Walter Reed

Few experiences bring life into perspective as visiting injured soldiers at the army medical center.  Because the cases we hear involve servicemen and women, we took a trip to visit soldiers who were recently wounded in Afghanistan.  Their experiences were pretty frightening, as most of them were injured by what are called improvised explosive devices or IEDs that are embedded along roads, bridges, and anywhere else an American troop might traverse.  Many of the IEDs are so powerful that they can cause great damage to an armored vehicle and seriously injure everyone inside.  The servicemembers we visited today had broken backs, shrapnel injuries throughout their bodies, broken arms, broken jaws, and amputations.  Despite all of this, they had positive attitudes and were truly inspiring to talk to.  Some had continued desires to serve in the armed forces.  Some were just so happy to be home permanently with their families.  There were two older gentlemen who were non-commissioned officers, like squad leaders, and two younger enlisted men, one of whom was only 20-years old who was still pretty shell-shocked, and the other with a young wife and 5-month old little girl.  We met their families, who amazingly shared those positive attitudes.  The squad leader, in his thick Long Island accent, described being loaded onto a truck from the medical station in Afghanistan prior to shipping out to Germany before coming home.  The young soldier next to him asked what happened.  The squad leader said, "An IED hit our vehicle.  I have a broken back, a broken arm, and shrapnel in my thigh. How about you?"  The young soldier replied, "Same thing, except I stepped on it."  Then he held up what remained of his leg.  The squad leader told us that he no longer thought he had it so bad.  All of his injuries were going to heal.  The young soldier, perhaps sensing this, said, "I feel happy right now, because I know if I can make it to Germany, I can make it home in time to see the birth of my new baby. And, I'll never have to leave them again."  The squad leader felt humbled by the young soldier's attitude.  It was an inspiring story, and almost every soldier we met shared a similar story about a colleague who is worse off but inspires them with their positive attitude.  We went there to thank them for what they've done to protect our country and our families, but the visit almost certainly did me more good than it did them.  I feel truly blessed to have the small challenges that I have, and I feel a deeper sense of gratitude for my beautiful family.  I came home feeling like I had been away from them for several days and missed them terribly.  My experience at Walter Reed is one that I will not soon (hopefully never) forget.  I am still floored to have seen first-hand families who sacrifice their time together and their lives so that we don't have to.  It was an honor to meet these heroes.