thedrifter
12-03-06, 07:51 AM
Marine is facing the fight of his life
Sunday, December 3, 2006
By Brad Flory
bflory@citpat.com -- 768-4925
Lance Cpl. Timothy Lang manned the turret atop a Humvee patrolling Fallujah, Iraq, when a roadside bomb made him a casualty of war.
"The blast was so loud I
couldn't even hear it," said Lang, 21, of Spring Arbor Township. "I could only feel it. It made my stomach sink."
Four other Marines were inside his Humvee when the bomb went off Oct. 15. Two would die.
The blast threw Lang about 15 feet from the vehicle, which ended up on its side.
"I thought I was dying the whole time," Lang said. "Then I snapped to and realized where I was. I crawled back to the Humvee.
"I heard my buddy Josh Hines yelling, 'Get me out of here, Lang. Get me out.' I tried to put my shoulder into the turret but I could not budge it."
Other Marines in the seven-vehicle patrol rushed to the wreckage and pulled Lang to a safer position.
"They wiped my mouth off and gave me something to drink. That's when I knew I was going to live. It was just going to suck for awhile.
"My leg was pointing in about eight different directions and my ankle was pointing off to the side. I wondered why my heel burned." His heel was blown off.
The Marine who yelled for help, Lance Cpl. Joshua Hines, 26, of Olney, Ill., died. Also killed was Sgt. Brock Babb, 40, of Evansville, Ind. Lang's best friend on the mission, Lance Cpl. Joshua Bleill, 29, of Greenfield, Ind., survived but had both legs amputated.
Six weeks after the blast, Lang, a patient at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., has endured 27 surgeries to save his right leg.
He has a long haul ahead.
"It's still touch-and-go," he said. "If there is an infection, I could lose the leg at any time."
Lang is the second of 12 children born to Chuck and Lynda Lang.
After graduating from Jackson Christian High School in 2003, he attended Jackson Community College and worked at Finley's American Grill.
Thirteen months ago, he joined Charlie Company, a Lansing-based Marine Corps Reserve combat unit officially known as Company C, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division.
"He wanted to defend our country against terrorists," said Chuck Lang, a system controller at Consumers Energy and pastor at Maple Grove Baptist Church.
Charlie Company's more than 100 Marines mobilized for war June 6. After training in California, they reached Iraq three weeks before Lang was hurt.
Word of the injury reached his family indirectly.
"A nurse, obviously thinking he was dying, handed him a cell phone and asked if there was anybody he wanted to get a hold of before it was too late," Chuck Lang said.
The wounded Marine could not connect to his family but managed to reach his girlfriend, Sarah Williams of Gregory.
"I was really excited at first because I hadn't heard from him for so long," said Williams, 18, a student at Eastern Michigan University. "Then he told me he was in the hospital. He said something was wrong with his leg and foot."
Tense hours passed waiting for official word through military channels.
"We didn't find out until midnight, 18 hours later, that he was still alive," Chuck Lang said
Timothy Lang received medical care in Fallujah, Baghdad and Germany before reaching Bethesda on Oct. 22.
A series of operations was needed to repair his shattered leg and foot with screws and plates.
"Day after day I just went back for more surgery," he said.
Doctors hope to transfer Lang to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Ann Arbor on Tuesday or Wednesday.
After about six weeks in Ann Arbor, he will transfer back to Bethesda for surgery to rebuild his missing heel with bone from his hip.
Lang is in pain and has a long recovery ahead, but he also has reason to be thankful.
"Two people died and my best buddy lost both legs," Lang said. "I feel very fortunate this is all that happened to me.
"Tell my friends back home I'm OK."
Ellie
Sunday, December 3, 2006
By Brad Flory
bflory@citpat.com -- 768-4925
Lance Cpl. Timothy Lang manned the turret atop a Humvee patrolling Fallujah, Iraq, when a roadside bomb made him a casualty of war.
"The blast was so loud I
couldn't even hear it," said Lang, 21, of Spring Arbor Township. "I could only feel it. It made my stomach sink."
Four other Marines were inside his Humvee when the bomb went off Oct. 15. Two would die.
The blast threw Lang about 15 feet from the vehicle, which ended up on its side.
"I thought I was dying the whole time," Lang said. "Then I snapped to and realized where I was. I crawled back to the Humvee.
"I heard my buddy Josh Hines yelling, 'Get me out of here, Lang. Get me out.' I tried to put my shoulder into the turret but I could not budge it."
Other Marines in the seven-vehicle patrol rushed to the wreckage and pulled Lang to a safer position.
"They wiped my mouth off and gave me something to drink. That's when I knew I was going to live. It was just going to suck for awhile.
"My leg was pointing in about eight different directions and my ankle was pointing off to the side. I wondered why my heel burned." His heel was blown off.
The Marine who yelled for help, Lance Cpl. Joshua Hines, 26, of Olney, Ill., died. Also killed was Sgt. Brock Babb, 40, of Evansville, Ind. Lang's best friend on the mission, Lance Cpl. Joshua Bleill, 29, of Greenfield, Ind., survived but had both legs amputated.
Six weeks after the blast, Lang, a patient at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., has endured 27 surgeries to save his right leg.
He has a long haul ahead.
"It's still touch-and-go," he said. "If there is an infection, I could lose the leg at any time."
Lang is the second of 12 children born to Chuck and Lynda Lang.
After graduating from Jackson Christian High School in 2003, he attended Jackson Community College and worked at Finley's American Grill.
Thirteen months ago, he joined Charlie Company, a Lansing-based Marine Corps Reserve combat unit officially known as Company C, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division.
"He wanted to defend our country against terrorists," said Chuck Lang, a system controller at Consumers Energy and pastor at Maple Grove Baptist Church.
Charlie Company's more than 100 Marines mobilized for war June 6. After training in California, they reached Iraq three weeks before Lang was hurt.
Word of the injury reached his family indirectly.
"A nurse, obviously thinking he was dying, handed him a cell phone and asked if there was anybody he wanted to get a hold of before it was too late," Chuck Lang said.
The wounded Marine could not connect to his family but managed to reach his girlfriend, Sarah Williams of Gregory.
"I was really excited at first because I hadn't heard from him for so long," said Williams, 18, a student at Eastern Michigan University. "Then he told me he was in the hospital. He said something was wrong with his leg and foot."
Tense hours passed waiting for official word through military channels.
"We didn't find out until midnight, 18 hours later, that he was still alive," Chuck Lang said
Timothy Lang received medical care in Fallujah, Baghdad and Germany before reaching Bethesda on Oct. 22.
A series of operations was needed to repair his shattered leg and foot with screws and plates.
"Day after day I just went back for more surgery," he said.
Doctors hope to transfer Lang to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Ann Arbor on Tuesday or Wednesday.
After about six weeks in Ann Arbor, he will transfer back to Bethesda for surgery to rebuild his missing heel with bone from his hip.
Lang is in pain and has a long recovery ahead, but he also has reason to be thankful.
"Two people died and my best buddy lost both legs," Lang said. "I feel very fortunate this is all that happened to me.
"Tell my friends back home I'm OK."
Ellie