thedrifter
08-23-09, 08:22 AM
August 23, 2009
Surviving the war: 'They knew I was dead. I proved them wrong.'
By TONY LEYS
tleys@dmreg.com
Hillsboro, Ia. - Bob Briggs isn't expecting any more miracles.
The former Iowa National Guard sergeant is still amazed to have survived a rocket blast to the head four years ago in Iraq. "If this had happened in the Vietnam War, I wouldn't have lived," he said. "Medicine has come so far."
Military medics and surgeons have learned a great deal about how to transport and treat soldiers with brain injuries, which have become a hallmark of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They saved Briggs from what his friends thought was a fatal wound. Then Veterans Affairs specialists helped him get out of bed and out of a wheelchair during months of painful and frustrating rehabilitation.
Briggs, 40, is one of hundreds of veterans rebuilding their lives after suffering head wounds. He can walk and talk, and he's resumed his role as a father and husband. He continues to improve, but the progress is slow. One of his biggest challenges is accepting the limits he will always face, including the likelihood that he will never regain full use of his left arm and leg or of his short-term memory. He still carries shrapnel in his brain and elsewhere in his body, and he'll probably never be able to hold a job again.
But he's glad he joined the military, and he believes his service and that of his fellow soldiers were worth the sacrifices they all made.
Briggs was pleased to hear that American troops were able to pull out of Iraqi cities this summer, letting Iraqi troops and police provide security.
"I think it's great, I really do," he said, then he paused. "I hope it's great. Everybody deserves to live free. I really hope they get somebody in over there that can take care of their own people."
Rocket attack leaves severe head wound
Briggs was a longtime member of the National Guard, which called him up in 2004 and shipped him to Iraq. He and the rest of the 224th Engineer Battalion were sent to the dangerous Sunni Triangle region, where their assignments included searching for roadside bombs.
Many soldiers' head injuries have occurred when insurgents blew up roadside bombs as U.S. convoys drove past. In those cases, brain damage can occur even if there is no outward sign of a head wound.
Briggs' injuries were more direct. He was sitting outside his barracks, smoking with two friends at a base in Ramadi when insurgents attacked on April 16, 2005. A rocket exploded a few feet from Briggs, hurling shrapnel into his head.
All three Iowa soldiers were injured, but Briggs was hurt the worst.
He has no recollection of the blast. "I remember a friend saying, 'Calm down, Bob, calm down. Bob, I've got you.' And then I don't remember anything else."
Other soldiers told him later that his head wound appeared beyond repair.
"They knew I was dead. They just knew it. I proved them wrong," he said.
Several Marines died in the same attack, but surgeons at an Army hospital in Iraq managed to save Briggs, partly by cutting off a large piece of his skull to make room for his swelling brain. Medical workers resuscitated him twice while they flew him from Iraq to a military hospital in Germany.
Within three days, he was in Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he spent eight weeks and began an odyssey of treatments and exercises.
His wife, Michelle, said that at first, doctors at Walter Reed talked about how her husband might fare "if he wakes up." She had no idea what to expect. But he did wake up, and he slowly came back to life.
Modern medicine saved his life, doctor says
From Walter Reed, he was sent to the Veterans Medical Center in Minneapolis, which has one of four centers nationally for soldiers with multiple traumatic injuries.
Dr. Larisa Kusar, a VA rehabilitation specialist who helped treat Briggs during his seven months in Minneapolis, said his head wound probably would have been fatal if it had happened in earlier wars.
Now, critically wounded soldiers can be evacuated more quickly. Neurosurgeons are stationed near the battlefield, to provide immediate brain surgery. And rehabilitation experts have figured out better ways to help injured soldiers recover.
Since 2004, Kusar's program has treated 170 patients like Briggs, who suffered several severe injuries at once. Besides his brain injury, he suffered facial wounds, plus he lost one eye and had debilitating bleeding in the other.
"Given all of that, I would say his recovery is pretty remarkable," she said.
The rehabilitation program teaches wounded soldiers to walk again, to read, to eat, to dress themselves.
Briggs wore a bulky protective helmet while he was in the Minneapolis program, because he still had a hole in his skull. Snapshots from then show a sunken area on top of his head. Eventually, he returned to Walter Reed, where surgeons used a tough piece of acrylic to patch the hole.
Then he went back home to rural Henry County, where he and Michelle are raising a 9-year-old daughter, Ashlea, and a 5-year-old son, Cody.
Ashlea has hazy memories of her father before he was hurt. Cody does not.
Plenty of frustration; small steps forward
As he talked on a recent afternoon, Briggs looked out the window at his big front lawn, which runs along a rural highway. He remembers playing volleyball and flying kites with his daughter. He hopes to do those things again someday.
"It ****es you off when you think about it, but I'm not giving up," he said.
The brain injury also decreased his ability to hold his temper, and he often feels edgy. He always sits with his back to the wall when he goes to a restaurant. "I still watch the exits," he said.
He chuckled, but he wasn't joking. Then he noted that it's an accomplishment to go into a crowded place, which he wouldn't do when he first returned home.
Briggs sometimes loses his train of thought, and he has a hard time concentrating enough to read for long. But he can ride a specially equipped recumbent bicycle, operate his riding lawn mower and play computer games that help improve his memory.
He also is working with a 120-pound Rottweiler named Pock, which is being trained as a guide dog to help him get around.
Briggs, who used to work for the Iowa Department of Transportation, probably will never be able to hold a job again. The couple lives on disability payments from the state and income from Michelle Briggs' pet-grooming and kennel business, which is next to their house.
This summer, Briggs regained his driver's license, allowing him to drive a minivan whose controls have been adapted for use with one hand and one foot. The license is an especially big deal, because the family lives in the country and needs to drive for nearly any errand.
He goes on camera to help others cope
Briggs agreed to be held up as an example in a national documentary series about veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The series, "In Their Boots," is distributed on the Internet. Briggs is one of four soldiers featured in a recently posted episode about brain injuries. The veterans talk candidly about how they cope with their emotions, their loss of memories and the awkward process of re-entering civilian society.
In the video, Briggs said he hopes to inspire others to keep moving forward.
"If I can do it, anybody can do it," he said. "Just because you can't walk, just because you only have one arm, you know, that's not the end of the world. There's no reason to get down about it, because there's a whole lot more to life than just sitting around feeling sorry for yourself."
Amanda Spain, a television producer from Los Angeles who worked on the documentary, interviewed dozens of Iraq War veterans, including Briggs. A few told her they wished they'd never joined the service, but they seemed to be the exception. Most veterans, like Briggs, are glad they served.
"It might have surprised me before I started working on this series," Spain said, "but I've talked to so many of these people, and they really believe in what they believe in. And an injury is not going to change that."
Spain credits Michelle Briggs, who has stood up for benefits she thought her husband and other veterans deserved.
His support for military, war remains strong
Bob Briggs clearly appreciates his wife's role. He said they initially had some trouble getting the right help, but not lately. "Michelle's done enough screaming, everyone in Washington knows who we are," he said, grinning.
As he spoke, his wife was on the phone, making arrangements to go to Washington to lobby lawmakers on veterans' issues.
She recalled that when she met him, he was a hard-partying, aimless young man. That changed after he joined the Guard at 22. "It's kind of ironic to say now, but the military saved his life," she said.
Although she has spent countless hours wrangling with Army regulations and bureaucrats, she would be proud if one of their children joined.
Bob Briggs had no hesitation when asked whether he would support his children if they wanted to become soldiers. "Yeah, I would," he said. "If they were doing it for the right reasons, I would."
The right reasons don't involve money for college, he said. They're about doing something important.
And he has no doubt that he and his buddies did something important for America and for Iraq. The United States might have gone into Iraq too quickly, and it didn't handle everything perfectly, he said, but the war was worth fighting.
Bob Briggs said his thoughts are with troops still overseas, and with the veterans trying to resume their lives. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are receiving less media attention than they used to, but he's confident the American people will remember the soldiers' contributions.
He said he has no regrets about his decision to serve.
"I signed on the line," he said. "I knew what I was getting into."
Additional Facts
Documentary series online
Bob Briggs is among the veterans featured in "In Their Boots," a documentary series available on the Internet at www.intheirboots.com. He appears in "Fractured Minds," the second episode in Season 2.
Ellie
Surviving the war: 'They knew I was dead. I proved them wrong.'
By TONY LEYS
tleys@dmreg.com
Hillsboro, Ia. - Bob Briggs isn't expecting any more miracles.
The former Iowa National Guard sergeant is still amazed to have survived a rocket blast to the head four years ago in Iraq. "If this had happened in the Vietnam War, I wouldn't have lived," he said. "Medicine has come so far."
Military medics and surgeons have learned a great deal about how to transport and treat soldiers with brain injuries, which have become a hallmark of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They saved Briggs from what his friends thought was a fatal wound. Then Veterans Affairs specialists helped him get out of bed and out of a wheelchair during months of painful and frustrating rehabilitation.
Briggs, 40, is one of hundreds of veterans rebuilding their lives after suffering head wounds. He can walk and talk, and he's resumed his role as a father and husband. He continues to improve, but the progress is slow. One of his biggest challenges is accepting the limits he will always face, including the likelihood that he will never regain full use of his left arm and leg or of his short-term memory. He still carries shrapnel in his brain and elsewhere in his body, and he'll probably never be able to hold a job again.
But he's glad he joined the military, and he believes his service and that of his fellow soldiers were worth the sacrifices they all made.
Briggs was pleased to hear that American troops were able to pull out of Iraqi cities this summer, letting Iraqi troops and police provide security.
"I think it's great, I really do," he said, then he paused. "I hope it's great. Everybody deserves to live free. I really hope they get somebody in over there that can take care of their own people."
Rocket attack leaves severe head wound
Briggs was a longtime member of the National Guard, which called him up in 2004 and shipped him to Iraq. He and the rest of the 224th Engineer Battalion were sent to the dangerous Sunni Triangle region, where their assignments included searching for roadside bombs.
Many soldiers' head injuries have occurred when insurgents blew up roadside bombs as U.S. convoys drove past. In those cases, brain damage can occur even if there is no outward sign of a head wound.
Briggs' injuries were more direct. He was sitting outside his barracks, smoking with two friends at a base in Ramadi when insurgents attacked on April 16, 2005. A rocket exploded a few feet from Briggs, hurling shrapnel into his head.
All three Iowa soldiers were injured, but Briggs was hurt the worst.
He has no recollection of the blast. "I remember a friend saying, 'Calm down, Bob, calm down. Bob, I've got you.' And then I don't remember anything else."
Other soldiers told him later that his head wound appeared beyond repair.
"They knew I was dead. They just knew it. I proved them wrong," he said.
Several Marines died in the same attack, but surgeons at an Army hospital in Iraq managed to save Briggs, partly by cutting off a large piece of his skull to make room for his swelling brain. Medical workers resuscitated him twice while they flew him from Iraq to a military hospital in Germany.
Within three days, he was in Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he spent eight weeks and began an odyssey of treatments and exercises.
His wife, Michelle, said that at first, doctors at Walter Reed talked about how her husband might fare "if he wakes up." She had no idea what to expect. But he did wake up, and he slowly came back to life.
Modern medicine saved his life, doctor says
From Walter Reed, he was sent to the Veterans Medical Center in Minneapolis, which has one of four centers nationally for soldiers with multiple traumatic injuries.
Dr. Larisa Kusar, a VA rehabilitation specialist who helped treat Briggs during his seven months in Minneapolis, said his head wound probably would have been fatal if it had happened in earlier wars.
Now, critically wounded soldiers can be evacuated more quickly. Neurosurgeons are stationed near the battlefield, to provide immediate brain surgery. And rehabilitation experts have figured out better ways to help injured soldiers recover.
Since 2004, Kusar's program has treated 170 patients like Briggs, who suffered several severe injuries at once. Besides his brain injury, he suffered facial wounds, plus he lost one eye and had debilitating bleeding in the other.
"Given all of that, I would say his recovery is pretty remarkable," she said.
The rehabilitation program teaches wounded soldiers to walk again, to read, to eat, to dress themselves.
Briggs wore a bulky protective helmet while he was in the Minneapolis program, because he still had a hole in his skull. Snapshots from then show a sunken area on top of his head. Eventually, he returned to Walter Reed, where surgeons used a tough piece of acrylic to patch the hole.
Then he went back home to rural Henry County, where he and Michelle are raising a 9-year-old daughter, Ashlea, and a 5-year-old son, Cody.
Ashlea has hazy memories of her father before he was hurt. Cody does not.
Plenty of frustration; small steps forward
As he talked on a recent afternoon, Briggs looked out the window at his big front lawn, which runs along a rural highway. He remembers playing volleyball and flying kites with his daughter. He hopes to do those things again someday.
"It ****es you off when you think about it, but I'm not giving up," he said.
The brain injury also decreased his ability to hold his temper, and he often feels edgy. He always sits with his back to the wall when he goes to a restaurant. "I still watch the exits," he said.
He chuckled, but he wasn't joking. Then he noted that it's an accomplishment to go into a crowded place, which he wouldn't do when he first returned home.
Briggs sometimes loses his train of thought, and he has a hard time concentrating enough to read for long. But he can ride a specially equipped recumbent bicycle, operate his riding lawn mower and play computer games that help improve his memory.
He also is working with a 120-pound Rottweiler named Pock, which is being trained as a guide dog to help him get around.
Briggs, who used to work for the Iowa Department of Transportation, probably will never be able to hold a job again. The couple lives on disability payments from the state and income from Michelle Briggs' pet-grooming and kennel business, which is next to their house.
This summer, Briggs regained his driver's license, allowing him to drive a minivan whose controls have been adapted for use with one hand and one foot. The license is an especially big deal, because the family lives in the country and needs to drive for nearly any errand.
He goes on camera to help others cope
Briggs agreed to be held up as an example in a national documentary series about veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The series, "In Their Boots," is distributed on the Internet. Briggs is one of four soldiers featured in a recently posted episode about brain injuries. The veterans talk candidly about how they cope with their emotions, their loss of memories and the awkward process of re-entering civilian society.
In the video, Briggs said he hopes to inspire others to keep moving forward.
"If I can do it, anybody can do it," he said. "Just because you can't walk, just because you only have one arm, you know, that's not the end of the world. There's no reason to get down about it, because there's a whole lot more to life than just sitting around feeling sorry for yourself."
Amanda Spain, a television producer from Los Angeles who worked on the documentary, interviewed dozens of Iraq War veterans, including Briggs. A few told her they wished they'd never joined the service, but they seemed to be the exception. Most veterans, like Briggs, are glad they served.
"It might have surprised me before I started working on this series," Spain said, "but I've talked to so many of these people, and they really believe in what they believe in. And an injury is not going to change that."
Spain credits Michelle Briggs, who has stood up for benefits she thought her husband and other veterans deserved.
His support for military, war remains strong
Bob Briggs clearly appreciates his wife's role. He said they initially had some trouble getting the right help, but not lately. "Michelle's done enough screaming, everyone in Washington knows who we are," he said, grinning.
As he spoke, his wife was on the phone, making arrangements to go to Washington to lobby lawmakers on veterans' issues.
She recalled that when she met him, he was a hard-partying, aimless young man. That changed after he joined the Guard at 22. "It's kind of ironic to say now, but the military saved his life," she said.
Although she has spent countless hours wrangling with Army regulations and bureaucrats, she would be proud if one of their children joined.
Bob Briggs had no hesitation when asked whether he would support his children if they wanted to become soldiers. "Yeah, I would," he said. "If they were doing it for the right reasons, I would."
The right reasons don't involve money for college, he said. They're about doing something important.
And he has no doubt that he and his buddies did something important for America and for Iraq. The United States might have gone into Iraq too quickly, and it didn't handle everything perfectly, he said, but the war was worth fighting.
Bob Briggs said his thoughts are with troops still overseas, and with the veterans trying to resume their lives. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are receiving less media attention than they used to, but he's confident the American people will remember the soldiers' contributions.
He said he has no regrets about his decision to serve.
"I signed on the line," he said. "I knew what I was getting into."
Additional Facts
Documentary series online
Bob Briggs is among the veterans featured in "In Their Boots," a documentary series available on the Internet at www.intheirboots.com. He appears in "Fractured Minds," the second episode in Season 2.
Ellie