-old had 19 operations and faced hours of grueling rehab, first learning to walk again, and then to run and swim. Confident that he was ready, Metzdorf applied for reinstatement. But instead of a new post, the Army had another offer: a medical discharge. To a fighter like Metzdorf, quitting didn’t seem like an option. “I told them, ‘I’m not going to get out’,” he says. He applied—and was rejected—twice more before he won over one important ally, his unit commander, who weighed in on his behalf. Finally, the Army relented, assigning Metzdorf to a desk job at Fort Bragg, N.C. He’s still angling to get back to combat duty in Iraq. “I’m still an asset,” Metzdorf says. “I just want to give back as much as I got.”

In previous wars, many severely wounded soldiers died on the battlefield. Amputees who made it home were automatically retired. Now advances in medicine mean more amputees are surviving, and today’s high-tech replacement limbs let them lead active lives—something soldiers like Metzdorf aim to do in uniform. George W. Bush buoyed their hopes when he visited Walter Reed in late 2003. “Today, if wounded service members want to remain in uniform and can do the job,” Bush said, “the military tries to help them stay.”

A small core of determined vets is taking the president at his word. So far, fewer than a dozen have been declared “fit for duty,” and many more are training for their comebacks. Top Pentagon officials were at first reluctant. But after hearing personal pleas from wounded vets—and seeing the soldiers’ astonishing recoveries firsthand—they reconsidered. The first Marine amputee found fit for duty has just returned from seven months in Iraq. “We realize that a soldier’s strong mental and emotional outlook can more than compensate for a changed body,” says Lt. Gen. Franklin Hagenbeck, the Army’s deputy chief of staff for personnel.

Readers of Blackfive may recognize some of the men profiled in the Newsweek article (yes, you MUST READ IT ALL) as “Someone You Should Know“.

PFC George Perez and SSGT Daniel Metzdorf were introduced in October, when they re-enlisted. Perez now awaits deployment to Afghanistan in May, and Metzdorf, stationed at Fort Bragg, still fights to return to the battlefield.

Someone else you should know, and also in the Newsweek article: Captain David Rozelle, will return as commander of the Third Armored Cavalry’s regimental headquarters. He’s also written a book, Back In Action, telling the story of his deployment to Iraq, the injuries he sustained, and his recovery and rehabilitation to duty status.

Others in the Newsweek article: Senior Airman Anthony Pizzifred, who after he “lost his leg just above the ankle in Afghanistan last March, surgeons told him that the best prosthetic leg—one that would allow him to walk, run and wade in the ocean—was designed for those with more severe amputations. Pizzifred wanted maximum mobility as fast as possible. So he told his doctors to take off as much as they needed. They wheeled him back into the operating room and cut off his leg almost to the knee.”

Army Special Forces SGT Andrew McCaffrey, who lost his right arm below the elbow, has hopes of returning to Afghanistan now with the Green Berets.

Army SSG Josh Olson lost a leg in Iraq in October 2003. He’s now “thrilled to learn he’d been declared fit for combat.”

Last October, Rozelle, McCaffrey, Pizzifred, and three other amputees actually ran in the Army Ten-Miler as the “Missing (Parts) In Action Team - Some Assembly Required.” That alone is admirable beyond description, especially so soon after their amputations. Each of them could have easily taken a medical retirement with no shame, and been well compensated with veterans’ disability benefits. But these men answered a much higher calling to serve, protect and defend us and the freedom-deprived people around the world–hundreds of millions of nameless, faceless strangers to them, but they do so eagerly. Do we deserve this? We should strive to be so worthy of their honor and sacrifice.

For you who serve, we are thankful.

UPDATE: Stuck Outside the Beltway traffic jam…