thedrifter
03-13-07, 05:44 AM
Delta Marine injured in Iraq makes progress
By BEVERLY CORBELL The Daily Sentinel
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
DELTA — Marine Lance Cpl. Bryan Chambers is making steady progress after being seriously injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq, said his father, Craig Chambers, who is with his son at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
Chambers said his son, who is 20, is a member of the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Alpha Company, 2nd Marine Division.
Bryan Chambers was injured by a roadside bomb on Feb. 28 in west Al Anbar Province, his father said. One Marine was killed in the attack, but Bryan’s three buddies who were in the same vehicle are already back on the front lines, he said.
Bryan is on the third floor of the intensive care unit at the hospital, said his dad, and has to go through surgery every day or so, as he did Monday. It’s difficult for him to talk because he has a breathing tube, but he is able to communicate with his family.
“He has to resort to hand signals and eye blinks, but it’s a huge thing that he’s alive,” Craig Chambers said. “We thank the Lord for all those positive things, and we focus on those positive things and leave the rest in God’s hands.”
It’s hard to say how long Bryan will be in the hospital, Craig Chambers said, but his doctors have mentioned from two to four months.
“His injuries are extensive yet not life-threatening,” Craig Chamber said. “He’s basically injured from his head to his toe, but the head trauma, the neurological side of it, is a concern.”
The good news is that Bryan is making progress in the right direction, his father said.
“I can’t express that enough, that it’s nothing short of a miracle,” he said. “The doctors said he’s made amazing progress and he’s only been in this country since Sunday night a week ago.”
Also at the hospital are Bryan’s mother, Granda Chambers, and his 22-year-old sister, Hollie, a senior at Mesa State College.
“It’s only eight weeks to graduation, but they are really close buddies,” said Craig Chambers. “It will be a challenge to get her to go back and finish those eight weeks.”
Bryan’s oldest sister and her husband, Jennifer and Isaiah St. Peter of Delta, came for a visit last week, he said, but Craig Chambers doesn’t think Bryan’s mother will leave any time soon.
“She said she will not leave Bethesda unless she walks out the front door of the hospital with her son,” he said.
Without telling anyone, Bryan decided to join the Marines when he was 15 and watched the terrorist attacks of 9/11 on TV, his father said. Bryan signed up for delayed entry program into the Marines between his junior and senior years at Delta High School, where he graduated in 2005. His dad said it would have been futile to try to talk Bryan out of joining, even though he did try to get him to go into computers or a support unit.
“He wouldn’t hear of it,” Craig Chambers said. “He said he did not want to be in the Marine Corps unless he could be on the front lines. His motto is that he was “doing it for those who can’t and those who won’t.’ ”
This wasn’t the first time Bryan Chambers had been injured in battle, his father said.
“It’s not the first time he was blown up,” Craig Chambers said. “He had four near-death experiences before this, the last one on Christmas Day.”
Bryan Chambers was just two weeks away coming back to Delta on leave, his father said.
“It was going to be a 30-day leave and he would be looking at two more deployments,” Craig Chambers said.
Just what happens next depends on Bryan’s recovery, his dad said, but he’s getting excellent care.
“I feel like he’s gotten extraordinary care. I’ve been around a lot of hospitals and trauma units and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Craig Chambers said.
“The list of specialists is endless and their concern is obvious and attention to detail and knowing each case is quite amazing. I can’t say enough for how personally they all take it here and how they view it as their privilege to care for these wounded soldiers, and it shows. No one here looks at it as a job. They are a bunch of caring people, a great big family.”
Beverly Corbell can be reached via e-mail at bcorbell@gjds.com.
Ellie
By BEVERLY CORBELL The Daily Sentinel
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
DELTA — Marine Lance Cpl. Bryan Chambers is making steady progress after being seriously injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq, said his father, Craig Chambers, who is with his son at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
Chambers said his son, who is 20, is a member of the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Alpha Company, 2nd Marine Division.
Bryan Chambers was injured by a roadside bomb on Feb. 28 in west Al Anbar Province, his father said. One Marine was killed in the attack, but Bryan’s three buddies who were in the same vehicle are already back on the front lines, he said.
Bryan is on the third floor of the intensive care unit at the hospital, said his dad, and has to go through surgery every day or so, as he did Monday. It’s difficult for him to talk because he has a breathing tube, but he is able to communicate with his family.
“He has to resort to hand signals and eye blinks, but it’s a huge thing that he’s alive,” Craig Chambers said. “We thank the Lord for all those positive things, and we focus on those positive things and leave the rest in God’s hands.”
It’s hard to say how long Bryan will be in the hospital, Craig Chambers said, but his doctors have mentioned from two to four months.
“His injuries are extensive yet not life-threatening,” Craig Chamber said. “He’s basically injured from his head to his toe, but the head trauma, the neurological side of it, is a concern.”
The good news is that Bryan is making progress in the right direction, his father said.
“I can’t express that enough, that it’s nothing short of a miracle,” he said. “The doctors said he’s made amazing progress and he’s only been in this country since Sunday night a week ago.”
Also at the hospital are Bryan’s mother, Granda Chambers, and his 22-year-old sister, Hollie, a senior at Mesa State College.
“It’s only eight weeks to graduation, but they are really close buddies,” said Craig Chambers. “It will be a challenge to get her to go back and finish those eight weeks.”
Bryan’s oldest sister and her husband, Jennifer and Isaiah St. Peter of Delta, came for a visit last week, he said, but Craig Chambers doesn’t think Bryan’s mother will leave any time soon.
“She said she will not leave Bethesda unless she walks out the front door of the hospital with her son,” he said.
Without telling anyone, Bryan decided to join the Marines when he was 15 and watched the terrorist attacks of 9/11 on TV, his father said. Bryan signed up for delayed entry program into the Marines between his junior and senior years at Delta High School, where he graduated in 2005. His dad said it would have been futile to try to talk Bryan out of joining, even though he did try to get him to go into computers or a support unit.
“He wouldn’t hear of it,” Craig Chambers said. “He said he did not want to be in the Marine Corps unless he could be on the front lines. His motto is that he was “doing it for those who can’t and those who won’t.’ ”
This wasn’t the first time Bryan Chambers had been injured in battle, his father said.
“It’s not the first time he was blown up,” Craig Chambers said. “He had four near-death experiences before this, the last one on Christmas Day.”
Bryan Chambers was just two weeks away coming back to Delta on leave, his father said.
“It was going to be a 30-day leave and he would be looking at two more deployments,” Craig Chambers said.
Just what happens next depends on Bryan’s recovery, his dad said, but he’s getting excellent care.
“I feel like he’s gotten extraordinary care. I’ve been around a lot of hospitals and trauma units and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Craig Chambers said.
“The list of specialists is endless and their concern is obvious and attention to detail and knowing each case is quite amazing. I can’t say enough for how personally they all take it here and how they view it as their privilege to care for these wounded soldiers, and it shows. No one here looks at it as a job. They are a bunch of caring people, a great big family.”
Beverly Corbell can be reached via e-mail at bcorbell@gjds.com.
Ellie