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Blog: RyanGroves
 
 
 
   
 
RyanG­roves
RyanGroves's Blog

I was an Infantry Squad Leader with the US Military in Fallujah Iraq. Here I write about my thoughts and reflections on the war, and what young Americans can do to support the troops.
 
 
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Fighting the Good Fight
Posted  on March 25, 2008 at 11:21 AM
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I am always reluctant to claim my disability – it is a slippery slope. While on patrol in Fallujah, in 2004, my convoy was attacked by insurgents. The very first rocket fired landed at my feet, but it was certainly not the last. My left leg was blown off above the knee, my right leg looked like chopped liver, my lung was punctured, and I said to myself, “if I die here, my mamma will kill me.” I was lying on the ground, seemingly paralyzed as I could not feel or move anything below my waist, for the shrapnel that pierced my body armor was only a couple millimeters from my spine. All I remember is all hell breaking loose and the terrible sounds of grown men screaming. At last, my moment of reckoning had arrived.             I woke up nine days later, at National Naval Medical Center, hooked to machines and contraptions I never knew existed. I was hallucinating and scared and feeling li...
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Tags:  war  iraq war  Iraq  Choose Or Lose  Veteran 
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Lessons From Iraq
Posted  on March 18, 2008 at 1:18 PM
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I was doing very well in my pre-law studies at Mount Union, but there came a point when I realized that I wasn't sure "who I was" and "what I stood for." I began to believe that I was put here for something more meaningful than getting a corner office some day at a powerful law firm, and frankly I knew that I couldn't do that until I got out and experienced the best and worst the world had to offer me.   In Iraq, I was an Infantry Squad Leader and was tasked with training and employing 12 men in Fallujah, Iraq   My experiences in Iraq have greatly changed my perspective on the importance of friends, family, and the value of a strong community. When I was injured, it was not only difficult for me, but for my entire family and community. Witnessing my entire community rallying to support my family through such a tragic event have enlightened me to my duty to support and advocate for...
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