http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15752580&BRD=2212&PAG=461&dept_id=465812&rfi=6Almost killed, a new view of the war By MICHAEL RUBINKAM
The Associated Press
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Knowles, a tank gunner, just barely got out alive.
On May 4, 2004, he was riding in an M1 Abrams tank that was ambushed. A rocket-propelled grenade hit the top of the tank. Since the hatch was open, Knowles was hit with shrapnel that entered his back and went out his shoulder. His helmet was also blown off.
As he waited for a medical helicopter, he could feel himself going into shock; he thought about his German-born wife and their infant daughter. Doctors later told him that fragments had come within 1 millimeter of his heart and 2 millimeters of his lung. But he would be OK.
Knowles left the service in October 2004. He suffers from occasional shoulder pain but otherwise has a normal life. He's now a train conductor for Norfolk Southern. He has since come to oppose the war. "After seeing friends die and almost dying myself, I think American soldiers are, I wouldn't say dying for nothing, but it's needless and I think we need to bring everybody home."
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