Injured Soldiers And Iraq

Not too long ago, John Murtha called our soldiers, "broken," and "worn out."

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Injured soldiers are returning to Iraq despite their wounds, and do it as a matter of pride!

1st. Sgt. Rick Skidis' nearly lost his leg when a roadside bomb hit his armored Humvee. His leg was shredded; muscle ligament and tendon. It took five months and six surgeries to repair, and despite some nerve damage, Skidis returned to the same sort of patrols that injured him in the first place.

"I wear my scars proudly," said Skidis as he gingerly lifted his pant leg to show the railroad-like tracks where doctors made incisions to save his foot. Why didn't he stay home? "I felt guilty because I wasn't sharing the same hardships that they were," Skidis said shyly, while another soldier nodded at his side.

There are plenty of others just like him.

Staff Sgt. Katherine Yocom-Delgado lost 70% of the hearing in her left ear when an artillery shell landed a few feet from her position. She still has headaches when she wakes up in the morning, but will not leave her fellow soldiers.

"I'm alive and I'm happy to be alive," she said with a smile. "I don't hurt every day."