JohnCushman
Well-known member
Memorial Day is always a hard holiday for me.
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This is my buddy Izzy. He always got on me about smoking and complained about how I stunk up his vehicle. He always listened to me and had advice about my marriage and was always quick with a joke in troubled times. He was supposed to have retired, but extended to deploy with us. He was a squad leader in Scout Platoon. He was married and the father of 6 kids. He was sitting in front of me the day we got hit the second time. He lost both legs from the knees down, his right arm, plus had inhilation burns. I kept him alive until we got the MEDEVAC flight about 45 minutes later, but he eventually died in Baghdad a couple hours later. His death still haunts me to this day. As a medic, I can understand and accept his death due to his injuries. As a friend, I can't. There's not a day that goes by that I wouldn't gladly trade places with him.
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This is my buddy Izzy. He always got on me about smoking and complained about how I stunk up his vehicle. He always listened to me and had advice about my marriage and was always quick with a joke in troubled times. He was supposed to have retired, but extended to deploy with us. He was a squad leader in Scout Platoon. He was married and the father of 6 kids. He was sitting in front of me the day we got hit the second time. He lost both legs from the knees down, his right arm, plus had inhilation burns. I kept him alive until we got the MEDEVAC flight about 45 minutes later, but he eventually died in Baghdad a couple hours later. His death still haunts me to this day. As a medic, I can understand and accept his death due to his injuries. As a friend, I can't. There's not a day that goes by that I wouldn't gladly trade places with him.