Photo By Liesl Marelli | Army Staff Sgt. Luke Wilson, 29, from Hermiston, Ore., who lost his left leg above the...... read more read more
CAMP RAMADI, Iraq - Thanks to a new program, troops injured in combat are able to return to the combat zone and see the country that changed their lives. Along the way, they can hope to find the closure they need after suffering life-changing injuries. Among those returning are five amputees, one service member blinded from an improvised explosive device and one who, for a period of time, was unable to read, write and communicate due to a traumatic brain injury.
Operation Proper Exit, a program co-sponsored by the United Service Organizations and Troops First Foundation, is a week-long event for these seven wounded warriors, who get the opportunity to find closure or peace with a traumatic experience that redefined their lives, physically, emotionally and mentally.
Rick Kell, director of the Troops First Foundation, said the program promotes a speedy recovery for service members injured in combat so they don't have to wait years to find closure on an incident.
Returning wounded warriors included Cpl. Craig Chavez of Temecula, Calif., Marine Sgt. John Eubanks of Atlanta, Ga., Army Sgt. John Hyland of Charlotte, N.C., Sgt. 1st Class Josh Olson of Spokane, Wash., Sgt. Eric Payton of Milford, N.J., 1st Lt. Ed Salau of Stella, N.C., and Staff Sgt. Luke Wilson of Hermiston, Oreg.
Salau, a now medically retired North Carolina Guardsman, lost his leg from an ambush east of Tirkit, Iraq, Nov. 14, 2004, said he was grateful for the opportunity to return for closure.
It was considered a relatively routine patrol for his platoon that had been deployed for 10-months. Little did Salau know that Nov. 14, 2004 would be the day his new life began. Two well-aimed rocket-propelled grenades penetrated their Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
"[Insurgents] in our area of responsibility couldn't shoot," he said in awe over two RPGs being aimed with such precision.
It was shortly after the ambush that he realized his leg was severely severed and dangling. The radio operator threw him his belt so he could apply a tourniquet that kept him from bleeding out. He was medically evacuated and within two days found himself at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
A little more than five months after the ambush, Salau was medically retired from the National Guard and tried returning back to the life he left before the war. His job as a safety officer for the Department of the Navy was waiting for him; his superiors had even promoted him twice during his absence.
Upon his return, he met new challenges. "I was learning my leg and how to walk," said Salau, who describes his office as being accommodating to his new lifestyle and challenges.
"They were sensitive to my pride," Salue said, while refusing to use a wheelchair. His job was tailored to more of an office job. He joked, "The cubicle walls beat me up worse than the insurgency could."
At 34-years-old with a master's degree, Salau decided to venture closer to his new lifestyle as a combat-injured veteran and began working as an advocate for veterans' benefits.
He heard the Marine Corps was expanding their wounded warrior program a couple years after being a veterans' advocate and thus began his work with the Wounded warrior Battalion - East at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Getting involved with Operation Proper Exit was happenstance. While on vacation with his wife to Ireland, Salau met Rick Kell, director of the Troops First Foundation, during a golf outing. He joined a group to make a foursome for a round of golf and was able to chat more with Kell.
"By the second hole, I'm on the phone with Rick's daughter. I'm going to Iraq," said Salau, who then realized he'd have to break the news to his kids.
Salau said his children, daughter Kelli, 18, and son Ethan, 16, "have grown through the rehabilitation process with me so it wasn't hard for them to understand my need to come back. We each have a burning desire to know. We want to know we didn't lose a guy in vain." Salau thought this was true about all combat veterans, whether it was Vietnam, Korea or Iraq.
"When our C130 landed in Baghdad, we didn't know what to expect. Col. Sutherland said, 'listen, keep your guard up. But know that every place you go in Iraq will be the safest place in Iraq,'" said Salue who trusted Sutherland's words. Sutherland understood the life-altering experiences in war. The former brigade commander in Diyala, Iraq, may not have been physically injured but lost more than 100 troops during their long tour from late 2006 to early 2008.
Being in Iraq again has allowed Salau to see the progress first hand. "I'm not sure you see it," Salau said about people's experiences as they understand the war in Iraq. "You've seen it," he said to Sgt. Jason Sorenson, a medic assigned to 3rd Battalion, 157th Field Artillery, who was one of his escorts at Camp Ramadi, Iraq. Salau explained that Soldiers like Sorenson, who had deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom I and, deployed again in 2009, could see the significant differences between both tours.
"Never in a million years - as much as we were doing, as hard as we were working - did I see this happening," Salau boasted about the progress he witnessed. "We got off the plane in Baghdad with no vest and no helmet. My first 12 hours in Iraq I had no gun, no gear - I'm just a tourist," he said, almost perplexed at how different the atmosphere in Iraq is now compared with 2004.
"There were no shootings, bombs or mortars. It was quiet," he said. "The only fear I have in this country is that a Soldier might get hurt protecting us while we are here, and I couldn't live with that."
The wounded troops were able to travel to different bases in Iraq and Salau returned to a location to meet his fellow currently deployed North Carolina Guardsmen, who took photos of him getting off the helicopter that brought them in.
"My guys were taking pictures at [Forward Operating Base] Falcon," he said about his friends who awaited his arrival and then forwarded the pictures onto his family. "My son had a picture of me coming off the helicopter. I've got my vest, helmet and bag."
At that point in his story, Salau paused, looked away and did his best to hold back the tears welling in his eyes. "Must be the dust," joked Salau .
The caption for his photo posted on his son's Facebook page of him getting out of the aircraft read, "Dad walking to his guys, instead of being carried. Inspiring."
"It made me feel 10 feet tall and bulletproof again," he said about his son's comment.
Salau's Iraq experience through Operation Proper Exit gave him that feeling of infallibility once again. In Balad, Iraq, he had an experience that granted him closure in a way he was unable to when he was medevaced years earlier.
"I went to the hospital in Balad. I walked in [the hospital] and shut the door and then walked back out. The doc didn't have a say; the enemy didn't have a vote," said Salau, who was happy to be back in Iraq and experience it on his own terms. Entering and exiting the hospital on his own accord was monumental for him.
Getting medically evacuated for Soldiers like Salau means one minute being in combat, the next minute being evacuated for medical aid, and as early as hours or a day later, ending up in Germany and on to the continental United States. Following a serious combat injury, a Soldier doesn't get a chance to pack up, say good bye, part with his comrades, and make peace with the reason he is leaving. This is why Salau said something as simple as walking in and out of the hospital in Balad - for the sake of doing it - meant so much to him.
Coming back to Iraq was not only for his benefit, but to help others as well. Before leaving Ramadi, the wounded troops took part in a town hall meeting that was open to U.S. troops based at Camp Ramadi. One-by-one the wounded warriors introduced themselves, described their injuries and their military backgrounds.
It was a healing process for the combat-wounded warriors and also their currently deployed brethren. Salau emphasized to the troops that no matter if they return 100 percent from the battlefield or not that there was one simple truth based on his experience.
"I want you to know that life goes on. That you'll be taken care of," said Salau.
After thanking the Soldiers for their service, the wounded warriors departed Ramadi with a little more closure than they had upon arrival. It may take years to heal their physical wounds but their journey toward emotional and mental recovery is well underway.
| Date Taken: | 10.15.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 10.16.2009 08:07 |
| Story ID: | 40199 |
| Location: | RAMADI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 889 |
| Downloads: | 817 |
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