Photo By Staff Sgt. Aaron Rognstad | The May family takes a minute to pose for an informal family portrait at a welcome...... read more read more
It was a sight that brought smiles not only to friends and coworkers, but also to complete strangers who stood nearby.
As Colorado Army National Guard Sgt. Martin "Marty" May walked into the terminal at Denver International Airport Nov. 25, the crowd before him erupted into applause and a resounding cheer broke the typical white noise in the massive room.
It was all for a man who paid an immense sacrifice for his service to his country.
On Sept. 30, May, a gunner deployed to Ramadi, Iraq with the COARNG's 3rd Battalion, 157th Field Artillery, was shot below his right eye while providing security for a post-reconstruction team. The bullet exited through his left eye.
May was medically evacuated to Joint Base Balad, Iraq, for emergency treatment of his wound, with follow-on treatments at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. Doctors did all they could to save his eye, but were unsuccessful in their efforts.
Clad in his Army Combat Uniform and a recently-acquired black eye patch, May, 43, ascended from an escalator with his wife, Wendy, and his three kids, Dakota, 12; Chelsea, 9; and Dylan, 15 months.
As far as Thanksgivings go, "This is going to rank in the top," May told a multitude of reporters and cameras waiting for him in the terminal. "With my kids and my wife, it couldn't be better."
May left for Iraq in June after he volunteered to fill a spot in the 3-157th — a field artillery battalion that normally operates Multiple Launch Rocket Systems. Instead, the unit was sent to provide security.
"I still feel as though I'm deployed, because they're still there," May said of his fellow Soldiers in the 3-157th. "They're doing their job just as well as I was doing mine. My first concern was for my guys and the people we were protecting at the time. If they would've let me stay, I would've stayed."
But for Wendy, the timing on her husband's return couldn't have been better.
"Wishes and promises made came true today," said Wendy, who wore a T-shirt with the words 'Proud wife of Sgt. Martin May' inscribed on it. "I have a lot to be thankful for, sure; a lot that I think I took for granted before, but this year I don't take anything for granted."
Wendy first heard of her husband's injury when COARNG Soldiers knocked on her door to deliver the news the day after it happened.
"I thought they were delivering a t-shirt to be perfectly honest with you..." Wendy said. "I was told that 'We have some news about your husband,' and my first thought was 'I just talked to him yesterday.' And then they said, 'But he's alive,' and then the waterworks started."
May's return brought a flood of emotions from the crowd at the airport, and even people who had no connection to him showed support for the Soldier wounded in battle.
"I'm from a military family myself and we're big supporters of the military on 92.5 The Wolf," said Jesse James, an announcer on the FM radio station's morning show. "This guy is a hero. He paid the price and we should welcome him home."
Three days later, the May family threw their own welcome home party near their residence in Firestone, Colo. Dozens of May's family, friends and peers turned out to pay their respect to this man; one for whom they all have the utmost praise.
"He's got a heart of gold," said May's uncle, Rick Spadaro. "There's not a thing he wouldn't do for anybody. He's just an amazing individual."
Sgt. Edward Peirolo of the 3-157th, who was deployed with May at the time of his injury, was on mid-tour leave and stopped by to celebrate the return of his friend. He said May's injury was a wake-up call for a lot of the troops in the unit.
"It was a reality check because we had been there a while and it was just a day-to-day routine," Peirolo said. "I think when that happened it kind of woke [Soldiers] up to say, 'Hey we're still in a war zone and that could happen at any time so we better pay attention.'"
The war zone happened to be in the sprawling city of Ramadi. May was providing security for a provincial reconstruction team in the downtown area. As he was escorting the team back to their vehicles, the shot rang out.
"It felt like someone put a piece of concrete on a baseball bat and swung it as hard as they could into my face," May said of the impact. "My left eye was gone."
Even though May's eye was shot out he was still able to make his way back to his vehicle in the middle of an ambush.
After being rushed to a hospital in Ramadi, he was immediately flown 75 miles northeast to Joint Base Balad for emergency treatment.
"They couldn't save my eye. The Oakley's — the glasses — redirected the trajectory of the bullet to go across my face instead of through my skull. Two doctors in Balad worked two-and-a-half hours on my eye trying to save it. They put titanium mesh underneath both of my eyes to hole them up because there is no bone behind them. They also rebuilt as much as they could of my sinuses," said May.
When May woke up from his operation the doctors told him that he is part of only two percent of all Soldiers that survive a gunshot to the head. May said that he felt no pain after the operation — most of the nerves attached to his eye had been destroyed and he now wears a prosthetic eye underneath an eye patch.
May said he feels lucky to be alive and was also relieved to find out that the insurgent that took his eye from him on that hot, fall day was in custody.
At ease and now at home with his loved ones around him, May reflected on the reasons he joined the service in the first place.
"Looking at the economy and the state of the country, I looked at a career in the military as something I could retire from. It was always something that I had wanted to do. I knew I always had the strength to do it and I did it for my family."
May joined the military late in life compared to many. Originally from southern California, he and his family moved to Colorado in 2001. He joined the COARNG in 2006 at 39 years of age.
May is a commercial truck driver in his civilian profession but, due to the nature of his injury, is unsure if he will be able to return to work. He's also uncertain of the future of his military career.
Presently he is attached to a community-based Warrior Transition Unit — part of a program administered by the Army that assists severely wounded Soldiers and families from injury throughout recovery for as long as they need help — and said he will not rest until everyone in the 3-157th comes home safely.
"The Soldiers over there right now are more like my brothers and sisters," May said. "Every day that I wake up I think about them. I worry about them. I think about what they're going through and the day they come home, I'll be standing right there."
| Date Taken: | 11.25.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 12.01.2009 18:39 |
| Story ID: | 42224 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 342 |
| Downloads: | 248 |
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