A soldier, and an amputee, was just granted full duty status, for his re-enlistment. He passed every test, and above all else, wanted to be back with his brothers.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/09/ap-army-afghanistan-double-amputee-soldier-dan-luckett-deploys-092510/
Double amputee soldier deploys to AfghanistanBy Todd Pitman - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Sep 27, 2010 18:26:23 EDT
ASHOQEH, Afghanistan — When a bomb exploded under Dan Luckett’s Army Humvee in Iraq two years ago — blowing off one of his legs and part of his foot — the first thing he thought was: “That’s it. You’re done. No more Army for you.”
But two years later, the 27-year-old Norcross, Ga., native is back on duty — a double-amputee fighting on the front lines of America’s Afghan surge in one of the most dangerous parts of this volatile country.
Luckett’s remarkable recovery can be attributed in part to dogged self-determination. But technological advances have been crucial: Artificial limbs today are so effective, some war-wounded like Luckett are not only able to do intensive sports like snow skiing, they can return to active duty as fully operational soldiers.
The Pentagon says 41 American amputee veterans are now serving in combat zones worldwide.
Luckett was a young platoon leader on his first tour in Iraq when an explosively formed penetrator — a bomb that hurls an armor-piercing lump of molten copper — ripped through his vehicle on a Baghdad street on Mother’s Day 2008.
His Humvee cabin instantly filled with heavy gray smoke and the smell of burning diesel and molten metal. Luckett felt an excruciating pain and a “liquid” — his blood — pouring out of his legs. He looked down and saw a shocking sight: his own left foot sheered off above the ankle and his right boot a bloody mangle of flesh and dust.
Still conscious, he took deep breaths and made a deliberate effort to calm down.
By February 2009, he had progressed so far, he could run a mile in eight minutes.He rejoined his unit at Fort Campbell, Ky., and told his battalion commander he wanted to return to duty “only if I could be an asset, not a liability,” he recalled.
Months later, he passed a physical fitness test to attain the Expert Infantryman’s Badge. It required running 12 miles in under three hours with a 35-pound backpack. It was a crucial moment, Luckett said, “because I knew if I can get this badge, then there’s nothing they can say that I’m not capable of doing.”The Army agreed, and promoted him to captain.
In May, he deployed to Afghanistan.
On his first patrol, wearing 50 pounds of gear and body armor, Luckett slipped and fell down. But when he looked around, everybody else was falling, too.
On one of those early patrols, Luckett took to a knee and his pants leg rode up a little bit, revealing the prosthetic limb to a shocked group of Afghan soldiers nearby, Auge said. One gave him the nickname, the “One-legged Warrior of Ashoqeh.”
Beside his cramped bunk-bed, the 185-pound, 5-foot-11 Luckett keeps prosthetic legs for different tasks, each with a carbon fiber socket that attaches to his thigh.
One is fitted with a tennis shoe for running, another a boot. One, made of aluminum so it won’t rust, has a waterproof black Croc for showering. The most important leg though, he saves for patrols. It is made with a high-tech axle that allows him to move smoothly over uneven terrain. His squad leader painted its toenails purple.
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Truly, words cannot express the sacrifice and sheer fortitude our soldiers have.
God Bless Them
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