Free Republic

INJURED US Marine Corporal Michael John Mead wants his boots back - so he can get back in the fight. The 20-year-old, from Newberry, Michigan, was among several Marines injured when their armoured personnel carrier was ambushed by Iraqi troops in the southern city of Nassiriyah, a key river crossing point, last Sunday. Fighting back tears, he spoke to journalists on board the USNS Comfort hospital ship, about the war that has changed forever his life and the lives of many others. Cpl Mead suffered severe burns and shrapnel wounds to his right leg and has undergone several operations to...

Wounded U.S. Marine Sgt Jose Torres (C), a native of Lorain, Ohio, looks up as he listens to comforting words from MARCENT Marine Sgt Major Royce Coffee (L) after he received the Purple Heart Medal on board the Hospital Ship USNS Comfort in the Gulf, March 30, 2003. Torres is one of nine Marines receiving medical treatment on the Comfort who were awarded Purple Heart medals for battle wounds received during Operation Iraqi Freedom.Wounded U.S. Marine Corporal Michael Mead, 20, a native of Newberry, Michigan wears the Purple Heart Medal on board the Hospital Ship USNS Comfort in the Gulf,...