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I'll be sending this Marine a knife on behalf of the Hole when he is more stable.

These are the emails I've been getting from Celeste...the first two are from a mutual friend and the last one is an email forwarded from the mom.

It's hard for me to read...

Nov 30, 2004
Dear Ones,
Thanksgiving Day, our dear friends only child, Andy was seriously wounded in Iraq. Andy turned 21 on the 19th of the Nov. His father was a Ranger and turned 21 in Vietnam. His mother is an elementary school teacher.
I received this e-mail tonight. Please, please pray for this family, for all our soldiers and their families, and especially for Andy.
Freedom isn't free.
Andy arrived in Bethesda Naval Hospital around 9 pm last night...we were waiting for him at the hospital....once they got him settled...and briefed us about his condition...we were able to see him.....he tolerated the flight very well..he is heavily sedated and still on a respirator...but only so they can monitor the pain...his lungs, kidneys, heart, etc. are very strong and he has no fever. They plan to ween him off the sedation and remove the ventilator tomorrow. He is receiving excellent care...has more specialists than I can keep track of!!!! After talking with them and seeing how they treat him, we have confidence that he and his fellow Marines are receiving the best of care. Today he had an MRI to make sure there is no neurological damage...his came back "all clear". His CT scan showed no injuries to his spine. Then he was taken to surgery to clean his arm and leg wounds. This will be repeated in 48 hours. He will be reevaluated by opthalmology once he can respond to questions and open his eyes. But it appears that most of the damage is facial fractures....his jaw is fine...but his nose and his right orb and sinus will need to be reevaluated. They will also look at his ears again now that the stabilizing collar is off. (Both eardrums were blown out)Tomorrow he will undergo an angiogram to determine any vascular damage in his right leg. So far the veins, etc on the inside if his leg/foot are maintaining good circulation ...his foot was warm to the touch and had good color. The fracture of his lower tibia is severe. Part of the bone is missing....he will be going through a series of surgeries to repair muscle, bone and possibly the veins, if needed. Right now the leg is stabilized with a "web" of metal rods and bolts. the wound is being cleansed and treated with antibiotic "beads" packed in the wound to prevent infection. Once they feel that is no longer a threat, they will begin repairing everything else. We have no idea how long this will all take...months I'm sure. We plan to be here at least 2 weeks...and then we'll see how he's progressing.
We want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers...once Andy is out of ICU, I will send an address if you'd like to send him a card.
Everyone has been wonderful to us as well....they are very concerned about us....Andy's rear detachment CO and 1st Sgt. from LeJeune were waiting for us when we got here. We also found out that Andy and his Gunnery Sgt were injured when a "command" or remote detonated device exploded under their vehicle...they were both on the right side and received the worst injuries. the "Gunny" is still in Germany with severe head trauma. Please keep him in your prayers as well.
Dec. 2, 2004
Dear Ones,
Just got off the phone with Andy's mom.
Praises first. Andy is off the respirator, but still in ICU. He is able to hear and responds appropriately. Also, his right eye is "fine". He can see out of the eye, although he has double vision and trouble focusing at times.He will have another CAT scan focusing on his face, especially the bones in his face, tomorrow. Also, he will have an angiogram tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET to check his leg.
There is concern in rebuilding his leg. Andy has begun to run a fever and he will have to have multiple treatments to remove any dead or damaged tissue from his leg and make certain there are no infections before they can begin the surgeries, etc. to rebuild his leg. Andy had surgery again today to debride his wounds. He will have to have another "washout" on Saturday. The leg wounds appear not to have any infection, but they continue to put in the antibiotic "beads". He had to have 2 pints of blood today. His heart rate was too high and there was concern about balancing his fluid levels. He lost a great deal of blood when they were hit and had to have blood coming from Baghdad to Germany, then again when he was moved from Germany to Maryland. Face, shoulder, body, leg, multiple shrapnel wounds...
Another concern is his response to the repeated sedation and anesthesia. He comes out and then must have strong medication for the pain from his wounds, etc. and then he has to be knocked out again for another procedure! His dad says there is still too much to be processed from the ambush, etc. in Andy's head. His dad has "been there and done that" and I think that's another of God's mercies in all this. His mom told me that she just wishes they could fast-forward through the year.
They have faith. They are so very grateful. But the road is long and their boy is suffering and will continue to go through so much....
Thank you for praying. Please, please continue to remember each of them. I will forward an address when Andy is moved to a room or ward.
Monday, December 06, 2004
Forwarded email from this Marine’s mom
It’s been a pretty good day, although Andy spent most of the day sleeping, deep snoring-type sleep, he will awaken and talk to us fairly clearly. He squeezed my hand today and said, “It’s going to be alright, Ma!” (It’s OK to cry now!!!!!) He responds to questions, talks using complete sentences “Ma, I keep having these weird dreams.” We still have times when it is hard to understand him and you can tell he is struggling to speak clearly. The scratches on his face are healing and so is the bruising...he's looking more and more like Andy! He definitely doesn't like the feeding tube in his nose and would like to pull it out, so they have to keep him slightly restrained. Despite his injuries, he moves pretty quickly, as his nurses are finding out! He periodically spikes a fever, so he will not be moved out of ICU until they discover the cause. All the blood cultures they have done have come back b negative for the bacterias coming in with the guys from Iraq. They took him to surgery yesterday to clean the leg wound and will do so again later this week, they cannot begin any reconstruction until the threat of infection is controlled. Once he’s more lucid for longer periods, they will test his swallowing ability and start to allow him to eat. Feeding him through a feeding tube allows them to make sure his belly is working right before they let him eat. I left him sleeping peacefully tonight. I hope he has a good night.
Hope all of you are doing well. Once again, we appreciate your prayers and support, they are our source of strength, patience, and hope. Andy’s journey this next year will be a challenging one, but he is strong - mentally and physically and with your continued prayers and positive thoughts, our Marine will be himself again soon!
God Bless you all!