WINDSOR LOCKS -- U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Barry Albert came to on the side
of a road, somewhere between Baghdad and Al Hillah.
"Pappy, Pappy, wake up!" a fellow soldier yelled. At first, Albert, 43,
thought he was in bed - that was how his roommate usually woke him up in
the morning. Then he felt the shrapnel digging into his upper thigh and
remembered the four explosives, hidden in the utility pole along the
road.
One had blown out two tires on the Humvee he was driving. Two had
ploughed through the truck, turning it within seconds into a metal heap
of Swiss cheese. Another had found its way to his left leg.
As Albert lay there, staring at the Iraqi sky, collecting his thoughts
on that May 14 afternoon, "there was a realization that, oh man, my leg
is gone. ... I am going to die."
Albert, nicknamed Pappy by his younger comrades, began turning his head
from side to side, taking in his surroundings. That's when he noticed
his soldiers doing exactly what they needed to do - tying tourniquets
around his thigh and setting up a perimeter, without him having to ask.
He thought, "Wow! Maybe I'll make it."
Now, five months later, fitted with a prosthetic leg, Albert lounged in
front of his Windsor Locks home one recent afternoon as a different kind
of army - made up of volunteer construction workers, plumbers and
electricians - worked on renovating his bathroom, installing a
wheelchair ramp on the side of his house and painting his shed, without
him having to ask.
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Albert is one of many injured soldiers now returning from war to find
volunteers working on their homes or building new ones.
The Windsor Locks American Legion Post 36, which is spearheading the
renovations at Albert's house, heard about Albert's injury a couple
months ago. Coincidentally, the group had established in February a
program, "Heroes to Hometowns," to help returning soldiers like Albert.
The program is modeled on a set of guidelines published by the national
American Legion and is meant to give injured soldiers a local way to
receive a battery of services, from financial assistance to snow
shoveling.
Albert became the first soldier to be helped by Heroes to Hometowns.
The Legion asked businesses and civic groups to help retrofit Albert's
home to make it handicap accessible. Local Boy and Girl Scout troops
organized fundraisers, and Albert's friends and neighbors held a car and
motorcycle show to benefit his cause.
Word spread to Helmets to Hardhats, a national program that provides
training in the construction industry to service members, and it joined
forces with members of local carpenters, electricians and painters
unions working on Albert's house on their days off.
On a recent day, at least a dozen workers crowded the house, finishing
up a handicap ramp designed for free by a Glastonbury architect and
fitting new doors donated by a company in Salem.
"This is really a tremendous community effort," said David Booth,
chairman of Heroes to Hometowns. The Legion is still accepting donations
to make further repairs to Albert's home.
Albert is expected to return permanently from service in December, but
he came home last month for a visit. He, his wife, Susan, and their
three children, age 15, 12 and 8, stayed in a hotel as construction
continued at their home.
Every morning during his visit, Albert accompanied his wife and children
to wait for the school bus, which was still arriving at their Suffield
Street home during their hotel stay.
Susan Albert said the children hardly noticed that their father's leg
was gone.
To them, "it's like nothing happened," she said. "They ride around in
his wheelchair and think it's fun."
But Barry Albert is much more aware of his loss. The tremendous effort
it takes him to finish simple chores, like sweeping the floor and
climbing out of a car, frustrates him. He has to ask strangers to push
his wheelchair up steep ramps at the airport.
"It's hard to talk to somebody and explain what it's like to be an
amputee," he said. "It turns your life upside down."
Booth said the Legion plans to find volunteers to carry out regular
chores like yard work for the Albert family.
Albert never asked the droves of volunteers to come work on his house,
but he said he wasn't shocked to find them there.
"Knowing the community here, I wasn't surprised," he said.
After returning home permanently and taking some time off, Albert plans
to return to his job as a security guard. But he's also looking into
becoming a counselor or mentor for injured soldiers through the federal
Department of Veterans Affairs.
He wants to tell his fellow amputees the same thing he tells himself:
"You have to stay positive. Your life is not over. You still have a good
life."
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