A soldier’s return, to a dark and moody world
NYTimes: Jeffrey Gettleman: ‘Sgt. Jeremy Feldbusch, a fit, driven, highly capable Army Ranger, left home in February knowing the risks of combat. Two months later, he came home blind.’ [→ READ ]
Since the war started, more than 2,300 American soldiers in Iraq have been hurt in combat, many by artillery shells and homemade bombs that spray shrapnel. Bulletproof vests and helmets protect vital organs. But as the insurgency continues, doctors say that severe facial injuries, along with wounds to the arms and legs, are becoming a hallmark of this war. …
The inchlong piece of steel, part of the artillery shell’s casing, sliced through [Sergeant Feldbusch’s] right eye, tumbled through his sinuses and lodged in the left side of his brain, severely damaging the optic nerve of his left eye and spraying bone splinters throughout his brain.
Two weeks later, at the Brooke Army Medical Center, doctors removed the shrapnel and reconstructed his face with titanium mesh and a lump of fat from his stomach in place of his missing eye, so the hole would not cave in.
Listen to me: Jeremy Feldbusch could be my brother or my son. In fact, in God’s economy, he is my brother and my son. Mr. Bush: Stop hurting my family. Stop destroying my country. You are accomplishing nothing that is worth this.
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