thedrifter
03-28-07, 08:17 AM
Published: March 27, 2007 11:36 pm
Chad Watson received Purple Heart for being injured in Iraq
By Deb McKee
The Tribune-Star
MONTEZUMA — The first glimpse Dierdre Sutton got of her nephew since he was wounded about four months ago in Iraq brought tears to her eyes.
Sutton of Montezuma turned away to compose herself, then turned back with a smile, taking a good look at Chad Watson’s smiling face, down at his prosthetic leg, and to his face again.
“Aunt Dee Dee!” Watson exclaimed with a big grin.
Sutton was just one of several family members who enjoyed a reunion with Watson on Saturday in the Parke County village of Montezuma, where his parents Mike and Gina Watson grew up and where both sets of grandparents still live. Jim and Joyce Watson and Dane and Martha Cox are Chad’s grandparents.
Chad Watson, a Mount Zion, Ill., native, made his first visit home this week from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he has been undergoing daily physical therapy since returning to the United States.
The 24-year-old, a Marine with the 1st Battallion, 24th Marines based out of Terre Haute, was wounded while driving a Humvee (military vehicle) on patrol with other Marines in the Al-Anbar Province of Fallujah, Iraq, on Nov. 29. An improvised explosive device detonated under the vehicle, injuring Watson and three other Marines.
Watson said he remembers looking down when the smoke cleared and seeing that his right leg was gone below the knee. He also suffered a broken left heel and ankle, an injury to his arm and damage to his right eye from shrapnel.
Watson never lost consciousness during the attack, and remembers hearing other Marines hollering to those in the Humvee, “Is anyone still alive?”
On Saturday, multiple surgeries behind him and thousands of miles from Iraq, Watson enjoyed the joyful scene in his grandparents’ living room where cousins, siblings, aunts and uncles chattered and, one by one, checked in on Chad. He patiently explained the workings of his prosthetic leg, never losing his characteristic grin.
Since returning to the United States, Watson has been staying either in the hospital or with his parents in Mologne House, a hotel for patients’ families near Walter Reed. He will be released when he is able to walk without difficulty, he said, but he is not sure how long that might be.
During the five-day visit, Watson spent one day in Montezuma and the rest of the time in Mount Zion, where he went to the local schools Friday and a benefit was staged for him Sunday.
At the elementary school in Mount Zion, where a third-grade class has been studying the Purple Heart, Watson wore his dress blues and his Purple Heart, which was awarded to him personally by President Bush. He answered questions of the class, and even offered to show them his new leg, according to Mike Watson.
Chad Watson met President Bush for the first time when the commander-in-chief came to Walter Reed to present him with the commendation. Later, Watson and his mother were invited to the White House to meet the St. Louis Cardinals after the president noticed Watson’s Cardinals cap, and asked if he was a fan.
Watson is a little bashful about the attention and the opportunities for him in the months since returning stateside, he says. He went to the Super Bowl and got to go on a skiing and snowboarding trip to Colorado, compliments of the Wounded Warrior Project.
“I feel guilty about it,” Watson said Saturday. “My guys are still over there, and I don’t like telling them about it. I hope they’re not looking at the blog site, because if they see that stuff, they might get mad at me,” he added with a laugh. “I’ve had some opportunities to do some pretty cool things.”
The Watson family has a blog at www.chadmwatson.
blogspot.com to allow people to e-mail the family and track Chad’s progress.
A 2001 graduate of Mt. Zion High School, Watson was quarterback of the football team. He joined the Marine Corps Reserves in 2004 while attending Indiana University on a partial wrestling scholarship. Now, he is finishing up his fourth year of college at Eastern Illinois University. With five classes left, he is a semester shy of graduation. He is studying psychology with an emphasis on criminology, and has been discussing career options with a federal agency, he said.
The self-avowed fitness enthusiast says his current physical therapy routine is exhausting.
“It takes three times more energy to walk and do things with just one leg,” Watson said Saturday. “You’re constantly thinking about balance, doing balance drills and weight-shifting drills … I’m so much more tired at the end of the day.”
Still, Watson intends to participate in some sprint triathlons and work his way up to a full triathlon, he says. He is working with two prosthetic legs, one that he wears currently and one that eventually will allow him to run. Both prosthetics are highly technical and contain microprocessors that allow for great variation in movement and activity.
Watson’s girlfriend of about a year and a half is Jillian Kinsella, 22, a graduate student at Eastern Illinois University, majoring in cardiac rehab.
She continues to be impressed with Watson’s recovery. “He has made amazing progress,” she said Saturday.
The morning Watson was wounded, Kinsella said she was getting ready for class when she heard her phone ringing. In a rush to get ready, Kinsella didn’t answer, but then checked the caller ID. Mike Watson had called twice and then Chad’s sister, Lindsey Damery, called.
“I saw it was Mike and I wasn’t too surprised,” she said. “I’ve been really close with Chad’s family since he left. When Lindsey called, I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t think it would be Chad. I had talked to him the night before, and he said he would call me after his shift.”
Kinsella was shocked when she heard the news. She traveled with the family to Walter Reed about a week after the attack.
Now, she goes to Washington D.C. once or twice a month to visit, and was able to go snowboarding with Chad in Colorado.
Chad is the oldest of four Watson kids. His younger siblings are Damery, 22, Amy Watson, 20 and Brandon Watson, 16.
Damery, who lives in Mount Zion with her husband, is a nurse. She remembers that when she heard Chad had been wounded, she tried to stay calm.
“I went into nurse mode, trying to hold everything together,” she said.
Damery said she considers her big brother a hero, but not necessarily because he was wounded in action.
“Everybody who serves is a hero,” she said.
Younger brother Brandon has expressed interest in enlisting in the Marines, Damery said, something the family feels a little anxious about. But Chad understands.
“I would go back, definitely,” Chad said. “I loved it. I loved the infantry, and I’d do it again.”
Watson said Saturday that the best way to support the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan is to “be aware of what’s going on over there, don’t always believe the news and the hype,” he said. “It’s not always about fighting … we really are trying to help.”
He suggests that people talk to veterans of the war to learn the reality. Letters and packages are always a boost, he added.
The best thing about being back home is being with family, Watson said.
The other thing he says he appreciates is “knowing you’re [home], you know you’re going to be all right.
“Even though you don’t think about it, don’t talk about it when you’re over there, you know there’s that chance you may get hurt, you see your buddies getting hurt, you’re always thinking it’s not going to happen to you. It’s really going to hit the guys when they come back. Yeah, they’re upset when their buddies are killed or hurt, it’s sad, but you try not to think about it.
“I know it didn’t really hit me … You just want to keep going on missions not to think about it,” he said.
“When you get back, it hits you. When I got home, I went to Arlington to see a buddy – [Min Hee] Andy Kim – from my platoon, who was buried there. He’s not coming home.”
Kim of Ann Arbor, Mich., died Nov. 1 from a gunshot wound to the neck during combat in Fallujah.
Watson, who is known for his cheerful nature, became somber for the first time during the interview.
“It’s a rude awakening,” he said.
Deb McKee can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or deb.mckee@tribstar.com.
Ellie
Chad Watson received Purple Heart for being injured in Iraq
By Deb McKee
The Tribune-Star
MONTEZUMA — The first glimpse Dierdre Sutton got of her nephew since he was wounded about four months ago in Iraq brought tears to her eyes.
Sutton of Montezuma turned away to compose herself, then turned back with a smile, taking a good look at Chad Watson’s smiling face, down at his prosthetic leg, and to his face again.
“Aunt Dee Dee!” Watson exclaimed with a big grin.
Sutton was just one of several family members who enjoyed a reunion with Watson on Saturday in the Parke County village of Montezuma, where his parents Mike and Gina Watson grew up and where both sets of grandparents still live. Jim and Joyce Watson and Dane and Martha Cox are Chad’s grandparents.
Chad Watson, a Mount Zion, Ill., native, made his first visit home this week from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he has been undergoing daily physical therapy since returning to the United States.
The 24-year-old, a Marine with the 1st Battallion, 24th Marines based out of Terre Haute, was wounded while driving a Humvee (military vehicle) on patrol with other Marines in the Al-Anbar Province of Fallujah, Iraq, on Nov. 29. An improvised explosive device detonated under the vehicle, injuring Watson and three other Marines.
Watson said he remembers looking down when the smoke cleared and seeing that his right leg was gone below the knee. He also suffered a broken left heel and ankle, an injury to his arm and damage to his right eye from shrapnel.
Watson never lost consciousness during the attack, and remembers hearing other Marines hollering to those in the Humvee, “Is anyone still alive?”
On Saturday, multiple surgeries behind him and thousands of miles from Iraq, Watson enjoyed the joyful scene in his grandparents’ living room where cousins, siblings, aunts and uncles chattered and, one by one, checked in on Chad. He patiently explained the workings of his prosthetic leg, never losing his characteristic grin.
Since returning to the United States, Watson has been staying either in the hospital or with his parents in Mologne House, a hotel for patients’ families near Walter Reed. He will be released when he is able to walk without difficulty, he said, but he is not sure how long that might be.
During the five-day visit, Watson spent one day in Montezuma and the rest of the time in Mount Zion, where he went to the local schools Friday and a benefit was staged for him Sunday.
At the elementary school in Mount Zion, where a third-grade class has been studying the Purple Heart, Watson wore his dress blues and his Purple Heart, which was awarded to him personally by President Bush. He answered questions of the class, and even offered to show them his new leg, according to Mike Watson.
Chad Watson met President Bush for the first time when the commander-in-chief came to Walter Reed to present him with the commendation. Later, Watson and his mother were invited to the White House to meet the St. Louis Cardinals after the president noticed Watson’s Cardinals cap, and asked if he was a fan.
Watson is a little bashful about the attention and the opportunities for him in the months since returning stateside, he says. He went to the Super Bowl and got to go on a skiing and snowboarding trip to Colorado, compliments of the Wounded Warrior Project.
“I feel guilty about it,” Watson said Saturday. “My guys are still over there, and I don’t like telling them about it. I hope they’re not looking at the blog site, because if they see that stuff, they might get mad at me,” he added with a laugh. “I’ve had some opportunities to do some pretty cool things.”
The Watson family has a blog at www.chadmwatson.
blogspot.com to allow people to e-mail the family and track Chad’s progress.
A 2001 graduate of Mt. Zion High School, Watson was quarterback of the football team. He joined the Marine Corps Reserves in 2004 while attending Indiana University on a partial wrestling scholarship. Now, he is finishing up his fourth year of college at Eastern Illinois University. With five classes left, he is a semester shy of graduation. He is studying psychology with an emphasis on criminology, and has been discussing career options with a federal agency, he said.
The self-avowed fitness enthusiast says his current physical therapy routine is exhausting.
“It takes three times more energy to walk and do things with just one leg,” Watson said Saturday. “You’re constantly thinking about balance, doing balance drills and weight-shifting drills … I’m so much more tired at the end of the day.”
Still, Watson intends to participate in some sprint triathlons and work his way up to a full triathlon, he says. He is working with two prosthetic legs, one that he wears currently and one that eventually will allow him to run. Both prosthetics are highly technical and contain microprocessors that allow for great variation in movement and activity.
Watson’s girlfriend of about a year and a half is Jillian Kinsella, 22, a graduate student at Eastern Illinois University, majoring in cardiac rehab.
She continues to be impressed with Watson’s recovery. “He has made amazing progress,” she said Saturday.
The morning Watson was wounded, Kinsella said she was getting ready for class when she heard her phone ringing. In a rush to get ready, Kinsella didn’t answer, but then checked the caller ID. Mike Watson had called twice and then Chad’s sister, Lindsey Damery, called.
“I saw it was Mike and I wasn’t too surprised,” she said. “I’ve been really close with Chad’s family since he left. When Lindsey called, I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t think it would be Chad. I had talked to him the night before, and he said he would call me after his shift.”
Kinsella was shocked when she heard the news. She traveled with the family to Walter Reed about a week after the attack.
Now, she goes to Washington D.C. once or twice a month to visit, and was able to go snowboarding with Chad in Colorado.
Chad is the oldest of four Watson kids. His younger siblings are Damery, 22, Amy Watson, 20 and Brandon Watson, 16.
Damery, who lives in Mount Zion with her husband, is a nurse. She remembers that when she heard Chad had been wounded, she tried to stay calm.
“I went into nurse mode, trying to hold everything together,” she said.
Damery said she considers her big brother a hero, but not necessarily because he was wounded in action.
“Everybody who serves is a hero,” she said.
Younger brother Brandon has expressed interest in enlisting in the Marines, Damery said, something the family feels a little anxious about. But Chad understands.
“I would go back, definitely,” Chad said. “I loved it. I loved the infantry, and I’d do it again.”
Watson said Saturday that the best way to support the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan is to “be aware of what’s going on over there, don’t always believe the news and the hype,” he said. “It’s not always about fighting … we really are trying to help.”
He suggests that people talk to veterans of the war to learn the reality. Letters and packages are always a boost, he added.
The best thing about being back home is being with family, Watson said.
The other thing he says he appreciates is “knowing you’re [home], you know you’re going to be all right.
“Even though you don’t think about it, don’t talk about it when you’re over there, you know there’s that chance you may get hurt, you see your buddies getting hurt, you’re always thinking it’s not going to happen to you. It’s really going to hit the guys when they come back. Yeah, they’re upset when their buddies are killed or hurt, it’s sad, but you try not to think about it.
“I know it didn’t really hit me … You just want to keep going on missions not to think about it,” he said.
“When you get back, it hits you. When I got home, I went to Arlington to see a buddy – [Min Hee] Andy Kim – from my platoon, who was buried there. He’s not coming home.”
Kim of Ann Arbor, Mich., died Nov. 1 from a gunshot wound to the neck during combat in Fallujah.
Watson, who is known for his cheerful nature, became somber for the first time during the interview.
“It’s a rude awakening,” he said.
Deb McKee can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or deb.mckee@tribstar.com.
Ellie