Tyngsboro Marine loses leg, not spirit

[Nambe]

By MATT MURPHY, Sun Staff

In his waking hours, Marine Cpl. Matthew Boisvert remains the brave soldier. It's when the wounded 21-year-old from Tyngsboro closes his eyes that the harsh realities of war haunt him.

Asleep in his hospital bed at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., yesterday evening, Boisvert seemed at rest, but his mother Brenda Newell said her son has nightmares each time he falls asleep, reliving the horror Aug. 17 when a roadside bomb detonated beneath the Humvee he was driving in Fallujah, Iraq.

Doctors had to amputate Boisvert's right leg Tuesday just below the knee cap after the limb, which was nearly severed in the explosion, became severely infected. Boisvert was transferred to intensive care Tuesday when he began running a fever and his blood pressure dropped, but despite their best efforts doctors could not save the leg. ..

"He's been joking around and being funny today. It's made everyone feel a lot better," Newell said from Boisvert's bedside. "But it's a little hard seeing him now, when he's awake he's not upset, but when he falls asleep he relives the accident again and again and again."

And when he wakes up, she said, he often forgets that his leg is gone only to reach for it and realize the truth. ..

[proud patriot]

1. Heartbreaking

:cry:

[phantom power]

2. what a waste

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. This guy gave up his leg because of the chimp's

little "battle". He must have a lot of "spirit" to make up for that leg.

[wicket]

4. This is god damn sad

:(

[KamaAina]

5. He better be careful. They're sending amputees back into combat.

This ain't from the Onion, I'm sorry to say...

http://www.adaptiveadventures.org/rmo04/rozelle.html

Less than two months after Rozelle and his troops crossed into Iraq last spring, an anti-tank mine blew off his right foot. In a flash, the inspirational slogan had literal meaning. "I definitely was baptized in blood and steel," he says, referring to his blood and his wrecked Humvee. A bit of shrapnel remains in his leg.

But his limb, which ends 2 inches above the ankle, is now sheathed in an artificial leg and foot. The foot fits into a standard-issue combat boot. Rozelle, 31, is still in the Army — and he intends to return to Iraq.

In today's military, amputation doesn't automatically mean "medical retirement," a discharge because of a disability. High-tech advances in artificial limbs and improved methods of rehabilitation now allow a significant number of amputees to stay in uniform. Some, like Rozelle, may even return to combat. At least 4,400 military men and women have been wounded in action since the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq last year. More than 120 of them have lost a limb. Some have lost two or three.

"We anticipate that up to 40% of all of those injured will be able to return to active duty," says Chuck Scoville, administrator of Ward 57, the amputee wing at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. It is the military's hub for amputation surgery and rehabilitation. "A lot of the guys want to stay. They're just amazing."

So, exactly how many body parts must one lose before Bush* and Rummy decide you're no longer useful as cannon fodder? These people are sick, Sick, SICK.