Bush visits Idaho track star who lost legs in Iraq

[thedrifter]

Bush visits Idaho track star who lost legs in Iraq
Marine from Twin Falls receives Purple Heart
The Idaho Statesman

TWIN FALLS — President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush personally awarded a Purple Heart to a former Idaho high school track star who lost both his legs in an explosion in Iraq.

Marine Cpl. Travis Greene, who graduated from Twin Falls High School in 1999 and was given a track scholarship to Boise State University, received the medal Wednesday at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where he is being treated.
Greene's parents, Terry and Sue Greene, have been visiting their son daily since mid-December. Terry Greene said nurses adjusted his son's pain medication before the president's visit.

"They turned down Travis' medicine so he could be awake," Terry Greene said Thursday in a phone interview with The Times-News of Twin Falls. "Travis offered his hand to President Bush and President Bush shook his hand. He presented Travis with his Purple Heart and said he was very proud of him and proud of everything they'd done.
"He genuinely cares about these boys and so does Mrs. Bush. He said if there's anything I need, just give the word. The first lady is just awesome. She shook my hand and gave me and Sue a hug."

"It was an honor," said Sue Greene. "They're just genuine people. He gave me a hug and thanked me for being strong."

Travis Greene has had more than 100 blood transfusions since being wounded in Iraq.
"He's had surgeries every other day and it's taken a toll on the man," Terry Greene said. "He's had emergency surgery twice at his bedside because he was too unstable to move. The doctors tell us he is the most critical patient on the intensive care unit. He's a fighter."

Terry Greene said his son is still on a ventilator and will probably have to go on dialysis soon because of the strain on his kidneys.
The 24-year-old, in his third tour of duty in Iraq, was part of a team of Marines who on Dec. 7 were evacuating other Marines who had been injured in an explosion. During that effort, a second explosion occurred. Three other Marines and one Navy corpsman also lost one or both of their legs in the blast.

Besides the Purple Heart, Greene also was presented with the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for actions in another incident on Nov. 1 in Ar Ramadi.

On that day, a vehicle supporting Greene's unit was hit by an improvised explosive device. An ambush consisting of small arms fire, rocket propelled grenades and two more IEDs followed.
During the attack, Greene left his vehicle and returned fire while directing his driver to move the vehicle closer to the casualties. After his own vehicle was hit with an IED, Greene repositioned it and attempted to reach one of the support team's casualties by foot before being forced back by enemy fire. He also disabled another IED.

"Cpl. Greene's initiative, courage and devotion to duty reflected credit upon himself and upheld the highest tradition of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service," according to officials with the Navy and Marine Corps.
"I just was speechless," Terry Greene said. "I just couldn't believe what he had done. He was truly a hero that day."

The Greenes said it's difficult to see their athlete son without legs in a hospital bed.

"You sit here day after day and you go in and see him and it's kind of depressing," Sue Greene said. "We have our moments. When the doctors talk pretty frank to you, it's a hard pill to swallow."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Blood Drive next Friday for injured Marine with local ties
Staff Report
12/23/2005 04:06 pm

Marine Corporal Travis Greene of Twin Falls, ID, the son of former Yerington resident Sue Bingeman Greene, continues to fight for recovery in the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD, after losing both legs to an IED explosion in Ramadi, Iraq, on December 7.

As of Wednesday morning, Greene, who is the grandson of Kathy Bingeman and the nephew of Jodi Lemos, both of Yerington, was on a ventilator and fighting an infection for which he was on antibiotics.

But early that day, Greene, a 1999 Twin Falls High School graduate and a standout on the Bruins’ track team, was awake for a special visit by President George and First Lady Laura Bush, who presented the 24-year-old Marine with a Purple Heart.

In addition, Marine Staff Sergeant Ledford, who was serving with Green in Iraq, visited Travis that day in order to present him with a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for his conduct during an operation in Iraq on November 1, 2005.

The citation read, in part, ‘In support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on November 1 2005, in Ramadi, Iraq, the vehicle of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team supporting Corporal Greene’s Unit was struck by an IED. This triggered a coordinated ambush consisting of small arms fire, rocket-propelled grenade fire and two more IEDs.

‘Without regard for his safety, he exited his vehicle and returned fire while directing his driver to move the vehicle closer to the casualties. When the third IED detonated on his own vehicle, he repositioned it and attempted to reach one of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team’s casualties by foot, until being forced back by enemy fire.

‘Corporal Greene’s initiative, courage and devotion to duty reflected credit upon himself and upheld the highest tradition of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service,” Sergeant Ledford concluded, adding that Greene had pulled the other men to safety, disabled a fourth IED and provided cover for the other men.

And in an effort to reach out to Travis is has battle for recovery, his aunt and grandmother will team up with United Blood Services to host a Benefit Blood Drive for the Marine at the Catholic Center in Yerington next Friday, December 30, from 10:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

According to Lemos, as of Wednesday, Greene has received nearly 200 units of blood since that fateful day in Iraq.

“Being a Marine, it seems to me from all of the news broadcasts about the other Marines, is that it’s just another obstacle,” she said.

“They have such willpower and they are just so strong-physically and mentally.

“God works in mysterious ways, and everything happens for a reason. Every cloud has a silver lining and he will someday be somebody’s inspiration,” she continued, adding that those locals who wish to follow Travis’ progress and/or send well wishes to the Corporal and his family can do so by signing onto the CaringBridge website. To find out more about Greene, or to sign his guestbook, go to the Web site at www.caringbridge.org and click on “visit.” In the first box, type in “travisgreene” and click again on “visit.”

In following the story for the Twin Falls Times-News, reporter Sandy Miller reports that Greene and his family have received an overwhelming outpouring of support from friends and strangers alike on the family’s CaringBridge website.

CaringBridge is a nonprofit organization that offers free, personalized Web sites to those wishing to stay in touch with family and friends during significant life events, and Greene’s progress is updated daily.

According to Miller’s reports, Sue Greene and her husband Terry got the call that every parent of a child in the military dreads on the night of December 7, when a Gunnery Sergeant from the Marine base in Twentynine Palms, CA, told them, ‘Your son has been severely wound, and he’s lost both legs.

“I immediately fell apart,” Sue Greene said, adding, “

“I was just sick. He is so athletic. I thought, ‘How is he going to handle this?’”

Greene was on his third tour of Iraq, stationed in Ar Ramadi, an insurgent hot spot west of Baghdad. He and a few of his fellow Marines with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment were on a Quick Response Unit mission, helping to load some Marines who’d been injured in an explosion into the back of a 7-ton truck. Suddenly, there was a second explosion, which blew off both of Greene’s legs above the knees. Three other Marines and one Navy corpsman also lost one or both of their legs, and two of them were badly burned. They were treated at a battlefield hospital and then taken to Germany and on to Bethesda. By the time Greene arrived back in the United States, he’d already been given 79 units of blood.

His parents arrived at his bedside last Sunday night. They’ve spent just about every waking hour there since.

“We stay by his side,” his mother said. “He sleeps for awhile and comes back. We have lots of support from the other families.”

His fellow Marines and the Navy corpsman are recovering in the same hospital and the families have found strength in each other, his parents said. The Marines have provided the families with a place to stay near the hospital.

Terry Greene said his son is as “feisty” as ever, even though he’s quite medicated. When the head of the trauma team came into his room and asked, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how is your pain?,” the Marine responded by saying, “What kind of dumb-ass question is that?” The Marine finally admitted his pain was about a 4, but nothing like it was when it happened.

A gracious competitor

Jerry Kleinkopf has coached at Twin Falls High School for more than half a century. Now retired, he coaches part-time. He heard about what happened to his former athlete in an e-mail from the school’s secretary.

“I was pretty distressed,” Kleinkopf said. “I still am.”

Greene first hit the track in the spring of his ninth-grade year at Vera C. O’Leary Junior High School. It was obvious from the start he had natural talent.

“He was the first ninth-grader to go to state in a number of years,” his mother said.

He brought that talent with him to Twin Falls High School, where he competed in high hurdles, intermediate hurdles, four-by-two relay and long jump.

“He was the first person I ever had who qualified for the state meet in hurdles as a freshman,” Kleinkopf said. “Then he qualified all four years. He broke the school record in the intermediate hurdles.”

But being a good competitor is about more than winning. At the 1999 state championship, Greene seemed a sure bet for the gold in the 300-meter hurdles, but he ended up with the silver.

“Two weeks before the state meet, he wanted to help the team, score a few points here and a few points there,” Kleinkopf said. “He wanted to long jump and it threw him off his routine. The long jump just took too much out of his legs.”

But Greene was OK with his silver medal. He knew he’d given it his all.

“He didn’t like to lose, but he was gracious when it happened,” Kleinkopf said. “He was a jewel to work with. He’d do anything you asked him to do. He studied the hurdles, the technique. He’d look at film clips. He was always a leader. He had the respect of everyone on the team because he had a good personality and he was popular. He was definitely a leader.”

Greene’s talent, hard work and determination earned him a track scholarship to Boise State University.

From student to Marine

Greene was in his junior year at BSU studying criminal justice when he upped and joined the Marines. His mother was not thrilled.

“I cried,” she said. “It was just before we went to war. I said, ‘Do you realize we’re going to war?’ and he said, ‘Yep.’ I said, ‘Do you realize you’re going to get shot at?’ and he said, ‘Yep.’”

There was nothing she could do about it. Her baby was grown up.

Greene began his third tour of Iraq in September. He is a proud Marine.

“When you said to him, ‘We sure appreciate what you’re doing over there,’ he’d just say ‘I’m doing my job,’” his father said.

Now, Greene is embarking on a new journey — that of getting well. His parents said he’ll probably spend at least another month in Bethesda and will then head off to rehab at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., or another rehabilitation center in Texas. Then he’ll begin the painstaking business of physical therapy and learning to walk again on prostheses.

“They tell us the prosthetics these days are phenomenal,” his mother said. “If he wants to learn to ski, they’ll teach him how to ski.”

And then he might just follow in Kleinkopf’s footsteps.

“I know that his goal is to come back home and be a teacher and be a coach,” his father said. “That’s what he indicated he wanted to do when he got out of the Corps. That’s a very doable goal.”

Kleinkopf thinks it’s a great idea.

“I’d be delighted to have him come back here and help us,” he said.

Greene’s father said the same thing that spirited his son over all those hurdles years ago will surely get him over this one.

“It’s his winning spirit that’s going to help him come through it,” Terry Greene said. “He exceeds at every challenge that’s put before him.”

It was on this past Saturday afternoon that Greene was back on a ventilator in the intensive care ward of the NN MC in Bethesda, after taking a turn for the worse Thursday night when he started bleeding following surgery.

“His blood pressure is maintaining on his own and his kidneys are holding their own,” his parents wrote in their son’s online journal on Saturday.

“He wants to write, but does not have the energy to do it.”

In addition, his older brother Dustin of Meridian, ID, went down to the Boise office of the American Red Cross on Saturday and gave blood in his brother’s name. His in-laws, Bob and Lynn Beauregard, drove from Twin Falls to Boise to join him.

“Everybody has been so helpful and giving,” Dustin Greene said.

“Everybody has just been awesome.”

—This story was compiled via Staff Reports with major contributions from Staff Writer Sandy Miller of Twin Falls (ID) Times-News. Miller can be reached at 208-735-3264, or by e-mail at smiller@magicvalley.com.

Ellie