Posted on 09/10/2006 8:20:52 AM PDT by knighthawk
Michael McNaughton had been all over the globe with the Army and had seen the destruction that land mines wrought in Bosnia, so as soon as he stepped on a mine in Afghanistan, "I knew I lost my leg."
That day, Jan. 9, 2003, would surely change his life, but the transformation had actually begun on 9/11, in his sadness and anger over the attacks on the city, and continues still with his resilience, and desire to serve his country.
McNaughton grew up in Tarrytown and joined the Army in 1990, at 18. His last duty was at Fort Polk, La., where he met his wife. He retired in December 2000 and got a job with an engineering corporation.
On Sept. 11, 2001, he tried to reach his family in New York. His sister and her husband lived and worked in lower Manhattan.
"I felt so bad, I couldn't get ahold of my family," said McNaughton, whose Southern drawl obliterates any trace of New York.
He found himself pulling out his old uniform, and rejoined the Army weeks after.
"I told my wife, Kim, I needed to join back up. I felt I had a lot of knowledge; the Army had helped me, now they needed help," said McNaughton, 34.
He went into the National Guard's 769th Engineer Battalion out of Baton Rouge, La. In May 2002, he was called up for Afghanistan. "I'm not gonna tell you I wasn't excited to go," said McNaughton. "But my wife wasn't happy.
"They asked for volunteers for mine clearing. I had dealt with that in Bosnia; the guys in my unit were young, scared, and I thought I would step up."
He was in Afghanistan for more than seven months when he walked into an area near the city of Bagram he had been told was cleared. He lost his right leg from above the knee and two fingers on his right hand.
He was sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center for months of rehab. "I got the first micropressure knee, C-leg," he said. He met President Bush there. "I said someday I could outrun him."
In April 2004, McNaughton ran with Bush on the South Lawn of the White House.
He now works for the Department of Homeland Security as an operations specialist in the Office of Emergency Preparedness but still wishes he could be overseas. "When I hear about someone getting hurt over there, I feel bad," he said.
McNaughton went to Ground Zero just weeks after he lost his leg. "The reason I joined the Army was because of what happened there ... it was a complete circle."
Ping
God bless him and his devotion to his country. I just wish there were about 299 million others just like him.
Our troops make me so proud.
"God bless him and his devotion to his country. I just wish there were about 299 million others just like him."
Amen and maybe there's some gene in him we can cultivate and inject into Democrats.
Well Said!
&
Amen!
Okay...make that three...;o)
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