power of love

i was online late one night when i read this article i found on msnbc..the caption said something about the sacrifices US troops made in Iraq. I was like pfffttttt..another patriotic article?? I clicked on the link for the fun of it and it led me to a flash presentation showing 3 stories of U.S servicemen..i clicked randomly on one and it told the story of U.S Marine Corps Sergeant by the name of Tyler Ziegel.




A 25 year old in the prime of his life, Ty Ziegel had already served one tour in Iraq and returned home unscathed to his high school sweet heart Renee Kline. They had planned to have their wedding when he returned but he was recalled for a second tour and he wasnt as lucky this time... While on a patrol, a suicide bomb attack on his unit killed some marines. Sgt. Ziegel however was lucky to survive although he sustained horrific injuries..and when i say horrific it really is horrific. He spent 18 months in Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas where doctors performed more or less 50 surgeries on him in a desperate battle to keep him alive while Tyler himself was in a coma.


a list of his injuries:

loss of left forearm

3 fingers of the right hand

blindness in the right eye

severe burns leading to loss of his ears and pretty much most of his facial tissue
( doctors had to give him a new skull cap cause his brain was exposed and also pretty much reconstruct a face from scratch..this includes grafting skin to give him eyelids and lips. His nose was also totally burnt off.A toe had to be removed to give him a thumb on his right hand so that he can grasp objects)


kinda hard to imagine? heres a pic to help..




Tyler with a friend and fellow veteran during his recovery period



so, after going through a painful recovery process, relearning to do things with prosthetics
etc, he returned home with his girlfriend still wanting to marry him. I have all the respect in the world for Renee cause of the commitment she made which i know for a fact that most people if faced with such a situation would act otherwise.




The big day. This award winning photo was taken by Nina Bergman..they married in their old high school because that was the only building big enough in their town to host such an event . Note the prosthetic arm on Tyler.


Tyler and Renee now live in Illinois. Renee has a part time job as a bartender whilst Tyler receives pension and a disability check from the U.S government. As of now, they plan to build a house of their own soon and start a family of many 'little marines' as Tyler puts it.


love conquers all? evidently so.

this story just reminds me to be grateful for what i have and always to never give up =).

its also important to note here that this is only one of the many tragedies of war, not to mention the very citizens of iraq who suffer on a daily basis, some suffering an even worst fate than tyler. we do not really understand suffering until we put a face to it. i do not personally believe in the policy of pacifism but wars are nasty and sh0uld be used as an extreme last resort.