• Prosthetics advances made for war hold hope for Boston victims

    Those who lost their limbs in the Boston Marathon bombing are finding support among military veterans who have gone through similar things, NBC's Lester Holt reports.

    Lester Holt writes

    with Kim Cornett and Matthew DeLuca, NBC News

    Boston Marathon spectators who lost limbs in the bombings stand to benefit from years of advances in prosthetic medicine made at Walter Reed Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

    Calvin Todd, 26, is among those who have discovered a new life with the help of doctors at Walter Reed. The army medic was on foot patrol in Afghanistan in October 2012 when he stepped on an explosive.

    “I stepped on a secondary and lost my lower left leg,” Todd said of the injury, which years ago might have immobilized him for good.

    He is one of nearly 1,600 service members to lose limbs in combat since the start of the war in Afghanistan. Six months after his injury, Todd said he is “almost back to new,” and has even started running and playing lacrosse again.

     “I’ve got numerous prosthetics,” Todd said. “I’ve probably got four or five different feet for different activities. I got one for ice skating. I got a running leg. You know, my everyday foot. I got a foot for hiking.”

    The traumatic battlefield injuries sustained by troops on the frontlines have helped change the future for all amputees, doctors at Walter Reed said.

    “We have plenty of examples from our injured service members who have not only survived, you know, extraordinary blast injuries but have thrived from them,” said Col. Paul Pasquina, chair of the center’s department of rehabilitation medicine. “And there’s no reason to think that the victims in Boston won’t do the same.”

    Whether it is bionic hands, knees, ankles, or feet, the advances at Walter Reed have been born of a decade of brutal conflict in which explosions have claimed lives and mangled limbs. While recovery often remains a painful process, the prospect for patients who have lost arms or legs is better than ever.

    “While there have been significant advances in rehabilitation medicine and prosthetic technology over the last decade, that’s not to say recovery from a major limb loss is not extremely challenging, but there’s great hope,” Pasquina said. “And people are now able to achieve things that they weren’t able to achieve in the past.”

    Among those who have overcome seemingly insuperable odds is Travis Mills, one of five quadruple amputees from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A service member in the 82nd Airborne Division, Mills was on a walking patrol on April 10, 2012, when an improvised explosive device went off as he stopped for a break.

    “I sat in the wrong spot,” Mills said. “And an IED went off.”

    It was Mills’ third tour in Afghanistan. He had a wife and baby daughter not even a year old at home. Now he can help the 18-month-old girl brush her teeth in the morning.

    “My daughter, that’s my biggest support,” Mills said. “The biggest thing I work for is to go every day to get better so I can be the best dad I can be for her.”

    The cost of prosthetics can run from a few thousand dollars to an estimated tens of thousands and beyond. And while it’s unclear whether insurance will cover these types of prosthetics for the marathon victims, they have more options than ever.

    “I’m very fortunate that the research that has been done has benefited myself due to my injuries,” Mills said. “I know that I would’ve got hurt like I did 10 years ago — I probably wouldn’t have made it off the battlefield.”

    Whether the injured come from battlefields halfway around the world or a sidewalk on Boylston Street, traumatic wounds are often accompanied by deeper scars, said Dr. Harold Wain, chief of Walter Reed’s psychiatry consultation liaison service.

    “They need to have a good perspective of who they are. They can feel good about themselves. They have to accept themselves,” Wain said.

    “We’re constantly learning. There are new advances going on in prosthetics, in treatment, in medications,” Wain said. “The goal is to get them back as whole, as quickly as possible, and to reinforce them for their assets rather than just looking at their liabilities.”

    For Calvin Todd, he only needs to look to his side for inspiration. While the landscape of Afghanistan is a long way from Massachusetts, this war veteran knows what the Boston victims have to overcome and what they have to look forward to.

    “There’s a lot you can do. The sky’s the limit,” Todd said. “You can do anything you want to do, just work for it."

  • Obama awards Medal of Honor to Afghan battle hero Clinton Romesha

    Shot in the arm, his base overrun, comrades dead or wounded, Army Staff Sergeant Clint Romesha rallies the survivors to beat back the Taliban and today received the nation's highest military honor.

    Daniel Arkin, Staff Writer, NBC News writes

    President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to celebrated Army veteran Clinton Romesha on Monday afternoon, making the former active duty staff sergeant just the fourth living person to receive the military’s highest honor for service in Iraq or Afghanistan.


    Romesha, 31, fought back tears as Obama presented him with the medal honoring his “conspicuous gallantry” during the Battle of Kamdesh, a day-long firefight at a remote Afghan outpost near the Pakistan border in 2009.

    “These men were outnumbered, outgunned, and almost overrun,” Obama said in his remarks in the White House East Room. 

    Romesha was recognized for leading the charge against hundreds of Taliban fighters during an Oct. 3, 2009, siege on U.S. troops at Combat Outpost Keating, a small compound military officials considered indefensible. 

    Eight American soldiers were killed and 20 were wounded in the surprise attack, making it the deadliest day for the U.S. in the war effort that year.

    Romesha headed up efforts to retake the camp, risking his own life as U.S. troops were besieged by rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, mortars and rifles.

    Romesha, who served twice in Iraq, first took out a machine-gun team and then turned to a second, suffering shrapnel wounds when a grenade struck a generator he was using for cover.

    Former Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha is presented with the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday.

    An official citation read at the ceremony described Romesha’s subsequent acts of valor.

    "Undeterred by his injuries, Staff Sergeant Romesha continued to fight and upon the arrival of another soldier to aid him and the assistant gunner, he again rushed through the exposed avenue to assemble additional soldiers," the citation says.

    “With complete disregard for his own safety, (he) continually exposed himself to heavy enemy fire as he moved confidently about the battlefield engaging and destroying multiple enemy targets.”

    Previously reported: "He's always been a good kid." 

    All the while, Romesha devised a strategy to secure key points of the battlefield and directed air support to eliminate a band of thirty heavily armed enemy combatants.

    Slideshow: Medal of Honor recipients

    /

    A look at heroes from a post-9/11 era of war

    Launch slideshow

    Romesha and his team also provided cover so three injured soldiers could make their way to an aid station. They then “pushed forward 100 meters under withering fire to recover the bodies of their fallen comrades,” according to the citation.

    Romesha, a father of three and the son of a Vietnam veteran, reportedly never lost his composure during the chaotic attack, according to CNN journalist Jake Tapper, who chronicled the battle in the 2012 book "The Outpost."

    'Clint is a pretty humble guy'
    During his remarks, Obama recognized the lives of the eight soldiers who died at the Battle of Kamdesh, asking the parents of the fallen seated in the back of the room to stand for applause. 

    But the heart of Obama's speech centered on a visibly emotional Romesha, who appeared to be fighting back tears as he looked ahead at his wife, Tammy, and three young children.

    Colin Romesha, the young son of Medal of Honor recipient Clinton Romesha, finds time to explore the White house while attending a ceremony for his father on Monday.

    "Clint is a pretty humble guy," Obama said. "The thing he looks forward to the most is just being a husband and a father."

    Romesha is slated to be a guest of first lady Michelle Obama at the State of the Union address on Tuesday, CNN reported.

    At a January news conference shortly after Obama called to inform him that he would receive the Medal of Honor, Romesha put the attention squarely on wounded friends and fallen comrades.

    "I've had buddies that have lost eyesight and lost limbs," Romesha said. "I would rather give them all the credit they deserve for sacrificing so much. For me it was nothing, really. I got a little peppered, that was it."

    Romesha, whom Tapper describes in his book as "an intense guy, short and wiry," lives in Minot, N.D., and works at KS Industries, an oil field construction firm.

    A total of ten U.S. service members have been awarded the military's highest honor for actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, including six men who received the honor posthumously. 

    The Medal of Honor is bestowed on members of the U.S. Armed Forces who display what the Army calls "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty."

  • Entertainment industry unites around 'Got Your 6' to help veterans return to civilian life

    With combat operations beginning to wind down, more than 1 million veterans will be returning to their communities, looking to reclaim their lives and livelihoods. A new campaign wants to help returning veterans and their families. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    Joe Myxter, NBC News writes

    In an effort to show support to veterans returning to civilian life, a new campaign, called “Got Your 6,” was launched Thursday by heavy hitters across the entertainment industry, including actors, newscasters, broadcast and cable news networks, studios and talent agencies.

    “On behalf of the entire entertainment industry, we are proud to be engaging with our veterans through the Got Your 6 Campaign,” Ron Meyer, president and chief operating officer of Universal Studios and U.S. Marine Corps veteran, said in a statement. “Together, we are uniting to bring awareness to this incredibly important issue of bringing our country’s trained leaders home to be a valued part of our communities across the nation.”

    (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

    The campaign focuses on six pillars -- jobs, education, health, housing, family and leadership.


    “Got your six” is a military expression meaning “I’ve got your back.”

    The campaign debuted with a public service announcement that features, among others, Alec Baldwin, Michael Douglas, Tom Hanks, Sarah Jessica Parker and Bradley Cooper.

    “Over the next five years, more than 1 million service members will return to civilian life,” said Chris Marvin, director of civilian-military partnerships for ServiceNation, a unit of the non-profit organization coordinating Got Your 6. “As we welcome this generation of veterans home, it is crucial that we view them and their families as leaders and civic assets, said Martin, a former Army Blackhawk helicopter pilot wounded in Afghanistan.

    Hollywood, the major television networks and non-profit organizations are joining forces for the campaign, "Got Your Six." Managing Director Chris Marvin joins NewsNation to discuss.

    For more information, visit the campaign’s website here.

  • For these military families, a special homecoming from Iraq

    Thousands of U.S. troops are returning home this month - many sooner than expected, to the delight and sometimes surprise of their families. At Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, about 3,400 soldiers are making the long journey home. NBC's Janet Shamlian reports.

    Janet Shamlian writes

    FORT BLISS, Texas -- The auditorium-style room at Fort Bliss is full of families and heavy with anticipation.

    Everyone here has a mother or father, son or daughter they haven't seen in months ... about to come home.

    With the drawdown of US troops from Iraq, these welcome home ceremonies are happening every few days at Fort Bliss as some 3,400 soldiers from the 4th Brigade head back to Texas. To attend one, as I did Tuesday, was a reminder of the sacrifice made by our military families.

    Byron Isler sat by himself with a bouquet of flowers, both nervous and full of excitement. Even though he and wife Thomasine were both stationed in Iraq, they never once saw each other there. Byron returned to El Paso last month. They have a 7-year-old son who has been without his parents for far too long.

    Cynthia Medrano sat nearby, surrounded by her mother, her sister and her three young daughters. Carlos Medrano is returning from his fourth and final deployment to Iraq. He's missed so many of the girls' birthdays and school performances, but at least this year he won't miss Christmas.

    And then there is Ashley Hopkins, who told her 6-year-old Lillian and 3-year-old Kaitlyn that they'd come to the event to welcome someone ELSE'S father home. The truth would be revealed to the girls in just a few minutes, when Brian Hopkins would step off the plane and into their arms.

    PhotoBlog: As US exits, Iraqis tell how their lives have changed

    For many of these families, there will be future deployments and more time away from loved ones. But at least this Christmas, mommy or daddy will be home. How will they spend the holidays, I wanted to know. It was heartbreaking to hear one mom of a toddler explain that her family is tight on cash and wasn't going to decorate or get a Christmas tree until they learned Dad was coming home.

    Most poignant from the afternoon with these families was one young woman's comment. She said she knew her husband would come home from Iraq, but now she knew he would be coming home alive.

    The reunions were as you'd expect: tearful and joyous. Bearing witness from the corner of a room, I felt the same. The holiday is just short of two weeks away. But for these families, Christmas came today. 

  • When family is thousands of miles away

    As Brian mentioned in his vlog, he'll take you to a Joint Security Station on tonight's broadcast. Yesterday, correspondent Richard Engel was at a another JSS in Western Baghdad called Bonsai II. By design, the conditions are very spartan. The U.S. and Iraqi forces who serve there no longer have access to phones or the Internet, and they say they're experiencing a hidden casualty of this war -- strained relationships with their families back at home.

    Click here to watch Richard's conversation with Command Staff Sgt. Albert McCall of Sarasota, Fla.

  • Tuesday's Web-extra videos

    That's what we're calling them, for lack of a better word -- Web-extras. These are extended cuts from the story Brian will report on tonight's broadcast -- life at Camp Victory in Baghdad. He'll have more details for you in his regular afternoon post a little later. For now, here are the three videos. You can find all our Web-extras from the trip on this page.

    VIDEO: Brian talks with Lt. Quammie Semper at Camp Victory in Baghdad about going 'outside the wire' on patrol.

    X_30_nn_bwilliams_sgtneal_070306standardVIDEO: Brian talks with Buffalo, N.Y., native Sgt. Tina Neal at Camp Victory in Baghdad about her third tour in Iraq.

    X_30_nn_bwilliams_stfsgtboughton_070306sVIDEO: Brian talks with Longview, Wash., native Staff Sgt. Korbie Boughton at Camp Victory in Baghdad about support of the mission.

  • The whiteboard grows...

    NBC's Paul Stimpson snapped this photo of the Baghdad bureau's whiteboard documenting today's violence in Iraq.

  • Talking with the troops

    Among the elements in the broadcast tonight from Iraq will be conversations Brian had today with U.S. troops based at Camp Victory. We have a :40 snippet for you in advance of the broadcast and hope to have extended versions later tonight.

    Click here or on the image to watch.

  • Monday's reporting 'mission'

    Brian was on TODAY this morning for a brief chat with NBC's Ann Curry about today's coverage plans. Click here to watch it.

    Cameraman Jeff Riggins also e-mailed these two photos as the team set out to do some reporting. They'll check in throughout the day with more photos and dispatches.

    Bw_field_planning

  • Sunday video snippets

    Brian and his team recorded some Web videos Sunday. For those of you who haven't seen them yet, here they are all in one place. I'll maintain a gallery of these videos throughout the week at Nightly.MSNBC.com as well.

    VIDEO: Brian explains the evasive corkscrew maneuvers planes perform during final approach to Baghdad International.

    VIDEO: After touchdown in Baghdad, Brian comments on the one-of-a-kind flight attendant greeting.

Older posts