Veteran won't be defined by his injuries

By JONA ISON
Gazette Staff Writer

GREENLAND - Glenn Minney has always wanted to help people.

The Lima Company veteran has been a firefighter, a Ross County Sheriff's deputy, a Chillicothe Veterans Affairs Medical Center officer, an emergency medical technician, and a Navy hospital corpsman.

"You can't do these jobs if you can't see," he said.
Minney's sight is anything but perfect after he was injured in Iraq two years ago.

Mortar attack
April 18, 2005, Minney found himself on top of Haditha Dam in Iraq when there was a mortar attack. About 30 feet in front of him, a mortar landed and propelled him backward about 30 feet, leaving him stunned. The first thing he remembered was running toward the battalion aide station because he knew his services as a corpsman would be needed.

"I was going there to help others. I wasn't even thinking of myself. I was alive, running, I had two arms and two legs," Minney said. "I never really knew I had an injury. My eyes hurt a little bit and I had a headache."

Minney, 40, continued helping those wounded from the mortar attack and it wasn't until the next day when he asked someone to examine him. With rudimentary equipment to work with, Minney was diagnosed with pink eye and treated several times.

He continued on missions, patrols and worked in battalion aide stations; however, little by little, he noticed his vision was becoming tunneled and he was going blind. In mid-August, Minney couldn't put off telling others the extent of his injuries because he knew he was becoming a liability.

Life-changing injury
Minney was taken out of Iraq by medevac and then flown to Germany after discovering the damage done during the mortar attack four months earlier. The retinas of both eyes had detached, blood vessels in both eyes had ruptured, his right eye had a hole and vitreous fluid was running out.

He had two surgeries at Homburg University Eye Center in Germany and a scleral buckle was placed behind his right eye to hold it together.

Minney wondered if he'd be able to see again and how he was going to be able to support his family as a firefighter at the VA in the civilian world without being able to see. Minney drew strength from thinking positively, knowing first-hand what other injuries he could have.

"I saw so many different injuries working in the battalion aide stations, amputations ... all that way up to death," Minney said. "I knew after my surgery, I'm still alive and I'm going to help others."

He lacks perception in his right eye, which is basically blind, and his left eye has 20/70 vision. He can't fire a gun, play ball with his two daughters (he lacks depth perception) and he doesn't read as much as he used to. Later, after going to several military and civilian hospitals, the Chillicothe VA discovered he also had sustained brain damage during the mortar attack. No one had X-rayed his head, but had always concentrated on his vision. The main affect has been trouble focusing and short-term memory loss. He often carries a notepad with him at work and uses an organizer on the computer to keep track of his day.

After returning from Germany, Minney was in North Carolina when he got a call about an opening at the VA for a patient advocate. He retired from the Navy and returned home near Frankfort where he grew up.

Inspirational
As a patient advocate at the VA, Minney is still helping out the Marines - which was his passion and goal when he signed up with the Navy, he said. He's been in the position a year and two months.

"I initially joined the Navy to be a corpsman, to be assigned to the Marines to help Marines," Minney said. "One of my greatest passions was to help Marines. This position allows me to help all divisions ... I wear a suit instead of digital (camouflage) but I still consider it a uniform and I'm still helping."

In August, Minney went to the Blinded Veterans of American Convention in New Mexico where he was asked to speak to other members. While there, he and other veterans - some completely blind - were given the opportunity to skydive.

So, about two years from the day when he decided it was time to tell someone about his vision problems in the Navy, Minney strapped himself to a skydive instructor and jumped 1,000 feet from a plane.

"Now, if only I could find someone around here who would allow me to jump again," he said with a laugh.

While his next jump may be a bit down the road, Minney is being recognized Thursday by Vision and Vocational Services at its annual holiday open house. Minney's success story, which included the assistance of Vision and Vocational Services and has been told to several audiences, including USA Todayand CNN, will be added to the services' Wall of Accomplishments.

"There's a lot of different feelings," Minney said of the recognition. "It makes me feel like a role model. Even though you're injured, you don't have to give up."

Minney isn't only a role model to other veterans, but also to some of his coworkers like Teresa Mock.

"At the VA, he serves as a role model and to remind each VA employee whom we are serving," she wrote in an e-mail. "Rarely does he complain about his disabilities as he struggles to perform minor tasks such as typing. He has had to adapt "his working style to accommodate his problems with short-term memory loss. He does this without thinking of himself, only about how he can make a difference. He is truly my inspiration to continue working for veterans."


(Ison can be reached at 772-9367 or via e-mail at jison@nncogannett.com)

Ellie