By Marine Corps Sgt. G.S. Thomas
Special to American Forces Press Service
May 27, 2008 - Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England and other senior officials began the Memorial Day weekend by participating in a ceremony at the Ohio Statehouse here May 23 that included the unveiling of a memorial honoring 22 Marines and a Navy corpsman killed in Iraq. The memorial consists of eight panels with life-sized portraits of the Marines and corpsman from Company L, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, who lost their lives while serving in Iraq from February to September 2005.
Marine Gunnery Sgt. Shawn Delgado, who deployed with the company as the weapons platoon commander, was among those who spoke at the unveiling. He held back his emotions as he shared personal stories about many of the fallen.
"None of us want these Marines or anyone from Lima Company to be remembered for their death," Delgado said. "Please never forget why Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen go forward, and that's to push the cause of freedom."
England praised the courage of the Lima Company Marines who he said followed in the footsteps of Americans who have defended freedom for more than 230 years, including the "Greatest Generation" from World War Two.
"Just as the 'Greatest Generation' answered the call almost 70 years ago and changed the course of history, today's 'Greatest Generation,' Lima Company, has preserved for us this marvelous, precious gift," he said.
"In honoring them, let us all never forget their sacrifices," he said. "Let us all recommit ourselves to the preservation of freedom for future generations, so those generations will wake each morning as free Americans."
England said it's not by accident or chance that Americans live in freedom, but because patriots like Lima Company Marines have stepped forward to defend it when it was threatened.
"Lima Company -- and especially those honored today and their families -- knows that the American people are grateful for your sacrifice, your tireless service, your dedication, and especially your gift of freedom," he said.
Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert Magnus shared words sent to the Lima Company Marines by Deb Dunham. Her late son, Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham, became the first Marine since Vietnam to earn the Medal of Honor when he threw himself on a live terrorist grenade in Iraq to protect his fellow Marines.
"My message is Deb Dunham's message for those who honor the fallen angels of Lima 3/25 today and for those who carry on and celebrate the meaning of their lives," Magnus said. "Just like her boy Jason, who volunteered after 9/11 to do an important mission and to take care of his Marines, we say, 'Thank you, keep doing what you are doing, and take care of each other.'
"God bless the angels for the lives that they lived," he said. "God bless all who celebrate their lives. God bless those who do the difficult and often dangerous work of serving. God bless all who support them and their families. God bless America. Semper fidelis."
The eight canvas panels of the Lima Company Memorial honoring the fallen Marines were painted by Columbus artist Anita Miller, who said the idea came to her in a dream. The panels are arranged in an octagon, with each fallen warrior's boots and an ever-living candle beneath his likeness.
The memorial will stay in the statehouse before traveling across the country.
"These paintings tell a story of courage and strength and hope," Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland said during the dedication ceremony. "The paintings will stand in our state house from Memorial Day through Veterans Day, but the Lima Company will remain in our hearts every day."
Depicted in the paintings are:
-- Lance Cpl. Eric J. Bernholtz, 23. He was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on Oct. 27, 1981. His hometown is Grove City, Ohio, where he attended school from first grade through high school. Bernholz was killed in action Aug. 3, 2005, in Barwanah, Iraq, by an improvised explosive device.
-- Lance Cpl. Wesley G. Davids, 20. He was born in San Jose, Calif., on May 10, 1985. Davids was a freshman in high school when his family moved to Dublin, Ohio, where he rowed with a team on the Scioto River. Davids was killed in action May 11, 2005, in Qaim, Iraq, by an IED.
-- Lance Cpl. Christopher Jenkins Dyer, 19. He was born in Cincinnati on March 13, 1986. Dyer considered both Evendale and Glendale, Ohio, as hometowns. He was killed in action Aug. 3, 2005, in Barwanah, Iraq, by an IED.
-- Lance Cpl. Christopher P. Lyons, 24. He was born in Charleston, S.C., on Sept. 26, 1980. His hometown is Shelby, Ohio, where he worked as an advertising salesman for the Mansfield News Journal before he was deployed. Lyons was killed in action July 28, 2005, in Cykla, Iraq, from enemy fire.
-- Lance Cpl. Aaron H. Reed, 21. He was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, on Aug. 23, 1983. Reed was killed in action on Aug. 3, 2005, in Barwanah, Iraq, by an IED.
-- Sgt. David N. Wimberg, 24. He was born in Louisville, Ky., on Jan. 24, 1981. Wimberg was killed in action on May 25, 2005, in Haditha, Iraq, while leading his squad in a firefight.
-- Pfc. Christopher R. Dixon, 18. Born in Columbus, Ohio, on July 24, 1986, Dixon called Obetz, Ohio, home. He was killed in action May 11, 2005, in Qaim, Iraq, by an IED.
-- Lance Cpl. Michael J. Cifuentes, 25. He was born in Hamilton, Ohio, on June 25, 1980. Cifuentes called Fairfield, Ohio, home. He was killed in action Aug. 3, 2005, in Barwanah, Iraq, by an IED.
-- Lance Cpl. Nicholas William Baart Bloem, 20. Born in Bellevue, Wash., on Aug. 2, 1985, he called Belgrade, Mont., home. He was killed in action Aug. 3, 2005, in Barwanah, Iraq, by an IED.
-- Lance Cpl. Nicholas B. Erdy, 21. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, on Oct. 22, 1983, and called Owensville, Ohio, home. He was killed in action May 11, 2005, in Qaim, Iraq, by an IED.
-- Cpl. Dustin A. Derga, 24. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, on Aug. 18, 1980. His hometown is Pickerington, Ohio. He was killed in action May 8, 2005, in New Ubaydi, Iraq, from enemy fire.
-- Cpl. Andre´ "Dre´" L. Williams, 23. He was born in Lima, Ohio, on Aug. 9, 1981, and called Galloway, Ohio, home. He was killed in action July 28, 2005, in Cykla, Iraq, from enemy fire.
-- Lance Cpl. Grant B. Fraser, 22. Fraser was born in Anchorage, Alaska, on Feb. 3, 1983. He was killed in action Aug. 3, 2005, in Barwanah, Iraq, by an IED.
-- Staff Sgt. Kendall H. Ivy II, 28. He was born in Galion, Ohio, on Sept. 15, 1976. He was killed in action May 11, 2005, in New Ubaydi, Iraq, by an IED.
-- Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Travis L. Youngblood, 26. Born at Pensacola Naval Base, Fla., on June 5, 1979, Youngblood called Ivor, Va., home. He died July 21, 2005, from IED wounds suffered in Hit, Iraq, on July 15, 2005.
-- Lance Cpl. William Brett Wightman, 22. He was born in Fayette County, Ohio, on Jan. 11, 1983, and called Sabina, Ohio, home. Wightman was killed in action Aug. 3, 2005, in Barwanah, Iraq, by an IED.
-- Lance Cpl. Edward August "Augie" Schroeder II, 23. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, on April 10, 1982, and his hometown is South Orange, N.J. Schroeder was killed in action Aug. 3, 2005, in Barwanah, Iraq, by an IED.
-- Staff Sgt. Anthony L. Goodwin, 33. He was born in Fitchburg, Mass., on May 28, 1971, and called Shirley, Mass., his home. He was killed in action May 8, 2005, in New Ubaydi, Iraq, from enemy fire.
-- Sgt. Justin F. Hoffman, 27. He was born in Orange, Calif., on Nov. 9, 1977, and his hometown is Delaware, Ohio. He was killed in action Aug. 3, 2005, in Barwanah, Iraq, by an IED.
-- Sgt. David Kenneth John Kreuter, 26. He was born in Cincinnati on June 25, 1979, and was killed in action Aug. 3, 2005, in Barwanah, Iraq, by an IED.
-- Lance Cpl. Jourdan Lin Grez, 24. He was born in Little Silver, N.J., and called Richmond, Va., home. He was killed in action May 11, 2005, in Qaim, Iraq, by an IED.
-- Lance Cpl. Timothy M. Bell Jr., 22. He was born in Kansas City, Mo., on May 11, 1983, and his hometown is West Chester, Ohio. Bell was killed in action Aug. 3, 2005, in Barwanah, Iraq, by an IED.
-- Lance Cpl. Jonathan W. Grant, 23. Born on April 15, 1982, he called Espanola, N.M., home. He was killed in action May 11, 2005, in Qaim, Iraq, by an IED.
(Marine Corps Sgt. G.S. Thomas is media chief for Marine Forces Reserve. Donna Miles from American Forces Press Service contributed to this article.)
Showing posts with label cincinnati. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cincinnati. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
CBR Weapons and WMD Terrorism News- April 30, 2008
DOR BioPharma Initiates Non-Human Primate Efficacy Studies of RiVax(TM), Its Vaccine Against Ricin Toxin
“DOR BioPharma, Inc. […] announced today the initiation of a comprehensive program to evaluate the efficacy of RiVax(TM) in non-human primates. […] While prior Phase 1 clinical trial results for RiVax(TM) demonstrated that the vaccine is well tolerated and induces antibodies in humans that neutralize ricin toxin in tissue culture, it will be critical to obtain data proving that this response is protective. In the studies to be done at Tulane, it will be important to establish that vaccinated non-human primates are not only protected against lethality from ricin aerosol exposure, but also against lung damage.” (The Earth Times; 29Apr08) http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/dor-biopharma-initiates-non-human-primate,370372.shtml
ICx Technologies Awarded $4.9 Million R&D Contract under Department of Homeland Security’s ‘Detect to Protect’ Project
“[…] a developer of advanced sensor technologies for homeland security, force protection and commercial applications, announced today that it has won a $4.9 million, Phase IIb research and development contract under the Department of Homeland Security’s ‘Detect to Protect’ project, which was previously called the IBADS program. The project is designed to develop rapid sensors that can influence immediate actions to limit exposure to an attack involving biological agents.” (ICX Technologies; 29Apr08) http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080429005157&newsLang=en
Scientists reveal evolutionary intricacies of Rickettsia pathogens
“Scientists from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland School of Medicine have unveiled some of the evolutionary intricacies of rickettsial pathogens by analyzing over a decade’s worth of genomic data. Some species of Rickettsia are known to cause harmful diseases in humans, such as epidemic typhus (R. prowazekii) and Rocky Mountain spotted fever (R. rickettsii), while others have been identified as emerging pathogens and organisms that might possibly be used for the development of biological weapons.” (Eureka Alert; 28Apr08; Barry
Whyte)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-04/vt-sre042808.php
Detector Permits Debated Tomorrow [New York, NY]
“A controversial bill that would create a permit process for companies that possess weapons detection equipment will have a second hearing at City Hall tomorrow morning, and myriad environmental groups are pledging to testify against it. The bill (Intro 650) mandates companies get a permit if they have any equipment, which can detect radioactive, biological or chemical weapons. The bill, which was drafted by the Police Department, has been toned down since its original introduction, which was hotly contested.” (Gotham Gazette; 28Apr08; Courtney Gross) http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/04/28/detector-permits-debated-tomorrow/
No chemical warfare for UC [University of Cincinnati]
“In compliance with the Department of Homeland Security's Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards, an analysis of the University of Cincinnati's chemical inventory was recently compiled through the Office of the Vice President of Research. […] ‘Homeland Security has identified specific chemicals of interest and established reportable threshold quantities a facility may posses,’ said Jan Utrecht, director of UC's Environmental Health and Safety Office, which was charged with compiling the data. ‘If a facility exceeds the limits, then the university would have been obligated to report to the agency, and based on their analysis, may have to develop a facility security plan.’” (The News Record; 28Apr08; Taylor Dungjen) http://media.www.newsrecord.org/media/storage/paper693/news/2008/04/28/News/No.Chemical.Warfare.For.Uc-3351672.shtml
Utah man [Thomas Tholen] tied to ricin case pleads not guilty
“A Utah man charged with a federal crime in a case involving ricin has pleaded not guilty. Thomas Tholen of Riverton made his first appearance in federal court Tuesday since he was indicted April 3.” (Deseret News; 29Apr08)
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695274858,00.html
U.K. to provide [10 million pounds sterling] a year for nuclear safety in CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States]
“An official from Russia's Federal Industry Agency said Moscow intends to spend $1.4 billion in 2008 on the destruction of its chemical weapon stockpiles. Yelena Radushkina said that last year Russia spent $1.5 billion on the destruction of chemical weapons, while the national chemical weapons destruction program was worth a total of $9 billion. She added that Russia fulfills in good faith its international obligations, pointing out that ‘as of April 18, 10,000 tons of all chemical weapons stockpiles had been destroyed, or 27% of the total.’” (Russian News & Information Agency; 29Apr08) http://en.rian.ru/world/20080429/106193657.html
UN [United Nations] chief pays tribute to victims of chemical warfare
“In a message marking the Day of Remembrance for Victims of Chemical Warfare, Ban urged the world to use this ‘solemn occasion’ to honor the victims and ensure their suffering will not be forgotten nor repeated. Citing the Chemical Weapons Convention, which entered into force on April 29, 1997, Ban reminded all states parties to the convention of their obligation to destroy existing chemical weapons stockpiles by April 29, 2012. […] At an international conference on the elimination of chemical weapons held in November, 2005, more than 120 countries agreed to designate April 29 as the international Day of Remembrance for Victims of Chemical Warfare.” (China View; 30Apr08; Mu Xuequan) http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/30/content_8076907.htm
Brigade in bomb alert [West Midlands, United Kingdom]
“West Midlands Fire Service is stepping up its training to deal with terrorism ‘dirty bomb’ after an internal review concluded it needed improving. […] The reassurance follows an e-mail leaked to the Birmingham Mail which admitted that the brigade was not properly prepared for any kind of contamination incident. […] The Government gave them money to buy special fire engines containing all the contamination equipment to deal with a chemical or nuclear attack. Three engines in the West Midlands and around 850 firefighters and officers at 23 stations have received training in how to use them.” (Birmingham Mail; 29Apr08; Jane Tyler) http://www.birminghammail.net/news/birmingham-news/2008/04/29/brigade-in-bomb-alert-97319-20835032/
Remarks by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff at the National Marine Manufacturers Association American Boating Congress
“One thing which we are doing along these lines is we're operating a pilot program up in the state of Washington to see what our capability is to have stand-off detection technology for radioactive or nuclear material on small vessels entering a port area. So that, for example, vessels coming into the channel entering into a port area would pass by detection devices. They wouldn't have to stop. And those detection devices would be configured to determine whether or not there are radioactive admissions of a kind that are associated with a possible dirty bomb or nuclear device. This is in the pilot stage. We're actually currently testing it in the state of Washington.” (Department of Homeland Security; 28Apr08; Michael Chertoff)
http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/speeches/sp_1209472037198.shtm
Tehran [Iran], Moscow [Russia] vow to continue regional, Int'l cooperation
“Secretary of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili and Deputy Secretary of the Russian National Security Council Valentin Sobolev in their second round of talks here Tuesday explored ways of bolstering mutual cooperation and helping to restore peace and stability to the region and the world. […] The two sides also discussed various topics such as regional and international developments, terrorism, drug trafficking, defense, nuclear disarmament, and the need for destruction of chemical and bio-chemical weapons.” (Islamic Republic News Agency; 29Apr08) http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-236/0804293432175338.htm
U.N. extends non-proliferation mandate
“A mandate to end nuclear, chemical and biological weapons proliferation has been extended by the U.N. Security Council at U.N. headquarters in New York. […] According to the Security Council, the mandate also requires countries to follow existing international treaties and full compliance with the resolution including the ‘physical protection of weapons, border security and law enforcement efforts, as well as controls over exports and trans-shipments,’ the release said.” (Middle East Times; 28Apr08; United Press International) http://www.metimes.com/Security/2008/04/28/un_extends_non-proliferation_mandate/b9af/
CNS ChemBio-WMD Terrorism News is prepared by the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in order to bring timely and focused information to researchers and policymakers interested in the fields of chemical, biological, and radiological weapons nonproliferation and WMD terrorism.
“DOR BioPharma, Inc. […] announced today the initiation of a comprehensive program to evaluate the efficacy of RiVax(TM) in non-human primates. […] While prior Phase 1 clinical trial results for RiVax(TM) demonstrated that the vaccine is well tolerated and induces antibodies in humans that neutralize ricin toxin in tissue culture, it will be critical to obtain data proving that this response is protective. In the studies to be done at Tulane, it will be important to establish that vaccinated non-human primates are not only protected against lethality from ricin aerosol exposure, but also against lung damage.” (The Earth Times; 29Apr08) http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/dor-biopharma-initiates-non-human-primate,370372.shtml
ICx Technologies Awarded $4.9 Million R&D Contract under Department of Homeland Security’s ‘Detect to Protect’ Project
“[…] a developer of advanced sensor technologies for homeland security, force protection and commercial applications, announced today that it has won a $4.9 million, Phase IIb research and development contract under the Department of Homeland Security’s ‘Detect to Protect’ project, which was previously called the IBADS program. The project is designed to develop rapid sensors that can influence immediate actions to limit exposure to an attack involving biological agents.” (ICX Technologies; 29Apr08) http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080429005157&newsLang=en
Scientists reveal evolutionary intricacies of Rickettsia pathogens
“Scientists from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland School of Medicine have unveiled some of the evolutionary intricacies of rickettsial pathogens by analyzing over a decade’s worth of genomic data. Some species of Rickettsia are known to cause harmful diseases in humans, such as epidemic typhus (R. prowazekii) and Rocky Mountain spotted fever (R. rickettsii), while others have been identified as emerging pathogens and organisms that might possibly be used for the development of biological weapons.” (Eureka Alert; 28Apr08; Barry
Whyte)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-04/vt-sre042808.php
Detector Permits Debated Tomorrow [New York, NY]
“A controversial bill that would create a permit process for companies that possess weapons detection equipment will have a second hearing at City Hall tomorrow morning, and myriad environmental groups are pledging to testify against it. The bill (Intro 650) mandates companies get a permit if they have any equipment, which can detect radioactive, biological or chemical weapons. The bill, which was drafted by the Police Department, has been toned down since its original introduction, which was hotly contested.” (Gotham Gazette; 28Apr08; Courtney Gross) http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2008/04/28/detector-permits-debated-tomorrow/
No chemical warfare for UC [University of Cincinnati]
“In compliance with the Department of Homeland Security's Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards, an analysis of the University of Cincinnati's chemical inventory was recently compiled through the Office of the Vice President of Research. […] ‘Homeland Security has identified specific chemicals of interest and established reportable threshold quantities a facility may posses,’ said Jan Utrecht, director of UC's Environmental Health and Safety Office, which was charged with compiling the data. ‘If a facility exceeds the limits, then the university would have been obligated to report to the agency, and based on their analysis, may have to develop a facility security plan.’” (The News Record; 28Apr08; Taylor Dungjen) http://media.www.newsrecord.org/media/storage/paper693/news/2008/04/28/News/No.Chemical.Warfare.For.Uc-3351672.shtml
Utah man [Thomas Tholen] tied to ricin case pleads not guilty
“A Utah man charged with a federal crime in a case involving ricin has pleaded not guilty. Thomas Tholen of Riverton made his first appearance in federal court Tuesday since he was indicted April 3.” (Deseret News; 29Apr08)
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695274858,00.html
U.K. to provide [10 million pounds sterling] a year for nuclear safety in CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States]
“An official from Russia's Federal Industry Agency said Moscow intends to spend $1.4 billion in 2008 on the destruction of its chemical weapon stockpiles. Yelena Radushkina said that last year Russia spent $1.5 billion on the destruction of chemical weapons, while the national chemical weapons destruction program was worth a total of $9 billion. She added that Russia fulfills in good faith its international obligations, pointing out that ‘as of April 18, 10,000 tons of all chemical weapons stockpiles had been destroyed, or 27% of the total.’” (Russian News & Information Agency; 29Apr08) http://en.rian.ru/world/20080429/106193657.html
UN [United Nations] chief pays tribute to victims of chemical warfare
“In a message marking the Day of Remembrance for Victims of Chemical Warfare, Ban urged the world to use this ‘solemn occasion’ to honor the victims and ensure their suffering will not be forgotten nor repeated. Citing the Chemical Weapons Convention, which entered into force on April 29, 1997, Ban reminded all states parties to the convention of their obligation to destroy existing chemical weapons stockpiles by April 29, 2012. […] At an international conference on the elimination of chemical weapons held in November, 2005, more than 120 countries agreed to designate April 29 as the international Day of Remembrance for Victims of Chemical Warfare.” (China View; 30Apr08; Mu Xuequan) http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/30/content_8076907.htm
Brigade in bomb alert [West Midlands, United Kingdom]
“West Midlands Fire Service is stepping up its training to deal with terrorism ‘dirty bomb’ after an internal review concluded it needed improving. […] The reassurance follows an e-mail leaked to the Birmingham Mail which admitted that the brigade was not properly prepared for any kind of contamination incident. […] The Government gave them money to buy special fire engines containing all the contamination equipment to deal with a chemical or nuclear attack. Three engines in the West Midlands and around 850 firefighters and officers at 23 stations have received training in how to use them.” (Birmingham Mail; 29Apr08; Jane Tyler) http://www.birminghammail.net/news/birmingham-news/2008/04/29/brigade-in-bomb-alert-97319-20835032/
Remarks by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff at the National Marine Manufacturers Association American Boating Congress
“One thing which we are doing along these lines is we're operating a pilot program up in the state of Washington to see what our capability is to have stand-off detection technology for radioactive or nuclear material on small vessels entering a port area. So that, for example, vessels coming into the channel entering into a port area would pass by detection devices. They wouldn't have to stop. And those detection devices would be configured to determine whether or not there are radioactive admissions of a kind that are associated with a possible dirty bomb or nuclear device. This is in the pilot stage. We're actually currently testing it in the state of Washington.” (Department of Homeland Security; 28Apr08; Michael Chertoff)
http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/speeches/sp_1209472037198.shtm
Tehran [Iran], Moscow [Russia] vow to continue regional, Int'l cooperation
“Secretary of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili and Deputy Secretary of the Russian National Security Council Valentin Sobolev in their second round of talks here Tuesday explored ways of bolstering mutual cooperation and helping to restore peace and stability to the region and the world. […] The two sides also discussed various topics such as regional and international developments, terrorism, drug trafficking, defense, nuclear disarmament, and the need for destruction of chemical and bio-chemical weapons.” (Islamic Republic News Agency; 29Apr08) http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-236/0804293432175338.htm
U.N. extends non-proliferation mandate
“A mandate to end nuclear, chemical and biological weapons proliferation has been extended by the U.N. Security Council at U.N. headquarters in New York. […] According to the Security Council, the mandate also requires countries to follow existing international treaties and full compliance with the resolution including the ‘physical protection of weapons, border security and law enforcement efforts, as well as controls over exports and trans-shipments,’ the release said.” (Middle East Times; 28Apr08; United Press International) http://www.metimes.com/Security/2008/04/28/un_extends_non-proliferation_mandate/b9af/
CNS ChemBio-WMD Terrorism News is prepared by the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in order to bring timely and focused information to researchers and policymakers interested in the fields of chemical, biological, and radiological weapons nonproliferation and WMD terrorism.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Burned Iraqi Boy Defies Odds, Bound for Treatment in U.S.
By 1st Lt. Lisa Spilinek, USAF
Special to American Forces Press Service
March 21, 2008 - A photo of an adorable little boy with a bowl haircut and big, brown eyes was posted alongside a sign that read, "I may be little, but I am strong." But the scarred child within the hospital isolation room didn't look like the boy in the photo; only the lively eyes were the same. The 3-year-old boy was the victim of a stove fire that left him with second- and third-degree burns covering 45 percent of his body, along with inhalation burns to his lungs. Under the best health care conditions, the mortality rate for such severe injuries is 70 to 80 percent. In Iraq, it's a death sentence.
He's little, but he's strong. Al Amreeki survived.
The credit for saving Al Amreeki's life belongs to the medical staff working at the Air Force Theater Hospital here, where the boy has been under constant medical care since Jan. 25.
Now Al Amreeki will begin a new chapter in his recovery -- in America. Again, he has beaten the odds.
The boy and his mother have left Balad and soon will board an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III. The pair will travel first to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, and then on to the United States.
Getting the boy permission to leave Iraq on a medical airlift mission required OKs at multiple levels by civilian and military leadership in Iraq and the United States, including from the office of the secretary of defense. The Shriners Hospitals for Children in Cincinnati will provide his ongoing treatment. Children Without Borders, a nonprofit organization, will serve as the host agency for Al Amreeki and his mother.
"I don't know how to thank the American people. They are a great and kind people, because they saved my son's life," said Al Amreeki's mother, Amil, through an interpreter. "I pray to God to not let the efforts of these people be wasted. I want him to be as healthy, and beautiful and cute as he was before."
Yet, Al Amreeki's medical outcome is still unknown.
"He's at Mile 2 of what I would characterize as a marathon of treatment; the first two miles were marked by a very steep hill," said Air Force Maj. (Dr.) David Norton, 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group intensive care unit director at the Air Force Theater Hospital, who is deployed from Keesler Medical Center at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss.
Upon the boy's arrival at the Balad hospital, Al Amreeki's injuries were so bad that he was considered "expectant" by hospital protocols, which means a patient's injuries are too severe to treat beyond administering pain medication and that death is expected. Despite Al Amreeki's devastating diagnosis, the hospital staff decided to try to treat the toddler anyway, Norton said.
"We decided to give him a chance, and he has done very well," the doctor said. "For whatever reason, this is a little man who wants to live; he's a fighter."
Over the past weeks at the Air Force Theater Hospital, Al Amreeki has undergone multiple skin grafts to his face, neck, chest and arms. The hospital technicians have been diligent in sloughing off the dead tissue that was burned in the fire when his nylon clothes melted onto his skin, and they have aggressively treated his four bouts of sepsis, which caused the boy to run 107-degree fevers, with antibiotics.
"He's kind of our miracle child," said Air Force Capt. Michael Riegler, 332nd Expeditionary Medical Operations Squadron nurse, who is deployed from Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. "For as much as he fought, I felt we could try to fight for him."
For the hospital staff, fighting for the child included tracking down his family members.
On the day Al Amreeki was burned, his mother, Amil, was outside their home speaking with her mother-in-law.
"Suddenly we heard him screaming. We ran inside and saw this big fire, and he was in the middle of the fire. His clothes were sticking to his body," she said.
The boy was first taken to the local Iraqi hospital, but the doctors there said they could do nothing for him, his mother said. They told her and the boy's uncle, who accompanied her, to take Al Amreeki to the "American hospital."
To get there, the family would need to go to an Iraqi checkpoint. Travel in the region is dangerous because improvised explosive devices are emplaced along certain roadways, so the boy's uncle took him to the checkpoint without Amil.
At the checkpoint, American soldiers saw the critically injured boy and transported him and his uncle by helicopter to the hospital here, where doctors treat battlefield injuries and illnesses of servicemembers and Iraqis alike on a daily basis.
Wounded Americans who arrive at the hospital usually are sent to Landstuhl for follow-on care, while Iraqis who are too sick or injured to survive in an Iraqi hospital are treated at the Air Force Theater Hospital until they are well enough to be returned to the Iraqi medical system.
Riegler said the uncle visited the boy the first couple of days after he was admitted to the hospital, but was told the boy likely would die. Then the hospital staff no longer saw him; he had returned to his village without leaving his name or contact information.
Two weeks passed and little, but tough, Al Amreeki did not die.
Firmly believing that a parent's presence would help the boy recover, Riegler and an Iraqi interpreter working at the hospital began trying to track down Al Amreeki's family.
Born in Baghdad and now a resident of San Diego, Basem Hadi, an interpreter at the hospital, had experience tracking people down in the past, having spent the previous three years as a U.S. government contractor serving with Army Special Forces soldiers in Iraq.
"Do you know anything about this baby?" Basem said he would ask every Iraqi person he encountered at the hospital and on the base, since 90 to 95 percent of the Iraqis that come through the hospital are from Salahuddin province.
"The Iraqi family is very extended," he said. "If the father doesn't come, then the mother; if the not the mother, then the uncle -- somebody."
Eventually, his queries led him to an Iraqi army member in a nearby city who said he knew of a family that had a burned child, but little was known about the family except that the father had been killed about a year ago by insurgents and it was rumored that the mother had remarried.
An appointment was set up by the Iraqi army for the uncle to meet Basem and Riegler at the gate leading to Balad Air Base.
"I grabbed Mike; I told him, 'We got it!'" Basem said of finding little Al Amreeki's family. "Now I started to see hope."
When the uncle arrived at the gate, he told Basem and Riegler that it was true Al Amreeki's father had been killed by insurgents, but that Amil was unmarried and Al Amreeki was her only child. Shortly thereafter, Amil accompanied him to the gate to meet again with the pair from the hospital.
"She asked me, 'How is my baby?" Basem said. "I gave her hope. At the time his face was so swollen, I teared up, but she knew who he was."
Reuniting the family was only the beginning of the hurdles Riegler and Basem would overcome in trying to help Al Amreeki, whose medical condition was, and still is, precarious.
The pair knew that even if Al Amreeki lived, his scarred face and body would make his survival in a culture critical of deformities difficult, to say the least. Additionally, once the child returned to the Iraqi health care system, he would not receive the intense physical therapy and occupational therapy he would require for years to come. This made the pair seek out additional help from nonprofit organizations in the United States.
"It was almost impossible, but not quite," Riegler said of finding Marjorie Westerkamp, the transportation coordinator for the Shiners Hospitals for Children in Cincinnati. "There were huge bumps in the road."
Those "bumps" included getting permission from the Iraqi government and Ministry of Health to allow Al Amreeki and Amil to leave Iraq under a humanitarian parole visa as well as coordinating to get them flown from the country on an Air Force medical evacuation mission, during which the aircraft serves as a flying hospital. Since air travel can bring on additional medical challenges for patients, during medical evacuation flights patients receive even more care in the air than on the ground.
"It's fine if we get tired," Basem said of their constant work toward getting the child moved. "I felt we had to help this human being. I feel like it's my baby."
Al Amreeki is the fourth Iraqi patient brought to the Cincinnati hospital for burn treatment. There is no charge for any care or services provided within Shriners Hospitals for Children facilities.
"We've been working for weeks to get Al Amreeki here," said Marjorie Westerkamp, a registered nurse and transport team coordinator at the Cincinnati hospital. "It's only with a lot of effort and collaboration can you get a boy from the other side of the world and a war zone to Cincinnati for burn treatment. Shriners Hospital is so happy to be able to provide burn care to children in need -- it is what we do every day."
The entire process took more than six weeks to coordinate and included a required trip to Baghdad to complete paperwork for Amil – a city larger than any she had been to before.
Now Amil and Al Amreeki will travel to Cincinnati, but Amil said that the next part of their journey to recovery would not have been possible without the work of the medical personnel at the Air Force Theater Hospital at Balad.
"I'm his mom, but the nurses, male and female here, they are more than mom or dad to him. They love him and take good care of him. They check his IV and stop by to visit. The words 'thank you' are not enough," she said.
As the boy grows, his lungs will return to "close to normal" status, Norton said, but his growth will also cause his scars to pucker and his skin to grow tighter. Over the years, Al Amreeki's scars will need to be opened periodically so the boy will able to grow at a standard rate.
For now, Al Amreeki will receive treatment in the United States for a year; after that time, his situation will be re-evaluated.
For the two men who heavily invested themselves in getting Al Amreeki to the United States, his story has become one of hope for a people and a nation striving to unite and succeed.
"You're American; I'm Iraqi, and the two of us got this done," Basem told Riegler.
For the captain, a father of a 5-month-old girl and a 3-year-old boy, Al Amreeki's story is a huge success. His current deployment is his first after becoming a father.
Having served just over a year in the Air Force following an interservice transfer from the U.S. Navy, where he served 19 years, the captain has spent little time treating children, until now. In his position at Wilford Hall Medical Center, he works in the adult intensive care unit and as a critical care air transportation nurse.
"It's almost like winning the lottery. This child is one of the few who will have a chance," Riegler said. "I'm hoping he's something special – a symbol for this country. We've given the family this hope. I'm beyond happy for them."
Basem also said young Al Amreeki's story is special.
"I feel that (Al Amreeki) is the Iraq situation, and I need him to survive as much as Iraq. A lot of people I see don't have hope in the Iraqi future, but I have hope. I see (Al Amreeki) as the Iraqi people – one people, one country," he said. "Everybody said (Al Amreeki) would die. Now everybody knows him and everybody loves him."
(Air Force 1st Lt. Lisa Spilinek serves in the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs Office. The names of the Iraqi mother and son in this article have been changed, at the mother's request, to protect their identities from terrorists who would harm them if it was known that the pair received help from American servicemembers and the U.S. government.)
Special to American Forces Press Service
March 21, 2008 - A photo of an adorable little boy with a bowl haircut and big, brown eyes was posted alongside a sign that read, "I may be little, but I am strong." But the scarred child within the hospital isolation room didn't look like the boy in the photo; only the lively eyes were the same. The 3-year-old boy was the victim of a stove fire that left him with second- and third-degree burns covering 45 percent of his body, along with inhalation burns to his lungs. Under the best health care conditions, the mortality rate for such severe injuries is 70 to 80 percent. In Iraq, it's a death sentence.
He's little, but he's strong. Al Amreeki survived.
The credit for saving Al Amreeki's life belongs to the medical staff working at the Air Force Theater Hospital here, where the boy has been under constant medical care since Jan. 25.
Now Al Amreeki will begin a new chapter in his recovery -- in America. Again, he has beaten the odds.
The boy and his mother have left Balad and soon will board an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III. The pair will travel first to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, and then on to the United States.
Getting the boy permission to leave Iraq on a medical airlift mission required OKs at multiple levels by civilian and military leadership in Iraq and the United States, including from the office of the secretary of defense. The Shriners Hospitals for Children in Cincinnati will provide his ongoing treatment. Children Without Borders, a nonprofit organization, will serve as the host agency for Al Amreeki and his mother.
"I don't know how to thank the American people. They are a great and kind people, because they saved my son's life," said Al Amreeki's mother, Amil, through an interpreter. "I pray to God to not let the efforts of these people be wasted. I want him to be as healthy, and beautiful and cute as he was before."
Yet, Al Amreeki's medical outcome is still unknown.
"He's at Mile 2 of what I would characterize as a marathon of treatment; the first two miles were marked by a very steep hill," said Air Force Maj. (Dr.) David Norton, 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group intensive care unit director at the Air Force Theater Hospital, who is deployed from Keesler Medical Center at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss.
Upon the boy's arrival at the Balad hospital, Al Amreeki's injuries were so bad that he was considered "expectant" by hospital protocols, which means a patient's injuries are too severe to treat beyond administering pain medication and that death is expected. Despite Al Amreeki's devastating diagnosis, the hospital staff decided to try to treat the toddler anyway, Norton said.
"We decided to give him a chance, and he has done very well," the doctor said. "For whatever reason, this is a little man who wants to live; he's a fighter."
Over the past weeks at the Air Force Theater Hospital, Al Amreeki has undergone multiple skin grafts to his face, neck, chest and arms. The hospital technicians have been diligent in sloughing off the dead tissue that was burned in the fire when his nylon clothes melted onto his skin, and they have aggressively treated his four bouts of sepsis, which caused the boy to run 107-degree fevers, with antibiotics.
"He's kind of our miracle child," said Air Force Capt. Michael Riegler, 332nd Expeditionary Medical Operations Squadron nurse, who is deployed from Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. "For as much as he fought, I felt we could try to fight for him."
For the hospital staff, fighting for the child included tracking down his family members.
On the day Al Amreeki was burned, his mother, Amil, was outside their home speaking with her mother-in-law.
"Suddenly we heard him screaming. We ran inside and saw this big fire, and he was in the middle of the fire. His clothes were sticking to his body," she said.
The boy was first taken to the local Iraqi hospital, but the doctors there said they could do nothing for him, his mother said. They told her and the boy's uncle, who accompanied her, to take Al Amreeki to the "American hospital."
To get there, the family would need to go to an Iraqi checkpoint. Travel in the region is dangerous because improvised explosive devices are emplaced along certain roadways, so the boy's uncle took him to the checkpoint without Amil.
At the checkpoint, American soldiers saw the critically injured boy and transported him and his uncle by helicopter to the hospital here, where doctors treat battlefield injuries and illnesses of servicemembers and Iraqis alike on a daily basis.
Wounded Americans who arrive at the hospital usually are sent to Landstuhl for follow-on care, while Iraqis who are too sick or injured to survive in an Iraqi hospital are treated at the Air Force Theater Hospital until they are well enough to be returned to the Iraqi medical system.
Riegler said the uncle visited the boy the first couple of days after he was admitted to the hospital, but was told the boy likely would die. Then the hospital staff no longer saw him; he had returned to his village without leaving his name or contact information.
Two weeks passed and little, but tough, Al Amreeki did not die.
Firmly believing that a parent's presence would help the boy recover, Riegler and an Iraqi interpreter working at the hospital began trying to track down Al Amreeki's family.
Born in Baghdad and now a resident of San Diego, Basem Hadi, an interpreter at the hospital, had experience tracking people down in the past, having spent the previous three years as a U.S. government contractor serving with Army Special Forces soldiers in Iraq.
"Do you know anything about this baby?" Basem said he would ask every Iraqi person he encountered at the hospital and on the base, since 90 to 95 percent of the Iraqis that come through the hospital are from Salahuddin province.
"The Iraqi family is very extended," he said. "If the father doesn't come, then the mother; if the not the mother, then the uncle -- somebody."
Eventually, his queries led him to an Iraqi army member in a nearby city who said he knew of a family that had a burned child, but little was known about the family except that the father had been killed about a year ago by insurgents and it was rumored that the mother had remarried.
An appointment was set up by the Iraqi army for the uncle to meet Basem and Riegler at the gate leading to Balad Air Base.
"I grabbed Mike; I told him, 'We got it!'" Basem said of finding little Al Amreeki's family. "Now I started to see hope."
When the uncle arrived at the gate, he told Basem and Riegler that it was true Al Amreeki's father had been killed by insurgents, but that Amil was unmarried and Al Amreeki was her only child. Shortly thereafter, Amil accompanied him to the gate to meet again with the pair from the hospital.
"She asked me, 'How is my baby?" Basem said. "I gave her hope. At the time his face was so swollen, I teared up, but she knew who he was."
Reuniting the family was only the beginning of the hurdles Riegler and Basem would overcome in trying to help Al Amreeki, whose medical condition was, and still is, precarious.
The pair knew that even if Al Amreeki lived, his scarred face and body would make his survival in a culture critical of deformities difficult, to say the least. Additionally, once the child returned to the Iraqi health care system, he would not receive the intense physical therapy and occupational therapy he would require for years to come. This made the pair seek out additional help from nonprofit organizations in the United States.
"It was almost impossible, but not quite," Riegler said of finding Marjorie Westerkamp, the transportation coordinator for the Shiners Hospitals for Children in Cincinnati. "There were huge bumps in the road."
Those "bumps" included getting permission from the Iraqi government and Ministry of Health to allow Al Amreeki and Amil to leave Iraq under a humanitarian parole visa as well as coordinating to get them flown from the country on an Air Force medical evacuation mission, during which the aircraft serves as a flying hospital. Since air travel can bring on additional medical challenges for patients, during medical evacuation flights patients receive even more care in the air than on the ground.
"It's fine if we get tired," Basem said of their constant work toward getting the child moved. "I felt we had to help this human being. I feel like it's my baby."
Al Amreeki is the fourth Iraqi patient brought to the Cincinnati hospital for burn treatment. There is no charge for any care or services provided within Shriners Hospitals for Children facilities.
"We've been working for weeks to get Al Amreeki here," said Marjorie Westerkamp, a registered nurse and transport team coordinator at the Cincinnati hospital. "It's only with a lot of effort and collaboration can you get a boy from the other side of the world and a war zone to Cincinnati for burn treatment. Shriners Hospital is so happy to be able to provide burn care to children in need -- it is what we do every day."
The entire process took more than six weeks to coordinate and included a required trip to Baghdad to complete paperwork for Amil – a city larger than any she had been to before.
Now Amil and Al Amreeki will travel to Cincinnati, but Amil said that the next part of their journey to recovery would not have been possible without the work of the medical personnel at the Air Force Theater Hospital at Balad.
"I'm his mom, but the nurses, male and female here, they are more than mom or dad to him. They love him and take good care of him. They check his IV and stop by to visit. The words 'thank you' are not enough," she said.
As the boy grows, his lungs will return to "close to normal" status, Norton said, but his growth will also cause his scars to pucker and his skin to grow tighter. Over the years, Al Amreeki's scars will need to be opened periodically so the boy will able to grow at a standard rate.
For now, Al Amreeki will receive treatment in the United States for a year; after that time, his situation will be re-evaluated.
For the two men who heavily invested themselves in getting Al Amreeki to the United States, his story has become one of hope for a people and a nation striving to unite and succeed.
"You're American; I'm Iraqi, and the two of us got this done," Basem told Riegler.
For the captain, a father of a 5-month-old girl and a 3-year-old boy, Al Amreeki's story is a huge success. His current deployment is his first after becoming a father.
Having served just over a year in the Air Force following an interservice transfer from the U.S. Navy, where he served 19 years, the captain has spent little time treating children, until now. In his position at Wilford Hall Medical Center, he works in the adult intensive care unit and as a critical care air transportation nurse.
"It's almost like winning the lottery. This child is one of the few who will have a chance," Riegler said. "I'm hoping he's something special – a symbol for this country. We've given the family this hope. I'm beyond happy for them."
Basem also said young Al Amreeki's story is special.
"I feel that (Al Amreeki) is the Iraq situation, and I need him to survive as much as Iraq. A lot of people I see don't have hope in the Iraqi future, but I have hope. I see (Al Amreeki) as the Iraqi people – one people, one country," he said. "Everybody said (Al Amreeki) would die. Now everybody knows him and everybody loves him."
(Air Force 1st Lt. Lisa Spilinek serves in the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs Office. The names of the Iraqi mother and son in this article have been changed, at the mother's request, to protect their identities from terrorists who would harm them if it was known that the pair received help from American servicemembers and the U.S. government.)
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