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Wounded Warrior Wants To Return To Iraq
February 22, 2008
We often hear our Troops who are wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, express their desire to return to the battlefield. Some achieve that goal and others don’t. For one Arkansas National Guardsman, who was wounded on June 13, 2004, the desire to return to Iraq is strong. He says that it’s a sense of duty to the deployed men and women that keeps nagging at him and pushing him to go back. He wants them to know that just because a servicemember is injured, that doesn’t mean that he forgets about his buddies who are still in harms way.
Kevin and Danielle Pannell take a break at Ivan’s Local Flavor Stress Free Bar at White Bay Campgrounds on Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands, on Oct. 20, 2007. The couple was part of a small group of wounded veterans and their spouses who participated in Team River Runner’s first adaptive kayaking trip to the Virgin Islands. (Photo by Samantha L. Quigley
On that fateful day in 2004, then Sgt. Kevin Pannell was conducting a routine foot patrol with his unit in the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, when they were ambushed by insurgents. The insurgents lobbed two grenades at the group, which landed near Pannel and exploded. The explosion knocked him off his feet and mangled both of his legs.
“I was never knocked out, so my medic wouldn’t let me go to sleep - because when you go to sleep, shock sets in,” Pannell said.
When he arrived at the hospital in Baghdad, that changed, when doctors there put him into a medically induced coma. It was eight days before he woke up at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and found out that doctors had to amputate his right leg below the knee and his left leg above the knee.
“It’s kind of surreal, because you don’t remember that. It doesn’t seem like it really happened,” he said. “To me, I went to sleep in Baghdad and woke up two minutes later.”
It’s been almost 4 years since he lost his legs. Almost 4 years that involved 2 prosthetic legs and lots of physical therapy. Pannell is up walking again and wants to return to Iraq, despite the injuries he received there, which changed his world. He won’t be able to return as a Soldier, as he’s since been medically retired. He thinks about the insurgents who’s grenades changed his life, but is realistic enough to know that finding them would be virtually impossible.
“It’s so hard to get those guys. They skip over two streets, change their shirts and they’re not who they were,” he said. “Unless you’ve been studying this guy on the ‘black list,’ you’re not going to recognize him on the street.â€
The desire to show his commrades that he’s not been stopped, is what drives him, each and every day. The desire to show them that he’s still the same person and that he cares about them and what happens to them.
“I think it would be vitally important for those dudes to realize that once we get hurt, we don’t forget about them,” Pannell said. “That’s something a lot of people can’t understand, but it’s impossible. It’s impossible to forget your guys.”
Pannell’s attitude about returning is like that of so many others who’ve been injured. The drive and determination to let his fellow Soldiers know that he’s still ‘got their backs.’ He also feels that those who weren’t injured as badly as he was, actually have it worse than he did. As he said, once he recovered from his injuries, he could get on with his life and would be safe doing so. His buddies who returned to the warzone after recovering from their injuries, were still left with the uncertainty of still being in the warzone.
“Once I got hit, I was safe. I was back in the States, and the war was over for me,” he said. “They were going out those gates every day, not knowing if they’re going to come back or not. That’s a hell of a thing to bear, you know?”
Pannell’s wife Danielle, is supportive of his desire to return to Iraq, though her reason for supporting him may be different from his. She feels that he needs to go back to Iraq, for closure, to say goodbye to that part of his life. To prove that the insurgents didn’t defeat him, even though they took his legs from him.
“He went into Iraq a scared little kid and came out the same way, because he never really got to say goodbye, never go to have closure in that part of his life. When he left he was unconscious,” she said. “He wants to go back and say; ‘Look, I’m here. You didn’t defeat me.’”
Pannell is hoping that he’ll get the chance. He’s hoping that perhaps, he’ll be able to go along on a USO tour, perhaps accompanying an entertainer or artist. Perhaps he’ll be able to go back in the capacity of a contract worker. Regardless of what capacity he goes back, it’s something that he feels strongly about.
“If anybody wants me to tag along on a USO trip, I’m down,” he said. “Drew Carey goes over like every six months; I can hop on with him.”
I hope that Sgt. Pannell will have the opportunity to go back to Iraq and bring the closure he needs to that part of his life. I’m sure that his return, will also be beneficial and therapeautic to the Soldiers still serving in Iraq. Sgt. Pannell’s story is one that speaks loudly about the character, conviction, sense of duty and devotion of so many of our brave Warriors.
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[...] Terri wrote an interesting post today on Wounded Warrior Wants To Return To IraqHere’s a quick excerptWe often hear our Troops who are wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, express their desire to return to the battlefield. Some achieve that goal and others don’t. For one Arkansas National Guardsman, who was wounded on June 13, 2004, … [...]
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