Here is a letter from a good friend of mine. He is writing to his Commanding General in Iraq about a recent visit to wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
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Below is the letter I sent...
Dom
-----Original Message-----
From: Sparacio, Dominic J LTC USA USARPAC DIV 25 G7
Sent: Friday, December 08, 2006 4:25 AM
Subject: Amazing Tropic Lightning Soldiers at WRAMC
Sir,
I hope all is well with you and the Division in Iraq.
I wanted to drop you a note regarding some amazing Tropic Lightning (and
Cacti) Soldiers I visited yesterday at WRAMC. I was attending the Army
Equipping and Reuse Conference at Ft Belvoir and Mike Webb asked me to
visit our Soldiers.
I apologize as this is a bit long, but I couldn't make myself cut it
down to any bottom line - I had to tell the whole story.
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I arrived at WRAMC at about 0715. I was met by 1LT Ryan Occhiuzzo from
A/2-35 IN BN. Facially, he looks like he's about 14. He walked up to
me to introduced himself and held out his recently repaired right arm and hand
to shake mine. He couldn't quite squeeze my hand, but he tried. This
young leader proceeded to brief me on the status of every Soldier we had at
the hospital. He led me to the Mologne (sp?) House where the outpatient
Soldiers and their visiting families stay. We met SGT Dan Alderman,
A/2-35 IN BN, in the lobby. LT Occhiuzzo introduced me, asked Alderman
about his status, his parents who just left, his fiance, and his next
appointment. LT O then walked behind SGT Alderman, who lost his left
leg below the knee and was in a wheel chair, and proceeded to push SGT
Alderman and lead me back to the hospital. It was clear that this was a
daily event for them.
SGT Alderman was a little quiet when he shook my hand, but within a few
minutes he started talking to me and basically didn't stop for the next
2-1/2 hours. He has clearly taken on the role as senior NCO and also
proceeded to brief me on the status of all of our Soldiers as we walked
back to the hospital.
On the way into the hospital we met PFC Charles Shackleford, 25ID G3,
and SGT Ramon Perez, 40 QM CO, and sat down in the hospital DFAC to
talk. These guys were told they will be flying back to Hawaii next
Friday so they were pretty happy. PFC Shackleford was telling me
stories about LTC Ault and other G3 folks who I know. SGT Perez was
relatively quiet but is excited to get back to Hawaii as his wife is
pregnant and is already 1cm dilated (when I left later in the day, LT
Occhiuzzo was going directly to the Med Hold HQ to see if he could get
SGT Perez home earlier than Friday - LT O said he could handle it and
wouldn't need my help).
I left PFC Shackleford and SGT Perez. LT Occhiuzzo and SGT Alderman then
took me to see SPC Steven Curry, A/2-35, in his hospital room. SPC
Curry also lost his left leg below the knee. His wife had just left the day
prior to go back to school to take an exam - she will return this weekend. It
was clear, from the intial banter between SGT Alderman and SPC Curry, that
thes Soldiers were not letting their (similar) injuries stop them from
living, let alone Soldiering. They are in competition to walk first, then run
first. They are wanting to go on one of the next hospital ski trips,
for amputees, to Colorado in January!
While in SPC Curry's room, SGT Alderman proceeded to explain to me, in
what I initially thought was gruesome detail, every step of surgery they went
through and how the healing process occurs in an amputated limb before
they can begin to use a prosthetic. These guys are tracking their own
process day by day until they can get up on a prosthetic leg. SGT Alderman
already knows which 4 legs he wants (daily walking, running, swimming and
cross-country). He told me that some guys leave with up to 9 legs. SPC
Curry seemed excited about the skiing and snowboarding legs. SGT
Alderman told me he (Alderman) weighed about 240 in Iraq and is now down to about
190. SPC Curry was joking about how skinny his legs were.
At about 0900, the four of us proceeded out of SPC Curry's room and went
down to the Physical Therapy (PT) room where Curry had a 0900
appointment. On the way down, he and SGT Alderman were arguing over the best way to
store their crutches in their wheelchair as they wheeled themselves down the
hallway. Also, all three Soldiers (including LT Occhiuzzo) were saying
"Hi" to, shaking hands of, and even hugging other amputees, nurses, and
doctors we passed. It was amazingly clear that there are some great people,
Soldiers and civilians, taking care of our Soldiers and that there are
some incredible bonds developed between the amputees that meet there.
In the PT room, the same greetings occurred. As Curry went off to start
his appointment, SGT Alderman gave me the grand tour. He also introduced me
to an Army Captain (I should have written down his name) who was "in
charge" of PT. Alderman told me that if you wanted to improve yourself, really
wanted to improve yourself, this Captain was the guy to go to. It was obvious
Alderman had developed a great respect for this young Captain/Doctor.
LT Occhiuzzo and SGT Alderman then took me to see PFC Hubbard, A/2-35,
in his room. PFC Hubbard was SGT Alderman's driver and was hurt more
seriously than Alderman in the same incident. PFC Hubbard lost his right leg
above the knee, had some damage to his face, had broken both of his thumbs and
had some bad stomach wounds. Although he arrived at WRAMC 2 days before
Alderman and several weeks before Curry, he was clearly behind them in
the physical healing process. PFC Hubbard's mom was with him. Fortunately
for them, she lives about 45 minutes away.
SGT Alderman told me that Hubbard weighed about 145lbs in Iraq and that
he's down to about 115. Hubbard was obviously under medication and was
complaining that the meds make him tired all of the time. He and his
mom were joking about how he woke up the day prior and stood up, forgetting
he didn't have a right leg, and fell across the room. His mom was in great
spirits as she was scolding him, apparently again, for trying to stand
up and walk to the bathroom.
It was obvious that SGT Alderman and PFC Hubbard were close. They told
me how they were asking about each other at every stop along the way from
the IED strike site to WRAMC, sometimes yelling (at least that's what the
medical folks told them as they drifted in and out of consciousness) at
people to find out where the other was. They proceeded to talk about
the actual IED strike, the Soldiers who pulled them out and evac'd them.
The Soldier who died in the incident "saving them". I was struggling to
hold back my own tears...
As PFC Hubbard apeared to be getting more tired, we left him and his
mother. SGT Alderman had to head to his own PT appointment. We all walked in
that direction. Along the way, between more "Hi's", high-fives and hugs, SGT
Alderman told me that PFC Hubbard had asked him if he (Hubbard) would be
"fixed-up" in time to rejoin 2-35 for the next deployment...
SGT Alderman then asked me what his own chances were to rejoin 2-35, who
he deployed to Afghanistan with previously. He immediately told me that he
could still carry and qualify on his weapon and "knew" he was going to
be able to max his PT test - he described a scene where he would run, with
his prosthetic running leg, past some of his own and other Soldiers during
the 2 mile run and smirk at them for being so slow...
I left LT Occhiuzzo on his mission to get SGT Perez home in time to his
his child's birth in Hawaii.
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Sir, I hope this story made your day, because it sure made mine.
It was an incredible honor and opportunity to visit these Soldiers on
your behalf.
Although, in no way do I wish another Soldier would even need to be sent
to WRAMC, I highly recommend that any/all of our leaders make it a point to
visit our wounded warriors there.
I also hope that the Army does these guys justice and helps them stay in
if that's what they really want. As for LTC Browder/CSM Angelucci and
2-35, I can't imagine that you wouldn't want these guys back in your unit.
V/r,
LTC Dom Sparacio
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE
