Iraq veterans healing their wounds at Disney World
Orlando. Rosetta Floyd, 28, a mother of five, came to Disney World from Oklahoma. The army medic has had to learn to live with pain after she was severely wounded in August 2004 in an ambush in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad. She has shrapnel all over body and her left leg is held together with plates, screws and pins. BJ came from Iowa. The 23-year-old father of two lost both legs in Iraq in 2003. His friend Keith Cooper, a 24-year-old soldier from Detroit, has an intriguing scar on his neck. “I was diagnosed with cancer when I was serving in Iraq, he says. I was told I was not going to make it”. After a bone marrow transplant, Keith Cooper is now in remission. With Rosetta and BJ, he is one the 150 disabled Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who were invited to Disney World by the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes. This nonprofit organization founded in April 2004, spent $1,5 million to bring the wounded soldiers in December 2004 to Orlando for the first “Road to Recovery Conference”. In Disney World, there are prosthetics. There are burnt faces with eyes you can barely see. There are ears missing. There are wheelchairs. There are scars and stories of survival. There are kids who have had to adapt to a life with a disabled father or mother and who are dreaming of meeting Mickey. There are college football stars who are staying in the same resort and who are projecting to the disabled veterans an image of what they have lost in Iraq and in Afghanistan. In the ballroom of the Coronado Springs hotel, there is a resolute soldier. Tyler Hall, 24-year-old explosives specialist, came from Alaska with his mother. During one convoy mission near Kirkuk on August 22 2003, Hall’s unit was hit with an explosive. Tyler does not remember much of the “few seconds that changed my life more than a hundred years”. He can only speak about what his friends told him about the attack. “Apparently, one of my fellow soldiers tried to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on me, he says. I am supposed to have asked him if he was trying to kiss me. And then I fell into coma”. Tyler stopped breathing eight times. He was even pronounced dead. He lost a leg and many teeth. His hands and part of his face are burnt. His mother Kim explains that Tyler now suffers from attention deficit disorder and has trouble focusing. On the other hand, the young man who had received a grant from the University of Arizona before enlisting in the Army, can now remember entire dialogues he saw on TV. Tyler’s life is a daily struggle but he is now getting ready to go back to college in order to become an engineer. The severely wounded Iraq veterans came to Disney World to look for inspiration in each other. Rosetta Floyd whose nickname was “Legs”, is in Orlando with her 3-year-old son Christian. Her four other children had to stay in Oklahoma and she is worrying about them. “My sister had to leave her job and her apartment to live with my mom and look after them because I do not have enough money, she says. I would like to come back to Disney World with all of them”. The.point.is. first met BJ in January 2004 in Iowa. Eleven months later, BJ is a new man. He is one of the spokesmen of the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes. With infantryman JR Martinez, whose face was badly burnt in an ambush, BJ is determined to help other soldiers in the future: “I would not say there is reason for me to still be alive, BJ says. Because that would not be respectful to those who died. But I want each of the wounded soldier’s name to remembered.” The disabled veterans invited to Disney World are split about the war. Troy, a former Marine who served for 14 years before being badly injured in an ambush in Baghdad, does not support the war. Tyler Hall disagrees and thinks the war will turn out to be a good thing. “But we need more communication with the Iraqis”, he says. In the corridors of the Coronado Springs resort, the decision to go to war is not something these men and women regret. All the disabled veterans say they would serve again. “Wether you agree with the president’s decision or not, your duty as soldier is to follow orders without discussing them”, Tyler says. Keith Cooper wears a large tattoo saying “soldier” on his back. He does not like talking about himself. “I am proud of my service to my country, he says. But I am not proud of what I have done. I am not a killer”. When asked about his biggest wish, Cooper replies he would love living “50 more years”. “I know it is going to be difficult, he says. But I love life”. During what was supposed to be an information session, disabled veterans start sharing their experiences and frustrations. Some struggle to hide the pain and their emotional vulnerability as others take the microphone to speak about their difficult path to recovery. “I want the American people to understand that we don’t need their pity”, Mike Sullivan, a 38-year-old staff sergeant, says. We are soldiers and served proudly. I don’t want them to cry for us. My life changed. My family’s life changed because of my experience in Fallujah. We reluctantly show any sign of weakness. But when we go home and close the door, it is a different kind of story”. Sergeant Mike Mix takes the microphone to thank his wife. He was injured in Iraq twice and is now paralyzed. “My wife is my biggest support, he says. She gave me 3 kids. We talk to them every night”. His voice is trembling. “Last night I spoke with my 8-year-old son, Mike Mix says. I told him I was in Disney World with his mother. He told me me: “if you can go to Disney World, why can’t you come home”. The sergeant is now crying. “I am sorry, he says. My wife told me last night it was the first time she saw me crying. If I had to serve my country again, I would it”. Tyler claps his hands. The young soldier says he does not regret going to Iraq either. He does not regret this day of August 22 2003 when he almost died. On his path to recovery, Tyler decided to celebrate every year “his day of life” on that date. Jean-Cosme Delaloye / Orlando UpdateBJ Jackson is still with the Coalition to Salute America’s heroes. He is now a father of three. A French and shorter version of this story was published in December 2004 in 24heures and Tribune de Genève in Switzerland. CommentsYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
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