[Blindvet-talk] 05/21/2010 AP National Desk Article, In blindness, soldiers find ne...

[MisterAdvocate at aol.com]

>From our friend David D.
Dwight
_www.nabv.org_ (http://www.nabv.org)  
 
 
Updated At 10 20 AM.. In blindness, soldiers find new niche in  military    
  By MICHAEL HILL  Associated Press  Writer     The Associated Press      
WEST POINT, N.Y.   . Since a car bomb blinded Capt. Scott Smiley in  Iraq, he 
has skied Vail, climbed Mount Rainier, earned his MBA, raised two  young 
boys with his wife, won an Espy award and pulled himself up from  
faith-shaking depths. 

Smiley, 30, has snagged attention for his big  accomplishments. But the 
daily ones are telling, too, including the recent  tour he gave of his staff's 
offices at the U.S. Military Academy at West  Point, where he plans to 
attend President Barack Obama's address of the Class  of 2010 on Saturday. 

Unable to see the path around the workers'  cubicles, Smiley stepped 
forward with a joke to the camouflage-clad officers  he was showing around: "I 
walk around, and when I hit things, I move," he  said. 

An aide trailing him said softly, "Turn right, sir," at a  doorway. Smiley 
turned. 

Smiley, of Pasco, Wash., is one of only a  handful of soldiers who chose to 
remain on active duty after being blinded by  fighting in Iraq and 
Afghanistan, a practice that's rare but one that military  officials say benefits 
both parties. 

Though unable to return to his  old infantry duties in Iraq, Smiley has 
thrived in stateside postings such as  his latest at West Point, from which he 
graduated in 2003. He now commands the  Warrior Transition Unit at West 
Point for ailing or wounded soldiers.  

Voice software allows Smiley to listen to e-mails, books and  pamphlets. 
Aides help him navigate and tell him what order he's signing. It's  a little 
like changing his son's diapers at home: He's fine as long as he  knows where 
everything is. 

His resiliency and energy helped him earn  the 2007 Soldier of the Year 
commendation from the publication Army Times, as  well as an ESPN Espy award in 
2008 for best outdoor athlete. 

He earned  his master's of business administration at Duke University and 
has spoken to  the Olympic and Duke teams coached by Mike Krzyzewski, a 
fellow West Point  alum. He has a memoir coming out this year titled "Hope 
Unseen. 

Smiley  said he's not trying to prove anything with his exploits. 

In terms of  getting an MBA, climbing Mount Rainier, it's what I always 
wanted to do," he  said. Why should I stop that? 

Smiley was injured April 6, 2005, six  months into a deployment to Iraq. He 
led patrols through Mosul, a dangerous  city where a too-high pile of 
garbage could be hiding explosives and the enemy  blended in with the populace. 

Sgt. 1st Class Mike Branham, who served  as a squad leader under Smiley, 
said his fellow serviceman was a topflight  officer, one who stood out for his 
deep Christian faith and detailed knowledge  of his soldiers. 

He knew their names, he knew their wives' names, he  knew their likes and 
dislikes," Branham said. 

Smiley was leading a  patrol in an armored Stryker vehicle when, from his 
perch in the forward  hatch, he spotted a silver Opel that matched 
intelligence descriptions of a  potential car bomb. The trunk appeared to be weighed 
down and the driver acted  as though he didn't understand Smiley, who fired 
warning shots at the ground  when it looked as if the driver was going to 
pull forward. 

The driver  raised his hands, and the car went up in a fireball. 

Shrapnel tore  through Smiley's left eye and lodged in his frontal brain 
lobe; another  fragment the size of a pencil lead pierced his right eye. 

Slumped  unconscious in the Stryker hatch, Smiley was rushed to a medical 
center, where  he briefly flatlined as friends prayed at his bedside. 

Branham  recalls, "I didn't think he was going to make it past that day at 
all.  

He was left permanently blinded and temporarily paralyzed on his right  
side. 

Stabilized and shipped stateside, Smiley struggled with his  fate. He had 
vowed at his wedding to take care of his wife, Tiffany, and there  she was, 
taking care of him. The exertion of wiggling his big toe required a  
three-hour nap. 

He received his Purple Heart on his hospital bed. A  video posted on 
YouTube of the ceremony shows his brother Neal struggling to  maintain composure 
as he reads the citation. Smiley, looking beaten and  uncomfortable in his 
bed, turns his head away. 

When I got to the  hospital and I finally realized what happened, what my 
life was going to be  like, I didn't believe in God. I questioned my faith. I 
questioned everything  that was ever said to me before," Smiley said. 
Because in my mind, why would  God allow something like this to happen to me? 

Smiley credits his  wife, family and faith for helping him accept his 
condition. Ultimately, he  decided he didn't want to be like the Lt. Dan 
character played by Gary Sinise  in "Forrest Gump," the officer who wants to be left 
to die when he loses his  legs in Vietnam. He would push on. And if his 
path kept him in the Army, that  was fine. 

I was totally prepared to get out," he said. But still in  the back of my 
mind, it was: 'I still have so much to give. I love serving my  country.' 

The Army says at least four other totally or partially blind  soldiers have 
remained on active duty since Iraq and Afghanistan.  

Capt. Ivan Castro lost his sight and suffered other serious injuries  in a 
2006 mortar attack in Iraq and is now stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., with  
the Special Operations Recruiting Battalion. Castro, a 42-year-old who runs  
marathons and 50-mile races, appears to share some personality traits with  
Smiley   and says he also felt he still had something to serve after  being 
injured. 

I've been doing this for over 18 years," Castro, who  was born in Hoboken, 
N.J., and grew up in Puerto Rico, said in a phone  interview. This is all I 
know. This is what I love. This is what I live for.  

Castro's commander, Lt. Col. Fredrick Dummar, said the continued  service 
by blind soldiers fits with the military philosophy that everyone has  unique 
abilities and that "there's always somebody on the team that can  
accomplish a mission. 

Smiley was at first posted at Accessions  Command, which oversees 
recruiting, and later earned his MBA. He returned to  West Point last year to teach 
and took command this year of the Warrior  Transition Unit here this year. He 
lives on post with Tiffany and their two  young boys. After the West Point 
graduation ceremony Saturday, he plans to pin  lieutenant bars on one of the 
roughly 1,000 cadets who will become new Army  officers. 

Smiley conceded that he might have a better understanding of  the ailing 
soldiers under his command but is quick to add that his overriding  concern is 
maintaining Army standards   for his soldiers and for  himself. 

I still want to be the person I always wanted to be," he  said.