E-8 is first above-the-knee amputee to return to Iraq

[unhappycamper]

E-8 is first above-the-knee amputee to return to Iraq
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Apr 27, 2008 17:44:41 EDT

OKLAHOMA CITY — A Marine from Oklahoma has become the first person with an above-the-knee amputation to return to combat in Iraq.

Master Sgt. William “Spanky” Gibson, 37, needed his left leg amputated above the knee after he was shot by a sniper while pulling an Iraqi soldier out of harm’s way in Ramadi, Iraq, in May 2006. After competing in triathlons on his new carbon-fiber leg, he was allowed to return to Iraq, where he serves as a fire chief in Fallujah.

His wife, Chaney Gibson of Lawton, said he wanted to return to combat to get closure and to prove to himself that he could do it.

“It was definitely harder this time,” said Chaney Gibson, who is a former Marine. “It was emotional for me to imagine sending him back to the place where we almost lost him.

“You kind of have two different feelings. From the wife standpoint you have all the emotions and don’t want him to go, but from the Marine perspective, I totally understand it and respect it.”


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_marine_amputee_042708/

[rakeeb]

1. We've had an E8 with an at-the-knee amputation

over here all year, wouldn't take no for an answer.