This Young Marines Portrait Really Impacted Me.....

[trailmonkee]

This one:



abc, has a website profiling recovering soldiers. This young man caught fire and was thrown from a vehicle... he had burns to his face, hands and arms... here are some other photos of his recovery, along with a link to the website:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/slideshow/healing-wounds-finding-hope-3679580

Cpl. Aaron Mankin was 23 years old when he deployed to Iraq in March 2005. That May, the vehicle he was traveling in rolled over an improvised explosive device and exploded. Four Marines died in the attack and 11 others were injured. Mankin said he was thrown back and new he was on fire. (Steve Mankin )

In this undated photo, Mankin plays with his then-8-month-old daughter, Madeline. "My worst fear for her as she grows up is that she will be ridiculed or teased for the way I look," he told ABC News. He and his wife, Marine Lance Corp. Diana Kavanec, were married in 2006 but have since divorced. (Steve Mankin )



Mankin survived the blast, but his injuries were gruesome. His ears, nose and mouth were so badly burned that they were essentially gone; he lost two fingers on his right hand. (Steve Mankin)



http://abcnews.go.com/US/standing_up_for_heroes/


Cpl. Aaron Mankin

[trof]

1. That is so tragic and unnecessary.

He was there because of Iraq's non-existent WMDs.
A handsome young man made grotesque by a trumped up 'war'.
Thanks, Dumbya.

[Arugula Latte]

8. Yep. Permanently maimed -- for what? Absolutely nothing.

And countless thousands of innocent Iraqis suffered this fate or much worse.

[MrScorpio]

2. One detail: That young man is a Marine, not a soldier.

Soldiers are in the Army.

Thanks for the post

[trailmonkee]

3. thanks, I used the same as the title of the article... they used 'soldier'? anyhow, I changed it...

much better

[Libertas1776]

4. ugh

so fuckin tragic. Such a beautiful man. If i had the money of Trump and all these other billionaire bastards, i would bankroll the complete reconstructive surgery of as many of these men and women as I could. I also don't mean to say that non-military related disfigurements or birth related problems don't deserve help. I would give surgeries to all those women that have had acid thrown in their faces by some zealot nut job in a cultural backwater, and so many tragedies man made and natural. Shit, i'd happily put myself in the poor house to help these people. Whereas, yur average billionaire spends a few hundred million for tv ads in an election cycle. sigh. In the meantime, i give what i can. It's not a lot. But hopefully there are a lot of people like me that will give what they can.

[pinboy3niner]

6. The troops, at least, will get complete care from the military and the VA

I've had some experience with this. My facial injuries from Vietnam were treated initially by the Army, which reconstructed half my lower jaw and retired me for partial disability.

As a retiree, I went back to an Army hospital for more plastic surgery. And when the original bone graft failed 7 years later, the Navy, which had been studying combat facial casualties, advised me to relocate across the country from CA to the D.C. area to have the reconstruction re-done at the National Naval Medical Center--which I did.

The Navy removed the original bone graft, did a new bone graft--which failed--and then did another bone graft that was successful.

Since then, the VA has handled all of my followup care.

The Army docs told me that my original 18-month hospitalization and treatment cost at least $250,000 at that time (1969-70). The Navy's surgeries and treatment over a period of 2 years probably added at least that much again, plus relatively modest expenses since then for VA care.

Naturally, none of that cost me a penny.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. And it should not

This Marine will be taken care off.

To repubs he's a spent round and a mooches though.

[Libertas1776]

9. +1

[ChazII]

5. Our society's attitude to the facially different

is fucked up. My son has had 28 years of being called monster, freak and of having folks just stare. What happened to this Marine is a tragedy only made worse by our culture for not accepting them more freely.

[Scuba]

10. We this man (and many others) a debt that can never be repaid.

[alwaysamarinemom]

11. This Marine is my son.

Ten years ago this month is when Aaron was injured in Iraq, basically taking his face. Yes, he had to deal with the stares incurred by his horrific facial scars. Yes, he had to listen to children cry as their parents pulled them away. And yes, the hardest of all was that he had to look in the mirror and accept the reality of what had become his future. But then something amazing happened. Aaron decided he would be better not bitter. He knew that he was still the same man on the inside and he was going to show the world who that person was and what he could do. The opportunities that have been given to Aaron, and I do mean given, would never have taken place if he had not been where he was, when he was on that May day in 2005. His apperance today is remarkable compared to these past pictures. I would add one if I could. Aaron has accomplished so much in the way of fighting for veterans rights. And he is not afraid to voice the political opinions surrounding the war. But, what is done is done. From doing interviews to sitting down with the Sec of Defense {I was there too) and passing bills through his own state legislature, he has not taken one step back. When speaking with US Congressmen, Senators, Sub-Committee's, Presidential Staff, and those in powerful positions, he has been bold and demanding. HE IS A MARINE!
Aaron wrote the foreword in my book that chronicles his recovery of over 60 surgeries with approximately 150 photographs, A Mother's Side of War.
The last sentence he wrote was, "Just as I will always be a marine, she will always be a marine mom."
He fights for all veterans and I fight for their families, the caregivers. [link:http://www.today.com/news/marine-life-after-severe-injury-beauty-who-you-are-2011577222]

[uppityperson]

12. What sweet eyes he has, best wishes to him and others who have been injured

They need more support, more care, in so many ways.