The San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper has published a multi-part article about a US Marine scout-sniper, Sgt. Collin Raaz, who was critically injured in an IED explosion in Afghanistan in June last year. It chronicles his long journey of healing and renewal. Here's an excerpt from the first article in the series.
Click. Boom.
Sgt. Collin Raaz, a 24-year-old scout sniper, has heard that terrible sound before. Like most Marine infantrymen, his two tours in Afghanistan have included several run-ins with the insurgent weapon of choice — the improvised explosive device.
. . .
This time, Raaz is the one at the center of the explosion.
He steps on a pressure-plate trigger hidden in the dirt. Two pieces of metal connect, allowing current from a small battery to detonate the device. A blast wave cuts through the air traveling about 1,600 feet per second. Then whatever is close by — mud, shrapnel, slivers of bone or shreds of camouflage uniform — is sucked into the vacuum.
Goddamit, Raaz thinks, as his body flies through the air. He knows exactly what has happened. I can't believe I just [expletive] stepped on an IED.
He lands face-down in the muddy shallows of a canal. At the base of his spine, the sacral pelvic region is fractured. It will mend in time. One look at what is left of his legs, however, and Raaz knows they cannot be saved.
Raaz was a cross-country runner — fastest in his platoon — and a sniper team leader with the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, a Twentynine Palms infantry unit that deployed in April.
That life ends on this day, June 15, 2011.
There's more at the link.
The articles in the series are:
Chapter 1: The bomb
Chapter 2: War-zone care
Battlefield medicine history
Chapter 3: San Diego hospital ward
Chapter 4: Physical, mental rehabilitation
Chapter 5: First steps
Chapter 6: Walking tall
Chapter 7: A reunion of Marine brothers
Chapter 8: Prospects after military service
A long future
How the story was reported
Chapter 2: War-zone care
Battlefield medicine history
Chapter 3: San Diego hospital ward
Chapter 4: Physical, mental rehabilitation
Chapter 5: First steps
Chapter 6: Walking tall
Chapter 7: A reunion of Marine brothers
Chapter 8: Prospects after military service
A long future
How the story was reported
I highly recommend taking the time to read them all. Sgt. Raaz has quite a story to tell.
I hope he'll allow this veteran of another war, on another continent, before he was born, to say simply: Sergeant, you did well. If we ever meet, the beer's on me.
Peter
2 comments:
Good and FAIR report on the Sgt, and I'll buy the second round.
Count me in on the beer buying. I'll throw in a couple of shots of taquila too!
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