http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5424191,00.htmlGI didn't ask for 'all this,' but it made him speak up
By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News
March 17, 2007
WASHINGTON - Spc. Jeremy Duncan still jokes around like he always has - only now, one of his replacement teeth sometimes pops out of place when he smiles.
His left ear is missing and the prosthetic is in the shop. Part of his jaw is made out of titanium. And the good-luck dragon tattooed on his left bicep was nearly wiped away by shrapnel and surgeries. That hasn't stopped him from staying in the military, and these days he still acts like the same West Virginia smart aleck who kept his battle buddies in stitches before "all this."
To Duncan, "all this" means the war in Iraq, where he survived his first roadside bomb attack in October 2003 and barely survived the next one in February 2006.
"All this" means his torturous recovery from a broken neck, shattered jaw, arm surgeries, leg injuries, vertigo and a host of other problems. And lately, "all this" means suddenly becoming one of the most famous wounded warriors in the country after he helped sound an alarm about shoddy living conditions at transitional housing units at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
The still-unfolding scandal has shaken the highest ranks of U.S. Army leadership, including the ousters of the hospital commander, Army surgeon general and even the secretary of the Army. Since being featured in the original Washington Post exposé and the televised congressional hearing that followed, Duncan gets stopped while walking down the streets these days.
It's hard for a towering man in combat fatigues with no left ear to blend in with the crowd, so he's often forced to confess under awkward questioning: "Yeah, I'm that guy."
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