thedrifter
08-05-08, 02:39 PM
Marine delivers a message of strength, courage to fairgoers
By Russ Krebs Fremont Tribune
Monday, Aug 04, 2008 - 11:10:52 am CDT
Sure, Sgt. Major Brad Kassal spoke about the firefight and injuries that earned him the second highest military honor at the Dodge County Fair Sunday, but that wasn’t the main point of his 90-minute speech.
The Marine wanted to deliver the message that anything can be done if you have the courage to try.
“I lost 60 percent of my blood,” Kassal said. “All the doctors I talked to said I shouldn’t have lived that day. It’s really up to you what you can and can’t do.”
The day he was talking about was Nov. 13, 2004, when he was shot seven times and received 42 shrapnel wounds during a firefight in Iraq during his second deployment to the country.
His first deployment was when the war started.
“The Iraqis always had one question. Are you leaving?” Kasal said. “They didn’t want us to leave.”
The atrocities he saw, like mass graves and children in prison because they wouldn’t declare their hatred for the United States, are what made him volunteer to go back a second time.
On Nov. 8, 2004, he and his troops began to move back into Falujah and to clear buildings but it would be five more days until his fateful day.
“At about 10:30 a.m., I saw a Marine come back toward me dripping blood and with no weapon,” Kassal said. “He was in shock.”
That Marine and three others had attempted to clear a house of insurgents, all were injured and three were stuck in the home.
“For a Marine to have fallen into their hands would not have been a good thing,” Kassal said. “I ran toward the house to pull those Marines out.”
He grabbed some fellow Marines and went in.
Kassal was shot and then covered an injured Marine when a grenade went off. The three injured Marines were removed from the home, but 13 others were injured in the process and one killed.
Since, he has gone through more than 30 surgeries and doctors telling him he would never walk again. Many told him that he needed to have his leg amputated, but he wouldn’t let them.
“The recovery was very difficult,” Kassal said. “It was a very humbling experience.”
After months of rehab, he was finally able to leave his wheelchair, so he burned it.
“I still don’t have full use of my leg,” Kassal said while walking around the crowd. “At least I can do what I’ve got to do to get around.”
He said he hopes his recovery can inspire others.
“Anything you put your mind to you can do if you have the courage to try,” Kassal said. “Your mind is more powerful than you could ever imagine.”
Now a Marine recruiter in Des Moines, he said he always wanted to be a Marine.
“Ever since I was a young boy I wanted to join the Marine Corps,” Kassal said, adding he had several relatives who served in the Army. “I chose the Marine Corps because it was the toughest of the branches. I didn’t want to look back 50 years later and wonder what I did with my life.”
He has been a Marine for 24 years.
“People call me a hero, but I’m not a hero,” Kassal said. “When I joined up we were at peace. Now they’re joining knowing they’ll be in harm’s way. They’re the heroes.”
Being in the military now is something completely different, he said.
“There’s a lot of crazy people in this world,” Kassal said. “There’s a lot of people who don’t like us because of who we are and what we stand for.”
He also said it’s a different type of enemy than Americans have faced before.
“In World War II, they knew surrender. They knew when it was over and shook hands,” Kassal said. “The enemy we fight nowadays don’t know surrender.”
This enemy also uses drugs to fuel their fighters. He said anytime his Marines would find weapons caches, they also would find cocaine, heroine and methamphetamine.
“They were doping themselves up,” Kassal said. “They knew they couldn’t win the battle militarily. Their goal was to take as many of us with them when they die.”
Ellie
By Russ Krebs Fremont Tribune
Monday, Aug 04, 2008 - 11:10:52 am CDT
Sure, Sgt. Major Brad Kassal spoke about the firefight and injuries that earned him the second highest military honor at the Dodge County Fair Sunday, but that wasn’t the main point of his 90-minute speech.
The Marine wanted to deliver the message that anything can be done if you have the courage to try.
“I lost 60 percent of my blood,” Kassal said. “All the doctors I talked to said I shouldn’t have lived that day. It’s really up to you what you can and can’t do.”
The day he was talking about was Nov. 13, 2004, when he was shot seven times and received 42 shrapnel wounds during a firefight in Iraq during his second deployment to the country.
His first deployment was when the war started.
“The Iraqis always had one question. Are you leaving?” Kasal said. “They didn’t want us to leave.”
The atrocities he saw, like mass graves and children in prison because they wouldn’t declare their hatred for the United States, are what made him volunteer to go back a second time.
On Nov. 8, 2004, he and his troops began to move back into Falujah and to clear buildings but it would be five more days until his fateful day.
“At about 10:30 a.m., I saw a Marine come back toward me dripping blood and with no weapon,” Kassal said. “He was in shock.”
That Marine and three others had attempted to clear a house of insurgents, all were injured and three were stuck in the home.
“For a Marine to have fallen into their hands would not have been a good thing,” Kassal said. “I ran toward the house to pull those Marines out.”
He grabbed some fellow Marines and went in.
Kassal was shot and then covered an injured Marine when a grenade went off. The three injured Marines were removed from the home, but 13 others were injured in the process and one killed.
Since, he has gone through more than 30 surgeries and doctors telling him he would never walk again. Many told him that he needed to have his leg amputated, but he wouldn’t let them.
“The recovery was very difficult,” Kassal said. “It was a very humbling experience.”
After months of rehab, he was finally able to leave his wheelchair, so he burned it.
“I still don’t have full use of my leg,” Kassal said while walking around the crowd. “At least I can do what I’ve got to do to get around.”
He said he hopes his recovery can inspire others.
“Anything you put your mind to you can do if you have the courage to try,” Kassal said. “Your mind is more powerful than you could ever imagine.”
Now a Marine recruiter in Des Moines, he said he always wanted to be a Marine.
“Ever since I was a young boy I wanted to join the Marine Corps,” Kassal said, adding he had several relatives who served in the Army. “I chose the Marine Corps because it was the toughest of the branches. I didn’t want to look back 50 years later and wonder what I did with my life.”
He has been a Marine for 24 years.
“People call me a hero, but I’m not a hero,” Kassal said. “When I joined up we were at peace. Now they’re joining knowing they’ll be in harm’s way. They’re the heroes.”
Being in the military now is something completely different, he said.
“There’s a lot of crazy people in this world,” Kassal said. “There’s a lot of people who don’t like us because of who we are and what we stand for.”
He also said it’s a different type of enemy than Americans have faced before.
“In World War II, they knew surrender. They knew when it was over and shook hands,” Kassal said. “The enemy we fight nowadays don’t know surrender.”
This enemy also uses drugs to fuel their fighters. He said anytime his Marines would find weapons caches, they also would find cocaine, heroine and methamphetamine.
“They were doping themselves up,” Kassal said. “They knew they couldn’t win the battle militarily. Their goal was to take as many of us with them when they die.”
Ellie