Wrap Report: There just
aren't words to describe what happened here tonight. KNCI, Aaron
Tippin and the packed house was just amazing. I ran into
Michael Cole and his wonderful family. Shaking Jeff's hand
and meeting all his buddies from Camp Pendleton Marines 3/5 will
be one of the high points of 2006. To have a chance to hug
Navy medic Doc Rod and thank him for bringing Jeff back to
life is beyond mere words. All I can say is what many of you
already learned from your own: I know Jon and Jeff are in good
hands with their band of brothers in Iraq.
On January 6th of this year, Jeff
and the rest of the 3/5 from Pendleton deployed to Iraq.
Jeff was the lead driver of the
command platoon. Lt. Jensen, SgtMjr Kufchek, Cpl "Cheeks"
Ramirez, and LCpl Bowie, were in Jeff's humvee. On may 21st,
they left Camp Fallujah on a routine patrol. They had just
crossed a bridge when they encountered a "routine" IED
(improvised explosive device) with minimal damage and they
continued their patrol.
Because of the earlier IED, Lt
Jensen chose to return to camp on an alternate route. They came
upon some debris in the middle of the road.
They could not go to the right
because of some garbage bags, so Jeff went left. An IED was
triggered and the humvee blew up and then veered off the road,
traveling approximately 50 yards into a field. The rest of the
platoon waited a few minutes when the break lights flashed and
the vehicle turned around and headed back to the road with only
three tires (the driver front tire was blown off). The humvee
came to a halt when it hit some ruts right before the road. The
platoon again waited for some response, but none came.
The passenger side of the vehicle
was untouched so they had no idea how, if at all, bad it was.
LtCol Looney ordered everyone to rush to their aid.
Cheeks Ramirez was the gunner of
the vehicle and was the first to get aid. Corpsman Rodriguez
(Doc Rod) assessed him, but Cheeks was already dead. Doc Rod
then began aid to Lt Jensen when the others started yelling at
him from the other side of the vehicle. They had pulled my son,
Jeff, out and he was not breathing. Doc Rod began CPR. He was
able to revive Jeff, and got him and the remaining injured
safely to the hospital. I was notified the next day and told
Jeff would probably not make it. Jeff was taken to a hospital in
Baghdad, then to Germany.
Jeff was in a coma for nearly a
month. He suffered a traumatic brain injury in which they had to
remove the left side of his skull. Jeff also took shrapnel to
his shoulder, and a wound that force doctors to rebuild his jaw.
On September 28th Dr. Armanda reconstructed Jeff's head. Within
10 days Jeff had made a remarkable improvement. He then
underwent a second surgery.
Jeff's speech continue to
improve, but it is slow progress. He basically needs to learn
how to pronounce words again. It is very humiliating for him.
There have been many, many people
who have offered prayers thought Jeff's ordeal.
We would like to throw a welcome
home party for Jeff and invite the community so we can thank
them and share the experience of Jeff receiving his Purple
Heart by LtCol Looney. We will also invite the rest of the
3/5 so we can honor them as well.
Anyone in Northern
California is invited to come to this benefit! Aaron Tippin will
be performing and CPL Landy will be awarded his Purple Heart.
The proceeds will go to Jeff and his family to aid in his
recovery. We thank all our volunteers to chipped in with us.
