thedrifter
12-28-06, 08:27 AM
Injury spurs Marine's return to UC
Lindsay McReynolds
Herald-Citizen Staff
PUTNAM COUNTY -- Lance Cpl. George Henry Jr. didn't expect to be home for Christmas.
The 20-year-old Marine from Jackson County wasn't scheduled to return home from Iraq until late spring.
But serious injuries resulting from his truck being hit by an explosive device in Fallujah in October prompted his early return home as he spent several weeks in hospitals, first in Iraq and Germany, then in Bethesda, Md., at the United Naval Medical Center.
Henry returned home in the first part of December and recently told the Herald-Citizen the story of what happened to him from his father's home in Putnam County, where he now spends half his time as he recovers from his injuries, and the other half of the time with his mother, Sabrina Hamlet, at her home in Jackson County.
Henry joined the U.S. Marines and went to boot camp just one month after graduating from high school in 2004.
After graduating from boot camp and additional training, Henry checked into a Marine unit in Nashville and began drilling one weekend a month in late 2004.
"I found out in January 2005 that I was getting deployed," Henry said.
Some months later, Henry began training for Iraq in California, where he spent several months before leaving the country on Sept. 25 for Frankfort, Germany.
From Germany, Henry traveled to Kuwait before beginning his service in Fallujah, Iraq, where his unit served in a variety of capacities.
On his very first patrol, Henry had been out for several hours when a call came in about an IED or improvised explosive device. Henry later shot and killed a man in the suspected vehicle.
"He was right in front of us," he said. "I gave him a warning shot, and he kept coming. I gave another, and he hit the brakes but didn't stop. I shot him through the windshield."
Less than a month later, Henry nearly lost his own life.
"The day we got hit was an unlucky day," he said. "We were at the wrong place at the wrong time."
That day, Oct. 23, Henry and several other Marines were conducting snap VCPs (vehicle check points) which involve quickly inspecting suspicious vehicles.
"There were two different teams of three trucks," he said. "One asked us to come over and help. We were coming down the main road and took a right and a bomb went off.
"It blew the truck apart," he recalled.
Two of those traveling with Lance Cpl. Henry, 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Richard Buerstetta of Franklin and 22-year-old Lance Cpl. Tyler Ray Overstreet were killed.
Vehicle commander Sgt. Joshua Thomas and Lance Cpl. Frazier, along with Lance Cpl. Henry, were severely injured.
The bomb, an IED, had exploded under the seat of Lance Cpl. Buerstetta.
"I could taste the smoke, smell it, see it," Lance Cpl. Henry recalled. "I flew backward. I remember screaming. I didn't know I was flying until I hit the ground.
"I remember taking my kevlar (helmet) off and looking around," he said. "I was in this open area, which is not smart because usually, after a bomb goes off, they'll ambush you.
"I looked down at my leg, and my leg was curved with my boot on top of my knee," he said. It was curved like a 'U.'
"I could hear everyone yelling, 'Where's Henry?' because it (the blast) blew me 40 feet from the truck," he said.
A medic came over and grabbed Lance Cpl. Henry's leg and straightened it out, which caused him to scream out in pain.
"I heard them say KIA (killed in action)," he said. "I knew it was from my truck. I knew it was two of my buddies. I was so mad. I was just scared. I had no idea who was killed."
Other Marines placed Lance Cpl. Frazier next to Lance Cpl. Henry, and after a few minutes that seemed like an eternity, a truck came and took them to a field hospital.
"I remember waking up, with beds everywhere like this far apart," Lance Cpl. Henry said as he held up his hands with less than a foot between them. "I woke up in Germany after that."
Henry's family found out about him within a few hours of it happening, according to his dad, George Henry.
"They said he received a fracture to his right arm and a fracture to his right leg," George Henry said. "They didn't tell me it was blown all to hell."
The blast from the bomb shattered the bone inside Lance Cpl. Henry's right leg, and shrapnel from the blast tore into his right arm.
George Henry went to see his son as soon as he was taken to the hospital in Maryland, where he spent several weeks enduring countless surgeries.
Surgeons to use a titanium plate to repair his arm, in which Lance Cpl. Henry still has no feeling in his palm and cannot use his hand for gripping.
His right leg is surrounded by a mechanical-looking cast with dozens of pins going in and out and a horseshoe-shaped piece connecting the pins into the base of his foot and ankle, causing him to be temporarily confined to a wheelchair.
Lance Cpl. Henry now has a home therapist who works with him three times a week and is on a regiment of antibiotics to continue his recovery.
"He works my arm and leg," Lance Cpl. Henry said. "We're working on building muscle in the leg and bending my arm and wrist."
Lance Cpl. Henry will return to the United Naval Medical Center in January, when part of the contraption on his foot is expected to be removed and he should be able to walk and drive.
Lance Cpl. Henry said the only thing he's worried about is getting the feeling back in his right palm and fingers.
"They said if I get the feeling back, it could be a year," he said.
But in spite of being frustrated by the limitations of his current condition, Lance Cpl. Henry said he doesn't regret his short time in Iraq.
"It wasn't bad," he said. "I had a good time. I miss all the guys over there, and I pray for them because they need it."
He also misses his friends who were killed.
"Overstreet and Buerstetta, those guys were like brothers to me," he said. "I miss them so much. Like every picture I've got, it's us all together."
Since Lance Cpl. Henry has some time to go in his path to recovery, he's not sure what will happen to him as far as his service in the Marines.
Before he was injured, Lance Cpl. Henry was scheduled to be on active duty in the Marines through 2009, and he's already received a Purple Heart for the injuries he sustained in Iraq.
Right now, his biggest concern is recovering enough to drive.
"The first thing I want to do is buy a truck and drive," he said. "I just want to ride out in the country. The heck with California, the heck with Iraq."
Published December 27, 2006 12:07 PM CST
Ellie
Lindsay McReynolds
Herald-Citizen Staff
PUTNAM COUNTY -- Lance Cpl. George Henry Jr. didn't expect to be home for Christmas.
The 20-year-old Marine from Jackson County wasn't scheduled to return home from Iraq until late spring.
But serious injuries resulting from his truck being hit by an explosive device in Fallujah in October prompted his early return home as he spent several weeks in hospitals, first in Iraq and Germany, then in Bethesda, Md., at the United Naval Medical Center.
Henry returned home in the first part of December and recently told the Herald-Citizen the story of what happened to him from his father's home in Putnam County, where he now spends half his time as he recovers from his injuries, and the other half of the time with his mother, Sabrina Hamlet, at her home in Jackson County.
Henry joined the U.S. Marines and went to boot camp just one month after graduating from high school in 2004.
After graduating from boot camp and additional training, Henry checked into a Marine unit in Nashville and began drilling one weekend a month in late 2004.
"I found out in January 2005 that I was getting deployed," Henry said.
Some months later, Henry began training for Iraq in California, where he spent several months before leaving the country on Sept. 25 for Frankfort, Germany.
From Germany, Henry traveled to Kuwait before beginning his service in Fallujah, Iraq, where his unit served in a variety of capacities.
On his very first patrol, Henry had been out for several hours when a call came in about an IED or improvised explosive device. Henry later shot and killed a man in the suspected vehicle.
"He was right in front of us," he said. "I gave him a warning shot, and he kept coming. I gave another, and he hit the brakes but didn't stop. I shot him through the windshield."
Less than a month later, Henry nearly lost his own life.
"The day we got hit was an unlucky day," he said. "We were at the wrong place at the wrong time."
That day, Oct. 23, Henry and several other Marines were conducting snap VCPs (vehicle check points) which involve quickly inspecting suspicious vehicles.
"There were two different teams of three trucks," he said. "One asked us to come over and help. We were coming down the main road and took a right and a bomb went off.
"It blew the truck apart," he recalled.
Two of those traveling with Lance Cpl. Henry, 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Richard Buerstetta of Franklin and 22-year-old Lance Cpl. Tyler Ray Overstreet were killed.
Vehicle commander Sgt. Joshua Thomas and Lance Cpl. Frazier, along with Lance Cpl. Henry, were severely injured.
The bomb, an IED, had exploded under the seat of Lance Cpl. Buerstetta.
"I could taste the smoke, smell it, see it," Lance Cpl. Henry recalled. "I flew backward. I remember screaming. I didn't know I was flying until I hit the ground.
"I remember taking my kevlar (helmet) off and looking around," he said. "I was in this open area, which is not smart because usually, after a bomb goes off, they'll ambush you.
"I looked down at my leg, and my leg was curved with my boot on top of my knee," he said. It was curved like a 'U.'
"I could hear everyone yelling, 'Where's Henry?' because it (the blast) blew me 40 feet from the truck," he said.
A medic came over and grabbed Lance Cpl. Henry's leg and straightened it out, which caused him to scream out in pain.
"I heard them say KIA (killed in action)," he said. "I knew it was from my truck. I knew it was two of my buddies. I was so mad. I was just scared. I had no idea who was killed."
Other Marines placed Lance Cpl. Frazier next to Lance Cpl. Henry, and after a few minutes that seemed like an eternity, a truck came and took them to a field hospital.
"I remember waking up, with beds everywhere like this far apart," Lance Cpl. Henry said as he held up his hands with less than a foot between them. "I woke up in Germany after that."
Henry's family found out about him within a few hours of it happening, according to his dad, George Henry.
"They said he received a fracture to his right arm and a fracture to his right leg," George Henry said. "They didn't tell me it was blown all to hell."
The blast from the bomb shattered the bone inside Lance Cpl. Henry's right leg, and shrapnel from the blast tore into his right arm.
George Henry went to see his son as soon as he was taken to the hospital in Maryland, where he spent several weeks enduring countless surgeries.
Surgeons to use a titanium plate to repair his arm, in which Lance Cpl. Henry still has no feeling in his palm and cannot use his hand for gripping.
His right leg is surrounded by a mechanical-looking cast with dozens of pins going in and out and a horseshoe-shaped piece connecting the pins into the base of his foot and ankle, causing him to be temporarily confined to a wheelchair.
Lance Cpl. Henry now has a home therapist who works with him three times a week and is on a regiment of antibiotics to continue his recovery.
"He works my arm and leg," Lance Cpl. Henry said. "We're working on building muscle in the leg and bending my arm and wrist."
Lance Cpl. Henry will return to the United Naval Medical Center in January, when part of the contraption on his foot is expected to be removed and he should be able to walk and drive.
Lance Cpl. Henry said the only thing he's worried about is getting the feeling back in his right palm and fingers.
"They said if I get the feeling back, it could be a year," he said.
But in spite of being frustrated by the limitations of his current condition, Lance Cpl. Henry said he doesn't regret his short time in Iraq.
"It wasn't bad," he said. "I had a good time. I miss all the guys over there, and I pray for them because they need it."
He also misses his friends who were killed.
"Overstreet and Buerstetta, those guys were like brothers to me," he said. "I miss them so much. Like every picture I've got, it's us all together."
Since Lance Cpl. Henry has some time to go in his path to recovery, he's not sure what will happen to him as far as his service in the Marines.
Before he was injured, Lance Cpl. Henry was scheduled to be on active duty in the Marines through 2009, and he's already received a Purple Heart for the injuries he sustained in Iraq.
Right now, his biggest concern is recovering enough to drive.
"The first thing I want to do is buy a truck and drive," he said. "I just want to ride out in the country. The heck with California, the heck with Iraq."
Published December 27, 2006 12:07 PM CST
Ellie