thedrifter
03-26-08, 07:04 AM
Corps support follows injured Marine home
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
By Ted Roelofs
The Grand Rapids Press
To Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Dave Ogden, Cpl. Joshua Hoffman always will be a Marine.
"It's a brotherhood that's formed in boot camp," explained Ogden, one of more than 100 local Marines expected today at Gerald R. Ford International Airport to welcome Hoffman home.
"It's instilled in us. You can't do the job we do without caring for the guy to your left and your right."
Hoffman, 26, was paralyzed from the chest down when he was hit by a sniper's bullet while on patrol in Iraq in January 2006.
Ogden said he has been in the thoughts and prayers of his comrades ever since.
"Even with everything that's happened to him, he is still 100 percent Marine," Ogden said.
It is the kind of support Hoffman can use as he struggles with a life-altering injury.
For most of the past year, his mother, Hazel Hoffman, 46, and fiancee, Heather Lovell, 21, have been at his side as he recuperated in a Veterans Administration hospital in Virginia.
Lovell said it is hard to put into words how much the encouragement of his fellow Marines means to Hoffman.
"It's heartwarming to know they are all going to be there. I found out about it, and it really brought me to tears."
Hoffman grew up in the Wayland area and joined the Marine Reserves in 2002, hoping to earn money for college. He planned to be a pilot.
He was part of the Grand Rapids-based Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment. He was sent to Iraq's Anbar province in October 2006, where he was attached to the battalion's Weapons Company in Fallujah.
Hoffman was hit in the early morning of Jan. 6 as he pursued an insurgent. The bullet entered his neck and exited his shoulder blade, shattering his upper spine.
Since he was shot, Hoffman has survived two more brushes with death, the first about 10 days later when his fever spiked to 108 degrees and the family was summoned to say their goodbyes. Several months ago, he nearly choked to death when mucous became stuck in his throat after doctors removed a tracheotomy tube. He received a medical discharge from the Marines in September.
His return comes as the number of U.S. deaths in Iraq reached 4,000, with the number of wounded approaching 30,000.
Lovell understands the path ahead will be anything but easy, as he prepares to live in a handicapped-accessible apartment in Kentwood. He and Lovell are deferring plans to marry until his life in West Michigan stabilizes.
Hoffman faces months, if not years, of physical rehabilitation and therapy as he strives to regain movement in his upper body and develop his language skills.
For that, he will rely on support from Lovell, his mother and other family members. Then there is his other family.
In the three years she has known Hoffman, Lovell said she has come to know just how powerful is the bond that Marines share.
"I never knew. Even up until he was shot, I never understood it," she said. "There is an incredible bond that I don't think normal civilians ever experience in their life.
"They become practically brothers."
Send e-mail to the author: troelofs@grpress.com
Ellie
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
By Ted Roelofs
The Grand Rapids Press
To Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Dave Ogden, Cpl. Joshua Hoffman always will be a Marine.
"It's a brotherhood that's formed in boot camp," explained Ogden, one of more than 100 local Marines expected today at Gerald R. Ford International Airport to welcome Hoffman home.
"It's instilled in us. You can't do the job we do without caring for the guy to your left and your right."
Hoffman, 26, was paralyzed from the chest down when he was hit by a sniper's bullet while on patrol in Iraq in January 2006.
Ogden said he has been in the thoughts and prayers of his comrades ever since.
"Even with everything that's happened to him, he is still 100 percent Marine," Ogden said.
It is the kind of support Hoffman can use as he struggles with a life-altering injury.
For most of the past year, his mother, Hazel Hoffman, 46, and fiancee, Heather Lovell, 21, have been at his side as he recuperated in a Veterans Administration hospital in Virginia.
Lovell said it is hard to put into words how much the encouragement of his fellow Marines means to Hoffman.
"It's heartwarming to know they are all going to be there. I found out about it, and it really brought me to tears."
Hoffman grew up in the Wayland area and joined the Marine Reserves in 2002, hoping to earn money for college. He planned to be a pilot.
He was part of the Grand Rapids-based Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment. He was sent to Iraq's Anbar province in October 2006, where he was attached to the battalion's Weapons Company in Fallujah.
Hoffman was hit in the early morning of Jan. 6 as he pursued an insurgent. The bullet entered his neck and exited his shoulder blade, shattering his upper spine.
Since he was shot, Hoffman has survived two more brushes with death, the first about 10 days later when his fever spiked to 108 degrees and the family was summoned to say their goodbyes. Several months ago, he nearly choked to death when mucous became stuck in his throat after doctors removed a tracheotomy tube. He received a medical discharge from the Marines in September.
His return comes as the number of U.S. deaths in Iraq reached 4,000, with the number of wounded approaching 30,000.
Lovell understands the path ahead will be anything but easy, as he prepares to live in a handicapped-accessible apartment in Kentwood. He and Lovell are deferring plans to marry until his life in West Michigan stabilizes.
Hoffman faces months, if not years, of physical rehabilitation and therapy as he strives to regain movement in his upper body and develop his language skills.
For that, he will rely on support from Lovell, his mother and other family members. Then there is his other family.
In the three years she has known Hoffman, Lovell said she has come to know just how powerful is the bond that Marines share.
"I never knew. Even up until he was shot, I never understood it," she said. "There is an incredible bond that I don't think normal civilians ever experience in their life.
"They become practically brothers."
Send e-mail to the author: troelofs@grpress.com
Ellie