thedrifter
10-06-06, 01:34 PM
Wounded Marine back home
By HILARY BENTMAN
The Intelligencer
Sitting in a recliner in his Richland home, Patrick Kelly looks at his right arm, bandaged and wrapped nearly to the elbow.
He has no feeling in his hand.
Kelly rubs his temple with his left hand.
Even before his tour, the 19-year-old was quiet and reserved. Now, the words are even more difficult to find.
The last month has been rough for him and his family. Four weeks ago, Kelly was patrolling one of the most dangerous roads in the world and walked straight into an explosion.
After only two months serving as a Marine in Iraq, the 2005 Quakertown High School graduate was headed home.
Ironically, the timing could not have been better.
Sitting near him on the sofa, Kelly's wife, Jessica, 21, listens to him talk about the explosion. The couple have been married a year, and she is just days away from giving birth to their first child, a girl, they've decided to name Alexandra.
“It's the silver lining,” says Kelly's mother, Wendy.
The road to Iraq
After graduating high school, Kelly decided to fulfill a childhood dream of joining the military. He chose the Marines. It was the “most challenging,” he said.
But he had no illusions.
He knew enlisting during wartime meant he would more than likely be sent to Iraq. He also quickly learned of the dangers. Two weeks before he left for boot camp, his friend and fellow Marine, Lance Cpl. Robert Mininger, 21, of Hilltown, was killed in June 2005 after a bomb exploded near his Humvee outside Fallujah.
After months of training in North and South Carolina, Kelly left for Iraq in July. He was stationed between Ramadi and Fallujah. His main mission was “to watch a road,” he said.
It's a dangerous stretch, dubbed Route Michigan. It is frequently the place to find roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices.
Kelly endured extreme heat — days of 115 degrees, carrying 200 pounds of gear. The heat made it difficult to eat, and he lost 30 pounds.
When not patrolling the road, Kelly and his unit raided houses and handed out soccer balls to children. But the Iraqi people he has met do not like the military presence.
“They stare at you. They didn't want to help us. They wanted all Americans out of there,” said Kelly, who speaks candidly about his time in the Middle East. “I didn't trust any of them.”
Back at home, his family worried.
“I don't sleep much. I wait for the phone call,” said his mom. “I just pray.”
“One day at a time,” piped in Jessica, who carried a cell phone wherever she went so as not to miss his call.
Kelly was able to talk to his family on average once a week, unless his unit was deployed on a mission, which may have kept him away for 20 days at a time.
Sept. 10, 2006
It was a Sunday. Kelly's unit had just finished raiding a house when they came under fire. Someone was shooting at them from a car.
Half the patrol went to chase down the shooter while Kelly and the others crossed Route Michigan. Kelly was at the back of the pack with the unit's interpreter.
Six feet from a ditch, it went off. It was an IED.
Kelly flew forward.
“I was in shock. I didn't feel any pain.”
Conscious the whole time, he began feeling for his limbs. He was put in a helicopter and flown to a nearby medical hospital. He had shrapnel in his arm and leg and underwent two surgeries in Iraq before being flown to Germany.
He was able to get hold of his family. “He kept saying "I didn't lose my hand,' ” said Jessica.
By the Friday after the explosion, he was back in the United States at a medical hospital in Bethesda, Md..
Three more surgeries.
This time pins and screws were put in his arm. His nerves are damaged.
Kelly finally made it back to Richland this week.
“It's a relief. I don't have a sick feeling in my stomach all the time,” said Wendy.
Her son will be home for a month while he recuperates. The pins and screws will eventually be removed, and after physical therapy the doctors expect him to make a full recovery. He could potentially return to active duty. He has 21/2 years left of his four-year commitment to the Marines. He could go back two more times, he said.
“Part of me does (want to go back), and part of me doesn't,” Kelly said. “My friends are there.”
It is this camaraderie that compels him to watch television for news of his unit. His wife tries not to watch.
Before he left for Iraq, “I didn't think we should be there at all. Now, I think we should finish,” said Kelly.
He wants the nation's leaders to step up recruiting for the Iraqi army and set a time for troop withdrawal. A timetable would help boost morale for men and women serving, he said.
Hilary Bentman can be reached at (215) 538-6380 or hbentman@phillyBurbs.com.
October 6, 2006 8:57 AM
Ellie
By HILARY BENTMAN
The Intelligencer
Sitting in a recliner in his Richland home, Patrick Kelly looks at his right arm, bandaged and wrapped nearly to the elbow.
He has no feeling in his hand.
Kelly rubs his temple with his left hand.
Even before his tour, the 19-year-old was quiet and reserved. Now, the words are even more difficult to find.
The last month has been rough for him and his family. Four weeks ago, Kelly was patrolling one of the most dangerous roads in the world and walked straight into an explosion.
After only two months serving as a Marine in Iraq, the 2005 Quakertown High School graduate was headed home.
Ironically, the timing could not have been better.
Sitting near him on the sofa, Kelly's wife, Jessica, 21, listens to him talk about the explosion. The couple have been married a year, and she is just days away from giving birth to their first child, a girl, they've decided to name Alexandra.
“It's the silver lining,” says Kelly's mother, Wendy.
The road to Iraq
After graduating high school, Kelly decided to fulfill a childhood dream of joining the military. He chose the Marines. It was the “most challenging,” he said.
But he had no illusions.
He knew enlisting during wartime meant he would more than likely be sent to Iraq. He also quickly learned of the dangers. Two weeks before he left for boot camp, his friend and fellow Marine, Lance Cpl. Robert Mininger, 21, of Hilltown, was killed in June 2005 after a bomb exploded near his Humvee outside Fallujah.
After months of training in North and South Carolina, Kelly left for Iraq in July. He was stationed between Ramadi and Fallujah. His main mission was “to watch a road,” he said.
It's a dangerous stretch, dubbed Route Michigan. It is frequently the place to find roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices.
Kelly endured extreme heat — days of 115 degrees, carrying 200 pounds of gear. The heat made it difficult to eat, and he lost 30 pounds.
When not patrolling the road, Kelly and his unit raided houses and handed out soccer balls to children. But the Iraqi people he has met do not like the military presence.
“They stare at you. They didn't want to help us. They wanted all Americans out of there,” said Kelly, who speaks candidly about his time in the Middle East. “I didn't trust any of them.”
Back at home, his family worried.
“I don't sleep much. I wait for the phone call,” said his mom. “I just pray.”
“One day at a time,” piped in Jessica, who carried a cell phone wherever she went so as not to miss his call.
Kelly was able to talk to his family on average once a week, unless his unit was deployed on a mission, which may have kept him away for 20 days at a time.
Sept. 10, 2006
It was a Sunday. Kelly's unit had just finished raiding a house when they came under fire. Someone was shooting at them from a car.
Half the patrol went to chase down the shooter while Kelly and the others crossed Route Michigan. Kelly was at the back of the pack with the unit's interpreter.
Six feet from a ditch, it went off. It was an IED.
Kelly flew forward.
“I was in shock. I didn't feel any pain.”
Conscious the whole time, he began feeling for his limbs. He was put in a helicopter and flown to a nearby medical hospital. He had shrapnel in his arm and leg and underwent two surgeries in Iraq before being flown to Germany.
He was able to get hold of his family. “He kept saying "I didn't lose my hand,' ” said Jessica.
By the Friday after the explosion, he was back in the United States at a medical hospital in Bethesda, Md..
Three more surgeries.
This time pins and screws were put in his arm. His nerves are damaged.
Kelly finally made it back to Richland this week.
“It's a relief. I don't have a sick feeling in my stomach all the time,” said Wendy.
Her son will be home for a month while he recuperates. The pins and screws will eventually be removed, and after physical therapy the doctors expect him to make a full recovery. He could potentially return to active duty. He has 21/2 years left of his four-year commitment to the Marines. He could go back two more times, he said.
“Part of me does (want to go back), and part of me doesn't,” Kelly said. “My friends are there.”
It is this camaraderie that compels him to watch television for news of his unit. His wife tries not to watch.
Before he left for Iraq, “I didn't think we should be there at all. Now, I think we should finish,” said Kelly.
He wants the nation's leaders to step up recruiting for the Iraqi army and set a time for troop withdrawal. A timetable would help boost morale for men and women serving, he said.
Hilary Bentman can be reached at (215) 538-6380 or hbentman@phillyBurbs.com.
October 6, 2006 8:57 AM
Ellie