Wednesday, June 22, 2005

MilBogger wounded in IED attack – Recovering in Landstuhl

…..the first thing he asked when he was pulled from the canal (the blast blew him into a canal) was: "Be honest with me, guys. Do I still have my face and my 'package'?"
Army Captain Chuck Ziegenfuss of From My Position... On the way! was wounded in Iraq on 21 JUN by an IED. His wife Carren has an update on his condition here.

The Executive Summary from Landstuhl:
He will have another surgery tomorrow. These are the "basics" of his injuries, although none of them are fun to talk about.

1. He has severe nerve damage in his left hand and has lost his left pinky (all of it). It will be a long recovery for his hand due to the nerve damage.
2. His right thumb is pretty messed up and the docs are not sure how much he will lose or keep... he may be okay and keep his thumb, we just don't know yet.
3. ALL of his internal organs are okay. One of his lungs is bruised, but not damaged.
4. His brain, spine, and neck are all okay... paralysis is not an issue.
5. He has no muscle damage in his legs or arms, but his right thigh has been damaged.
6. His face was "peppered" by shrapnel. He has a cut on his right cheek, which has been stitched up.
Carren sounds like a woman the best deserve. She says something to you-know-who out there lurking in the MilBlogger realm.
For those who may be thinking, "We just need to bring all the troops home and forget this war," let me tell a quick story.

As you know I told Creighton that his daddy was hurt and that he will be okay and coming home soon. One of the questions he asked was, "Why did Daddy have to go so far away to get the bad guys?" I said, "Daddy had to go far away to fight the bad guys so we are safe here in the US. We don't want the bad guys to be here in our country, so brave men and women like Daddy go far away to make sure that never happens." (A side note... a 5 year old is too young to understand that bad guys are here in the US and managed to do some serious damage on 9/11).
Godspeed Chuck.

Hat tip Blackfive.

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