thedrifter
09-17-05, 11:45 AM
Marine lost hands, not fighting spirit
By: DARRIN MORTENSON - Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON ---- Strong, confident and quiet, Marine Sgt. James "Eddie" Wright proudly states that he's an instructor of martial arts and hand-to-hand combat.
Nothing shocking, perhaps, until one discovers that Wright has no hands.
Since he lost both arms just below the elbow in an explosion during combat last year in Fallujah, Iraq, Wright says that he has taken on new challenges as a way to overcome his loss, and says he hopes to inspire other Marines to carry on and encourages the community to help wounded Marines and their families do the same.
"I feel lucky," he said Thursday at Camp Pendleton's Del Mar Boat Basin. "I'm just glad to be alive. It could've been a lot worse."
Wright, a 29-year-old Seattle native who served with Camp Pendleton's 1st Reconnaissance Battalion in Iraq, now teaches hand-to-hand combat at the Marines' elite martial arts school at Quantico, Va..
He was at Camp Pendleton on Thursday to receive a 28-foot speed boat custom-built for him by El Cajon-based Ultra Custom Boats as part of a reality television show called "Rock the Boat." The show is due to air in November on the Outdoor Life Network.
While Wright's story has recently garnered national media attention, he's had a year of celebrity among Marines.
On April 7, 2004, Wright's convoy was attacked with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. When one of the grenades exploded against his Humvee, Wright quickly recovered his senses only to discover he had been hit.
"I opened my eyes and looked at my hands and I saw they were both blown off," Wright told the Marine Corps Times last year in an article that highlighted Wright's composure.
With his hands gone and left femur fractured and exposed through his torn leg, he calmly directed younger Marines to render him first aid, to get him and other survivors out of the enemy kill zone and to counterattack the insurgent machine gunners who had ambushed them.
He received a Bronze Star with a combat distinction for being the "epitome of composure" and for helping wipe out the insurgent positions, according to his award citation.
After recovering in Bethesda, Md., and then at a special ward in Washington for amputees, Wright said he was motivated by the many other Marines and soldiers who bounced back after being wounded.
"There were guys at the hospital way worse than me," he said in his reserved tone.
After therapy and treatment, he now wears prosthetic arms with hooks for hands.
As he chummed around with the boat makers and film crew at Camp Pendleton on Thursday, he grasped a bottle of water, shook hands and scratched his head with his new appendages as if they were his own.
Producers for the show said they picked Wright as a recipient of the boat because of his heroism, not his handicap.
Dan Peddy, a former Marine and friend of the crew, said he helped the show find Wright as a candidate for the boat.
"For him to show that sort of initiative," Peddy said of Wright's cool-headedness on the battlefield, "just underscored that he was a deserving Marine.
"He was reluctant, though," Peddy said. "He said, 'What about all the other Marines who were out there and did more than me? They don't get anything.' "
Wright seemed humbled by the boat, a semi-surprise the tattooed and tank-topped film crew arranged for him outside the Del Mar boat house Thursday.
He wore an uneasy smile, almost a straight face, as the boat was wheeled out by Ultra owner John West.
He cautiously approached the shiny blue hull like it might bite him.
"Yeah this is nice. I'm gonna live on this thing," Wright said quietly, warming up after checking out his boat.
The 425-horsepower boat was custom-airbrushed with scuba-fitted skeletons ---- a stylized Marine reconnaissance team ---- swimming through blue flames with Wright at the lead ---- his new prosthetic arms with hooks in full stroke.
The powerful speed, ski and scuba vessel was rigged with voice-controlled navigational and operational gear that can be operated by Wright alone.
Wright soon eased up with the rowdy TV crew of 20- and 30somethings, who said they had gotten to know him well over the monthlong project and were moved by his positive spirit.
"He's just so humble," said "Rock the Boat" producer Deirdre Gurney. "All he was worried about the whole time was that he didn't deserve it. 'What about the other Marines?' To hear him say that ... It's from the heart. He means it."
Wright, who said he wants to remain in the Marine Corps, said he will use the boat as a way to help raise awareness and donations for the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund and other charities that give to wounded Marines and their families.
"I don't feel like I deserve it," he said, as the crew prepared to lower his new boat in the water for a test ride Thursday.
"Like any other Marine would tell you, they just do what they do. That's our job," he said. "So I still can't help feeling a little strange about all this."
Contact staff writer Darrin Mortenson at (760) 740-5442 or dmortenson@nctimes.com.
Ellie
By: DARRIN MORTENSON - Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON ---- Strong, confident and quiet, Marine Sgt. James "Eddie" Wright proudly states that he's an instructor of martial arts and hand-to-hand combat.
Nothing shocking, perhaps, until one discovers that Wright has no hands.
Since he lost both arms just below the elbow in an explosion during combat last year in Fallujah, Iraq, Wright says that he has taken on new challenges as a way to overcome his loss, and says he hopes to inspire other Marines to carry on and encourages the community to help wounded Marines and their families do the same.
"I feel lucky," he said Thursday at Camp Pendleton's Del Mar Boat Basin. "I'm just glad to be alive. It could've been a lot worse."
Wright, a 29-year-old Seattle native who served with Camp Pendleton's 1st Reconnaissance Battalion in Iraq, now teaches hand-to-hand combat at the Marines' elite martial arts school at Quantico, Va..
He was at Camp Pendleton on Thursday to receive a 28-foot speed boat custom-built for him by El Cajon-based Ultra Custom Boats as part of a reality television show called "Rock the Boat." The show is due to air in November on the Outdoor Life Network.
While Wright's story has recently garnered national media attention, he's had a year of celebrity among Marines.
On April 7, 2004, Wright's convoy was attacked with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. When one of the grenades exploded against his Humvee, Wright quickly recovered his senses only to discover he had been hit.
"I opened my eyes and looked at my hands and I saw they were both blown off," Wright told the Marine Corps Times last year in an article that highlighted Wright's composure.
With his hands gone and left femur fractured and exposed through his torn leg, he calmly directed younger Marines to render him first aid, to get him and other survivors out of the enemy kill zone and to counterattack the insurgent machine gunners who had ambushed them.
He received a Bronze Star with a combat distinction for being the "epitome of composure" and for helping wipe out the insurgent positions, according to his award citation.
After recovering in Bethesda, Md., and then at a special ward in Washington for amputees, Wright said he was motivated by the many other Marines and soldiers who bounced back after being wounded.
"There were guys at the hospital way worse than me," he said in his reserved tone.
After therapy and treatment, he now wears prosthetic arms with hooks for hands.
As he chummed around with the boat makers and film crew at Camp Pendleton on Thursday, he grasped a bottle of water, shook hands and scratched his head with his new appendages as if they were his own.
Producers for the show said they picked Wright as a recipient of the boat because of his heroism, not his handicap.
Dan Peddy, a former Marine and friend of the crew, said he helped the show find Wright as a candidate for the boat.
"For him to show that sort of initiative," Peddy said of Wright's cool-headedness on the battlefield, "just underscored that he was a deserving Marine.
"He was reluctant, though," Peddy said. "He said, 'What about all the other Marines who were out there and did more than me? They don't get anything.' "
Wright seemed humbled by the boat, a semi-surprise the tattooed and tank-topped film crew arranged for him outside the Del Mar boat house Thursday.
He wore an uneasy smile, almost a straight face, as the boat was wheeled out by Ultra owner John West.
He cautiously approached the shiny blue hull like it might bite him.
"Yeah this is nice. I'm gonna live on this thing," Wright said quietly, warming up after checking out his boat.
The 425-horsepower boat was custom-airbrushed with scuba-fitted skeletons ---- a stylized Marine reconnaissance team ---- swimming through blue flames with Wright at the lead ---- his new prosthetic arms with hooks in full stroke.
The powerful speed, ski and scuba vessel was rigged with voice-controlled navigational and operational gear that can be operated by Wright alone.
Wright soon eased up with the rowdy TV crew of 20- and 30somethings, who said they had gotten to know him well over the monthlong project and were moved by his positive spirit.
"He's just so humble," said "Rock the Boat" producer Deirdre Gurney. "All he was worried about the whole time was that he didn't deserve it. 'What about the other Marines?' To hear him say that ... It's from the heart. He means it."
Wright, who said he wants to remain in the Marine Corps, said he will use the boat as a way to help raise awareness and donations for the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund and other charities that give to wounded Marines and their families.
"I don't feel like I deserve it," he said, as the crew prepared to lower his new boat in the water for a test ride Thursday.
"Like any other Marine would tell you, they just do what they do. That's our job," he said. "So I still can't help feeling a little strange about all this."
Contact staff writer Darrin Mortenson at (760) 740-5442 or dmortenson@nctimes.com.
Ellie