thedrifter
12-01-06, 06:12 AM
Marine shot in Iraq taken off ventilator
Opening statements concentrate on confinement of 11 foster children
Cindy Leise
The Chronicle-Telegram
Injured Marine Lance Cpl. Colin Smith of Avon Lake reportedly has been taken off a ventilator and has moved his eyes.
Smith, 19, a 2005 graduate of Avon Lake High School, was shot through the head by a sniper Oct. 30 in Iraq and was placed on life support before being flown to Germany and then to a naval hospital in Maryland.
Avon Lake School Superintendent Bob Scott said Wednesday he was updated by a friend of Smith’s mother, Melissa Smith, of LaGrange.
Scott said he does not know the significance of Smith being taken off the ventilator, nor could he say if Smith remains on other life-sustaining equipment.
Smith was listed in critical condition Wednesday at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., according to Petty Officer Matt Bullock. Bullock said he could not release additional information on Smith other than the one-word condition.
The hospital has treated about 2,000 casualties from Iraq.
Smith was shot during a mission in Karma, a city near Fallujah in Anbar Province.
A story in The New York Times several days after the shooting said that Smith was shot after Marines searched homes and found five Kalashnikov assault rifles and bomb components.
The Marines took defensive positions and looked for the sniper but didn’t fire return shots, according to the account.
The platoon swept the nearby houses, questioned five Iraqi men and took one into custody before returning to their outpost base.
Those who know Smith continue to worry about him and have contacted The Chronicle, including several local Marines who served with him or call him a friend.
The newspaper also has been contacted by Marine Capt. Timothy J. Collins, who helped rescue Smith after he was shot.
“We were on the helicopter crew that picked him up right after he was shot,” Collins wrote.
“Our primary mission (UH-1N Huey) is to act as a gunship, so we don’t do casevacs (casualty evacuations) very often, if ever.
“It was an extreme situation that needed urgent attention,” he wrote.
“Needless to say, the four of us (two pilots, two door gunners) would really like to know what happened to Colin.”
Ellie
Opening statements concentrate on confinement of 11 foster children
Cindy Leise
The Chronicle-Telegram
Injured Marine Lance Cpl. Colin Smith of Avon Lake reportedly has been taken off a ventilator and has moved his eyes.
Smith, 19, a 2005 graduate of Avon Lake High School, was shot through the head by a sniper Oct. 30 in Iraq and was placed on life support before being flown to Germany and then to a naval hospital in Maryland.
Avon Lake School Superintendent Bob Scott said Wednesday he was updated by a friend of Smith’s mother, Melissa Smith, of LaGrange.
Scott said he does not know the significance of Smith being taken off the ventilator, nor could he say if Smith remains on other life-sustaining equipment.
Smith was listed in critical condition Wednesday at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., according to Petty Officer Matt Bullock. Bullock said he could not release additional information on Smith other than the one-word condition.
The hospital has treated about 2,000 casualties from Iraq.
Smith was shot during a mission in Karma, a city near Fallujah in Anbar Province.
A story in The New York Times several days after the shooting said that Smith was shot after Marines searched homes and found five Kalashnikov assault rifles and bomb components.
The Marines took defensive positions and looked for the sniper but didn’t fire return shots, according to the account.
The platoon swept the nearby houses, questioned five Iraqi men and took one into custody before returning to their outpost base.
Those who know Smith continue to worry about him and have contacted The Chronicle, including several local Marines who served with him or call him a friend.
The newspaper also has been contacted by Marine Capt. Timothy J. Collins, who helped rescue Smith after he was shot.
“We were on the helicopter crew that picked him up right after he was shot,” Collins wrote.
“Our primary mission (UH-1N Huey) is to act as a gunship, so we don’t do casevacs (casualty evacuations) very often, if ever.
“It was an extreme situation that needed urgent attention,” he wrote.
“Needless to say, the four of us (two pilots, two door gunners) would really like to know what happened to Colin.”
Ellie