Scars of war

[Kadie]

Scars of war
At 17 years old, Jose Jauregui signed up for the Army. At 18, he was called up with his unit to join the fight in Iraq. At 19, a fireball from a mortar explosion changed the S.J. man's body and life forever.

Nick Juliano
Record Staff Writer
Published Monday, Apr 24, 2006

As Jose Jauregui began his senior year at Linden High School, he saw adulthood looming around the corner and knew he needed a plan. The Army seemed like his best option - good pay, an opportunity to travel, job security - and he thought the military would become his career.

snip...
Words hardly can describe the grisly transformation Jauregui experienced after an insurgent-fired mortar burned nearly his entire body. Three soldiers died in that attack, and doctors initially gave Jauregui just a 3 percent chance of survival.

His close-cropped black hair is gone aside from a few wisps near his forehead and temples. His ears have been reduced to small holes. And his smooth, handsome face is now swollen and scarred. Jauregui's eyes, which stare from his military portrait displayed on his parents' coffee table, now are filled with sadness as he discusses this ordeal.

snip...
The attack and recovery have changed Jauregui's life goals and given him a new appreciation of the support from his family. Although Jauregui is proud of his service and remains a loyal soldier, the attack has brought into sharp focus the consequences of the war, and it has made him question the mission that sent him to the Middle East in the first place.

"I don't think nobody even knows what it's for," Jauregui said of the war still raging in the Iraqi desert.

more...
http://www.recordnet.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060424/NEWS01/604240323/1001


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[mfeher71]

1. All so Bu$hCo can line their pockets.

When will the people rise up and realize this, and stop cowering behind the mythology of religion, fear, and superstition?

[acmejack]

2. General Smedley Butler, USMC said it best;

War is a Racket!

[ShortnFiery]

3. Tragic beyond words

:cry: