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IRAQ VETERAN LOOKS PAST DISABILITY TO FUTURE --

He remembers everything, he says, from the flames

and shooting pain to the medic who saved his life.

 

 

Story here... http://www.tylerpaper.com/
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Story below:

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Iraq Veteran Looks Past Disability To Future

By STEPHANIE JETER
Staff Writer

Saturday's sunrise was the first U.S. Army Specialist Frank Fields felt from his Chapel Hill home in more than two years. After losing his legs in a November explosion from the battle fields of Iraq, he is finally home.

At least for a little while.

Fields enrolled in the military in April 2005 at 21-years-old. His unit was transferred to Germany and deployed to Iraq. On Nov. 22, 2006, while working as a convoy leader, an IED exploded on his side of the vehicle as he pulled through an Iraqi checkpoint. The blast took both legs above the knee.

He remembers everything, he says, from the flames and shooting pain to the medic who saved his life.

He woke up in a hospital in Iraq and was transported to the Brooke Army Medical Center near San Antonio.

He tells this story quickly, because he says it's a short chapter in what he sees his life becoming.

His wounds have almost healed he said, and in a few weeks he expects to be fitted for prosthetic legs. He's going to stand, he said. Then he's going to walk. Then he's going to run.

The first time the Tyler Courier-Times--Telegraph spoke with Fields in January, he had just been released from the hospital and his legs were still surgically dressed.

He shared his plans. He wanted to be stronger, he said, and build muscle that would help him when it came time to tie up his shoe laces.

Now, a few months into weight training at a military facility in San Antonio, he said his strength is back to where he was before the accident.

Forget altered pushups, he said. He has gained the arm and abdominal strength to do pushups while balanced in the air. That's every ounce of body weight balanced and elevated by his arms.

It hasn't always been easy. He said some days he's bombarded by images and memories of what happened to him and discouragement creeps in to strangle his resolve, but "You just have to be strong minded."

"I refuse to let myself become one of those people who can't do anything."

So, just a few weeks ago, without any prosthetics, he competitively raced part of a triathlon.

His portion was 15 miles on hand bike - two wheels in back, one in front and propelled by hand pedals. He crossed the finish line to the roar of a pleased crowd.

But just as important as passing through the finish-line tickertape was what happened a few days prior in practice, he said.

He was foraging bike trails on the streets of San Antonio training for the meet and had just conquered a hill. The rest, he said, was going to be an easy coast down the other side, but the bike picked up speed on the decline.

"I was going down, like, 15 or 18 miles per hour and hit a couple bumps in the road," he said. "The back end of my bike actually kind of came up."

The bumps bounced him right out of his bike chair, he said.

"There I go, and there goes the bike," he said with unexpected humor.

The scrapes stung, but he said he got right back on.

The memory could end there and still offer the classic encouragement of "at first you don't succeed, try and try again," but Fields took another route.

"You know, if you can take something small like that and just recover from it and get back on that bike, you can do the same thing in life," he said.

Growing increasingly introspective, he said that life had its bumps too. Sometimes even, he said people laugh at other's failures, but that it has to be ignored.

"You're not riding for anyone but yourself," he said. "And you can do a lot of miles in your lifetime."

He forgot to tell you: he also hopes to become a motivational speaker and maybe even write a book about his experience.

He's an over-comer, he said and wants to help others do the same.

He's a conqueror, said his aunt, Joyce Jones, and can be an example for others.

He's a survivor, said his kindergarten teacher, Nancy Gregory, and made a difference in her life.

She remembers him, she said, and with 25 years of ABCs in the classroom, it isn't often a student makes such an impression.

"I don't know if he taught me more than I taught him," she said.

He had just moved to Chapel Hill from Germany, she said. His parents had recently divorced and he chose to accompany his father back to America.

Fields was one of the first students from another country she had ever taught, she said, and he helped her learn how to teach.

When asked if it surprised her to hear Fields joined the military, she answered an immediate "no."

"I really believe that whatever he plans to do he'll succeed."

She can still remember Fields at an elementary field day, she said. Forever branded in her mind is the memory of 5-year-old Fields running down the field. The day was full of competition and he had won several ribbons. Each of them dangled from his wrist.

"I can still see those ribbons waving by," she said.

It's the mixture of those memories she has of Fields as a child, and who she has seen him grow to be that puts her at ease when thinking of the future.

"He's going to be fine," she said. "I am so very proud of him."

As is his aunt.

When Field's father died of colon cancer when Fields was 13 he moved in with Mrs. Jones and her family.

Since then, Field's smiling face has been a constant encouragement, she said.

A few weeks ago, Mrs. Jones said she approached the idea to get a motorized wheelchair for easier movement, but Fields was against it.

Leisurely living isn't Fields' first priority, she said.

"He's going to walk," she said. "He has always said, 'Hey, I'm going to come out of this.'"

The amputations haven't changed him, she said.

He's still the energetic and easy conversationalist who has the power to make people believe in a better world, she said.

Mrs. Fields doesn't exaggerate, it seems that everyone in Chapel Hill, and beyond its city limits have been touched by his story.

Fields first trip home was to attend a chili cook-off organized by the American Legion in his honor. The organization is raising money to purchase Fields a handicapped accessible van.

The lodge was decorated with flags and filled with people Saturday for the event. Among the slaps on the back and handshakes for Fields were heartfelt emotions.

"I'm so proud of you," one woman said, "Thank you, Frank," a man extended.

But Fields doesn't need red, white and appreciation to see what he's capable of.

"I know there are people who look at me and say, 'Hey, he's still doing what he wants to do," he said. "I live my life everyday just as nothing happened."

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Larry Scott  --