thedrifter
09-03-07, 05:56 PM
Marine looks at survival as miracle
Wounded man lost his best friend in July bomb attack
By John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News
September 3, 2007
CENTENNIAL - A bright red U.S. Marine Corps flag fluttered over the driveway of the Cherry Knolls home Sunday where Brad Adams and his large family were gathered for a birthday barbecue.
The 24-year-old Marine and four relatives all have birthdays in August. So, traditionally the family convenes at a one-for-all-party. In recent years, Adams has missed most of those gatherings while serving five tours in Iraq.
He considers his presence Sunday a miracle. Adams is recovering from a July 30 bomb attack that left him severely wounded and killed his best friend and fellow Marine, Sean Stokes.
The bomb scarred one side of Adams' body and left him with only partial hearing and damage to about 40 percent of the tendons in his left arm. He leans on a cane and relies on a colostomy bag. But sitting in a lawn chair in his family's backyard, Adams counted himself extremely lucky.
"This is awesome. It's great to be home. This time definitely stands out for me," he said. "Someone was looking out for me because I shouldn't be here.
"It's the best feeling in the world to see all my folks and to give them hugs again. But there's also a large part of me that's missing," he added.
That part would be Stokes, a 24-year-old Marine from Auburn, Calif. The two have been best friends for the last four years. They fought together. They would go abalone fishing off the coast of California. They got tattooed together.
"He's my brother," said Adams, who has three sisters. "He's the closest thing I had to a brother."
Adams' tattoo runs the length of his left arm. It depicts the Archangel Michael casting Satan out of heaven and into hell. The arm is peppered with scars.
Every prayer counts
The two Marines were assigned to a personal security detail to protect their battalion commander wherever he would go. On July 30, they were searching an area for improvised explosive devices when Stokes stepped on a pressure plate.
The plate detonated a daisy-chain explosion in two places. One hit Stokes. The other caught Adams. Within minutes, both men were airlifted by helicopter for treatment.
Adams remembers being on a stretcher next to Stokes and talking to him until his friend was carried into a tent. That's the last time he saw Stokes alive. He was dead within 30 minutes of the blast.
Kathie Adams was driving to a doctor's appointment when she got a cell-phone call informing her that her son had been injured. The initial report stated erroneously that he had suffered third-degree burns to 80 percent of his body.
But with each call, the true extent of his injuries became clear. He was flown to a hospital in Germany and then to Bethesda, Md., where his parents were able to be with him.
When people would tell Adams' father, Scott, that they were praying for his son, the elder Adams would reply, "That's good. Keep them coming. I'm using up every prayer that I can get."
Neighborhood heroes
In the living room of the Adams' home, there is a small shrine to Adams' tours of duty in Iraq. There are the two purple hearts, one for a less serious injury he sustained earlier in Fallujah and another for the more recent attack.
There is a snuff container, empty except for a few small pebbles that have been taken out of Adams' arm. There is also a blackened wristwatch that he was wearing on the day of the blast. The wristband is severed, but the watch is still ticking.
Ever since the blast, the Cherry Knolls community has rallied around Adams and his family. A teacher came to mow the lawn. Some neighbors left cash in an envelope. Others organized a calendar. They bring a cooked meal to the Adams house every other day.
Shortly after returning home last Monday, Adams visited the Cherry Knolls pool, where he once coached the swim team. Three hundred people turned out to meet him, including kids who were just 5 years old when he coached them.
"The neighborhood thinks Brad's a hero and in our eyes, he is," Scott Adams said. "But what the Cherry Knolls neighborhood has done makes them heroes to us. They've gone above and beyond what they needed to do. Isn't that what a hero is?"
A good Marine
Brad Adams talks almost daily with Stokes' father, who has set up a memorial fund in his son's name to aid the families of soldiers killed or wounded in action.
Adams also talks to Stokes' girlfriend. Both of them wear a silver bracelet with his named engraved on it. He also wears a locket that holds a picture of the two Marines.
After undergoing physical therapy in Colorado, Adams said he hopes to return to California to visit Stokes' family. They plan to spread some of his ashes on the area where the two friends used to go fishing.
The two of them had volunteered for their last detail together. Adams as a sergeant, Stokes as a corporal.
"We have pretty much said, we're not going anywhere without each other, watching each others' back," Adams said. "He was a good guy, a best friend and a good Marine, a damn good Marine."
ensslinj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5291
Ellie
Wounded man lost his best friend in July bomb attack
By John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News
September 3, 2007
CENTENNIAL - A bright red U.S. Marine Corps flag fluttered over the driveway of the Cherry Knolls home Sunday where Brad Adams and his large family were gathered for a birthday barbecue.
The 24-year-old Marine and four relatives all have birthdays in August. So, traditionally the family convenes at a one-for-all-party. In recent years, Adams has missed most of those gatherings while serving five tours in Iraq.
He considers his presence Sunday a miracle. Adams is recovering from a July 30 bomb attack that left him severely wounded and killed his best friend and fellow Marine, Sean Stokes.
The bomb scarred one side of Adams' body and left him with only partial hearing and damage to about 40 percent of the tendons in his left arm. He leans on a cane and relies on a colostomy bag. But sitting in a lawn chair in his family's backyard, Adams counted himself extremely lucky.
"This is awesome. It's great to be home. This time definitely stands out for me," he said. "Someone was looking out for me because I shouldn't be here.
"It's the best feeling in the world to see all my folks and to give them hugs again. But there's also a large part of me that's missing," he added.
That part would be Stokes, a 24-year-old Marine from Auburn, Calif. The two have been best friends for the last four years. They fought together. They would go abalone fishing off the coast of California. They got tattooed together.
"He's my brother," said Adams, who has three sisters. "He's the closest thing I had to a brother."
Adams' tattoo runs the length of his left arm. It depicts the Archangel Michael casting Satan out of heaven and into hell. The arm is peppered with scars.
Every prayer counts
The two Marines were assigned to a personal security detail to protect their battalion commander wherever he would go. On July 30, they were searching an area for improvised explosive devices when Stokes stepped on a pressure plate.
The plate detonated a daisy-chain explosion in two places. One hit Stokes. The other caught Adams. Within minutes, both men were airlifted by helicopter for treatment.
Adams remembers being on a stretcher next to Stokes and talking to him until his friend was carried into a tent. That's the last time he saw Stokes alive. He was dead within 30 minutes of the blast.
Kathie Adams was driving to a doctor's appointment when she got a cell-phone call informing her that her son had been injured. The initial report stated erroneously that he had suffered third-degree burns to 80 percent of his body.
But with each call, the true extent of his injuries became clear. He was flown to a hospital in Germany and then to Bethesda, Md., where his parents were able to be with him.
When people would tell Adams' father, Scott, that they were praying for his son, the elder Adams would reply, "That's good. Keep them coming. I'm using up every prayer that I can get."
Neighborhood heroes
In the living room of the Adams' home, there is a small shrine to Adams' tours of duty in Iraq. There are the two purple hearts, one for a less serious injury he sustained earlier in Fallujah and another for the more recent attack.
There is a snuff container, empty except for a few small pebbles that have been taken out of Adams' arm. There is also a blackened wristwatch that he was wearing on the day of the blast. The wristband is severed, but the watch is still ticking.
Ever since the blast, the Cherry Knolls community has rallied around Adams and his family. A teacher came to mow the lawn. Some neighbors left cash in an envelope. Others organized a calendar. They bring a cooked meal to the Adams house every other day.
Shortly after returning home last Monday, Adams visited the Cherry Knolls pool, where he once coached the swim team. Three hundred people turned out to meet him, including kids who were just 5 years old when he coached them.
"The neighborhood thinks Brad's a hero and in our eyes, he is," Scott Adams said. "But what the Cherry Knolls neighborhood has done makes them heroes to us. They've gone above and beyond what they needed to do. Isn't that what a hero is?"
A good Marine
Brad Adams talks almost daily with Stokes' father, who has set up a memorial fund in his son's name to aid the families of soldiers killed or wounded in action.
Adams also talks to Stokes' girlfriend. Both of them wear a silver bracelet with his named engraved on it. He also wears a locket that holds a picture of the two Marines.
After undergoing physical therapy in Colorado, Adams said he hopes to return to California to visit Stokes' family. They plan to spread some of his ashes on the area where the two friends used to go fishing.
The two of them had volunteered for their last detail together. Adams as a sergeant, Stokes as a corporal.
"We have pretty much said, we're not going anywhere without each other, watching each others' back," Adams said. "He was a good guy, a best friend and a good Marine, a damn good Marine."
ensslinj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5291
Ellie