By Michael Briggs
12th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs |
RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas, March 1, 2006 — He stirs every few minutes as he sits talking in the living room of his base housing unit. He doesn't show it with any grimace on his face, but he has not yet healed from the wounds he received in combat less than three months ago, so he adjusts his position on the couch to get as comfortable as he can.
All the while, he talks frankly, pulling his 4-year-old daughter near at times, about what he remembers of the events halfway around the world that have led him here.
Senior Airman Dan Acosta said his team had spent an average day on Dec. 7, much like most of the previous 90 or so days they had spent in and around Baghdad - if disarming bombs can be considered “average” for anyone outside the explosive ordnance disposal career field.
He said he remembers everything up to the last mission of the day, and then his mind has a six-day blank that others have since helped fill in with the life-changing events that unfolded that day in western Baghdad.
The 21-year-old airman from Joliet, Ill., was a member of a 12-person explosive ordnance disposal team dispatched to locate and disarm a suspected improvised explosive device in a crater where a previous IED had gone off.
It was not uncommon for the team from the 447th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron to conduct several missions like this in a day, where they would locate and disarm bombs insurgents had placed throughout Iraq’s capital.
“As we were setting up our safe area, we conducted a search and I actually found a secondary device, another IED there about 100 meters from the first device,” he said. “So we backed out with our security element about 200 meters down the road. We then took care of the first and second IED.”
Mission accomplished, or so Acosta and his teammates thought.
“When we were getting packed up to go, I noticed the area still looked a little suspicious so I told my teammate we should check it out, because we can’t leave a scene without verifying it’s clear,” he recalled. “As we were checking it out, I stepped on a pressure plate and set off an IED, so there was a third IED there.”
That’s where Acosta’s memory of Dec. 7 ends.
The bomb had exploded within 20 feet of him, knocking him to the ground and injuring him severely. He lost his left arm in the blast and his legs suffered extensive wounds.
“The overpressure took the sand and dirt off the ground and literally sandblasted my legs like you would sandblast a patio or something,” he said of his leg burns.
Despite life-threatening injuries, Acosta’s teammates have since told him he jumped to his feet immediately after the blast.
“I only remember up to the explosion, but from what I’ve been told, apparently I got up right away and was concerned about everybody else, because I didn’t realize it had blown up on me,” he said. “I told everyone to back out and asked if anyone was hurt.
When I tried to walk, I immediately collapsed due to the injuries to my legs.”
That’s when Staff Sgt. Joseph Upton stepped in to render first aid. He’s a certified combat lifesaver who was deployed with Acosta and eight other EOD specialists from their home unit, the 775th Civil Engineer Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
“I lost my arm instantly, so he stopped the bleeding there and then wrapped up my legs,” Acosta said. “With the amount of |
 |
| U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Dan Acosta uses an exercise ball to help him complete squats Feb. 23 at the burn rehabilitation center at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. U.S. Air Force photo by Steve White |
|
|
|
blood I was losing and at the rate I was losing it, I wouldn’t have made it had he not done what he did.”
Acosta was then airlifted by helicopter to a field hospital in Baghdad where life-saving surgeries and transfusions stabilized him for the trip out of theater. From Baghdad, he was flown to Balad Air Base, Iraq, then to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and finally to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where he arrived Dec. 11.
“The first thing I remembered after the explosion was waking up in the hospital here in San Antonio on Dec. 13, six days later,” he said.
His wife, Sandy, had been at his bedside since his arrival and after the disorientation passed, she told him what had happened to him.
“When I first woke up, I didn’t realize it was her and didn’t know where I was,” he said. “I thought I was still in Iraq.”
Acosta credits Upton with saving his life, Sandy for getting him through the toughest times since then, and the doctors, nurses and therapists at the medical center for getting him on the road to recovery.
He’s had skin grafts to repair the damage to his legs and was fitted in late January with an electronic prosthetic left arm. He now faces about 18 months of rehabilitation, he said.
And then he wants to do more than just be healed and healthy. He wants to stay in the Air Force in the explosive ordnance disposal career field.
That may surprise some people who hear what’s he’s been through, but to Acosta and his wife the decision wasn’t a hard one to make.
“I love everything about the Air Force and EOD, and that’s what I want to continue to do,” he said.
Sandy said she knew before they even discussed the subject a few days into his recovery that’s how he felt.
“I know he loves what he does, so I couldn’t picture him getting out and doing something else besides EOD,” she said. “The Air Force has treated us very well and everyone has been so supportive, which is a big part of the reason we want to stay in.”
While the process to determine if he is even eligible to remain on active duty is still a long way off, Acosta is focusing on that goal as he goes through some tough and sometimes frustrating physical therapy sessions. He said Sandy and his two daughters are the reason he has come through the ordeal with a positive attitude.
“I have a lot of support, especially from my wife, who deserves all the credit, because she’s the one I can talk to about things and open up to get things off my chest where I’ll start feeling better, which helps me keep that positive attitude,” he said.
Some advice from the nurses at the medical center also helped him keep his chin up, he said.
“While I was still in the hospital, I had some really good nurses who told me having a positive attitude was the best way for me to get through it,” Acosta said. “I always try to keep a positive attitude. I witnessed people in the hospital who gave up, and when they give up, they don’t recover.”
His other family – the Air Force family – provided much of his desire to remain an airman, he said.
“You always hear about how the Air Force is a family and how close we are,” Acosta said. “We never really experienced that until this situation. The Air Force does come together as a family and take care of its people, which is great. That support is what helps with this rehab.”
Part of that support was getting his children to San Antonio. He hadn’t seen them in about six months, so the Air Force worked hard to get them here as soon as possible, he said. The children joined him and Sandy in early February.
Although he is administratively assigned to the patient squadron at Lackland Air Force Base on the other side of San Antonio, he is living in base housing at Randolph, which is closer to the Army medical center where he is being treated.
“Housing at Randolph makes everything a lot easier,” Sandy said. “It’s convenient and our support group is nearby, so if we ever need anything, we know we’re going to be taken care of.”
Acosta has been assigned a family liaison officer, Senior Master Sgt. Mark Hepner, who is the EOD functional manager at Air Education and Training Command headquarters here. Hepner ensures the Acosta family gets everything it needs to ensure Acosta can go through his rehab with as little stress as possible on his family.
The process has gone so well, the airman has even felt well enough to spend some time helping Hepner out at work.
“I wanted to get back in the swing of things,” he said. “I feel comfortable enough to get in uniform and go to work. It helps him out a lot and he appreciates it. He gets me involved to keep me in touch with EOD and the Air Force.” |
|
|
|
