Tomorrow is Memorial Day, set aside to remember our fallen dead. But today and everyday we should remember and honor the grevious sacrifice made by the wounded. One Marine general does.
He keeps the list in his shirt pocket, close to his heart.There are about 60,000 Marines under the command of Lt. Gen. James Amos. He just welcomed 17,000 back from Iraq, a homecoming sobered by the impending departure of 13,000 for a war now in its fourth year.
Most will return. Some will not.
An uncertain number will end up on Amos' list: A handwritten index card updated daily with the number of Marines under his command wounded in combat.
"When we send them off to do the nation's bidding in a place like Afghanistan or Iraq and they're wounded, we're not returning the same individual," Amos said. "When we send them back wounded there is a piece of me that says I haven't kept my bargain. What's left for me to do is to continue taking care of them."
It starts with a visit — to as many as he can.
"It's a function of loyalty," the 59-year-old general said. "In Marine speak, it means fidelity. It's a wonderful word not used very often — except in the Marine Corps. It means faithful. It implies faithful almost to a fault. ...
"I owe it to them."
...
Most of the 1,800 Marines from the 2nd MEF wounded since the start of the Iraq war have returned to duty, Amos said. But a few hundred were forced by the extent of their injuries to return to the U.S. for treatment and recovery. Since taking over the 2nd MEF in July 2004, Amos has tried to visit them all....
Returning to Camp Lejeune after the trip, Amos summed up the reasons for his visits: "We bury our dead with great honor and dignity, but the wounded live on. They are the ones we as Americans should not forget."
Ways to help:
• Fisher House Foundation
• Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust