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Standing Tall: G.I. Lost Leg, Back at War
New York Daily News ^ | June 8, 2005 | MAKI BECKER

Posted on 06/08/2005 11:01:06 AM PDT by West Coast Conservative

Spec. George Perez, 21, a paratrooper with the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division, is on his way to Afghanistan, a year and a half after a bomb destroyed his left leg and killed his best friend.

Perez, who grew up in Carteret, N.J., called home yesterday during a stopover in Germany on his way to catch up with his unit, already deployed to Afghanistan, his proud father told the Daily News.

George Perez Sr. said he's "100%" behind his soldier son's decision to return to combat. "I worry about him a little," he said, "but I have a lot of confidence in God."

Spec. Perez was wounded on Sept. 14, 2003, near the Iraqi city of Fallujah when a homemade bomb exploded under his Humvee. His best friend, Sgt. Trevor Blumberg, died instantly in the explosion.

Perez's lower left leg was badly mangled and, after a succession of surgeries, doctors decided to amputate below the knee.

He was soon outfitted with a prosthetic leg and began to learn how to use it.

"I'm definitely staying in the military, I guarantee," Perez told the Raleigh News & Observer in North Carolina just two months after the bombing. "It takes something bigger than this to scare me, and I'll fight for it if I have to."

His father marveled at his recovery. "It's like nothing happened to him," the older Perez said. "He swims, he runs, he plays basketball, he races cars."

By December 2004, the soldier was ready to try a parachute jump. He made it - but his new leg didn't. It broke apart as he landed.

With a new, reinforced prosthetic, he tried again in March and got the medical clearance to join the rest of his unit, now in Afghanistan.

Perez Sr. said he's not surprised by his son's determination.

When Spec. Perez was a little boy, his dad recalled, he would sneak off with his father's dog tags - from when the elder Perez was in the Army - and say, "I'm going to be a soldier, too."


TOPICS: Extended News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: hero; military; oif; reups; warinafghanistan; wariniraq; waronterror; wia

1 posted on 06/08/2005 11:01:07 AM PDT by West Coast Conservative
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To: West Coast Conservative

This is the Heart of a Patriot.........


2 posted on 06/08/2005 11:05:04 AM PDT by marmar (Even though I may look different then you...my blood runs red, white and blue.....)
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To: West Coast Conservative

God bless this paratrooper. My sister is an amputee. The movie "Men Of Honor" changed her life.

While living in Boulder I used to frequent gun shows. I used to always see an older man, dressed as a veteran (I always assumed it was WW2). He had a bumper sticker in his display that said, "On the 8th day God created paratroopers and the devil stood at attention." I always wanted to talk to this man. I wish I would have.


3 posted on 06/08/2005 11:05:27 AM PDT by WV Mountain Mama (Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.)
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To: West Coast Conservative

As long as we have such men, we will never be defeated.

Note to terrorists: "Our men are so tough that you can blow their limbs off - and they'll still come back and hunt you down."


4 posted on 06/08/2005 11:05:43 AM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: West Coast Conservative

I'd like to have someone film John Kerry's reaction when asked if he would do the same if he were a soldier in Afghanistan today.


5 posted on 06/08/2005 11:08:04 AM PDT by naturalized (Some folks look at me and see a certain swagger, which in Texas is called walking.)
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To: Spktyr

Add to that, you had better kill them the first time, because one shot ain't enough :)


6 posted on 06/08/2005 11:09:39 AM PDT by MikefromOhio (10,000 posts by 29 June!!! 9,494 replies and counting)
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To: West Coast Conservative

I look around, McD's,etc., and wonder where we find the teriffic young men like Spec. Perez. I'm sure their families have a lot to do with it, and then placing them in the right circumstances--disciplined military training programs.

Thank you, Spec. Perez. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Perez.


7 posted on 06/08/2005 11:10:46 AM PDT by krunkygirl
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To: West Coast Conservative
Spec. George Perez is definitely someone to admire and respect. He is the antithesis of a certain former dimoCRACKtic presidential candidate.
8 posted on 06/08/2005 11:14:59 AM PDT by NCC-1701 (THE ACLU IS A CULT!!!!! IT MUST BE ERADICATED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH.)
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To: MikeinIraq

And even then, you better make doubly sure, because some night you might wake up to find that "dead" American at the other end of the rifle pointed between your eyes.


9 posted on 06/08/2005 11:31:59 AM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: West Coast Conservative

Wow!! Now that's a story. I'm sure this will be featured on the nightly news shows and in the New York Times...NOT!


10 posted on 06/08/2005 11:34:05 AM PDT by Inwoodian
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To: Spktyr

yeah pretty much :)


11 posted on 06/08/2005 11:39:24 AM PDT by MikefromOhio (10,000 posts by 29 June!!! 9,494 replies and counting)
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To: naturalized

Kerry wouldn't have a leg to stand on (sorry, I just couldn't help it.).


12 posted on 06/08/2005 11:41:31 AM PDT by Marysecretary (Thank you, Lord, for FOUR MORE YEARS!!!)
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To: Spktyr

That's right. This guy is a true American hero. He deserves more than a purple heart. God bless him and his parents for the great job they did in raising him.


13 posted on 06/08/2005 11:43:02 AM PDT by Marysecretary (Thank you, Lord, for FOUR MORE YEARS!!!)
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To: West Coast Conservative

Awesome story. Awesome young man.


14 posted on 06/08/2005 12:06:40 PM PDT by USArmySpouse
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To: West Coast Conservative

AIRBORNE!!

(when only the truly nuts will do!!)


15 posted on 06/08/2005 12:30:38 PM PDT by cavtrooper21 (Crazy is standing in the door... Brave is stepping out. Airborne ALL THE WAY!!!!)
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To: West Coast Conservative

How do you say "I salute you, Sir" in Hispanic?



sp


16 posted on 06/08/2005 12:34:24 PM PDT by sodpoodle (The Ivory Billed Woodpecker discovered Arkansas - when HRC moved to NY)
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To: sodpoodle
How do you say "I salute you, Sir" in Hispanic?

You say it English - he's an American.

17 posted on 06/08/2005 1:03:34 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows ("Robert Byrd:He may have 'gone under the water,' but the preacher didn't hold him down long enough.")
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To: Slings and Arrows

BINGO!


18 posted on 06/09/2005 5:47:44 AM PDT by sodpoodle (The Ivory Billed Woodpecker discovered Arkansas - when HRC moved to NY)
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