This soldier gives thanks for his new home.

[Philosoraptor]

U.S. Army Sgt. Bryan Anderson, who lost both legs and one arm in Iraq, heads to a news conference after touring his newly remodeled home Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2006, in Rolling Meadows, Ill. After 13 months of rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Anderson saw his home for the first time today which was modified for wheelchair access by community organizations and residents. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

[pooja]

1. I bet he would have been happier to still have his legs and his arm.

[magellan]

2. If only there were such community organizations and residents

...behind every returning soldier.

[Ilsa]

6. You'd think the Army would have a dept to take care of that

so maimed soldiers wouldn't have to rely on the kindness of oters, God Bless 'Em.

[acmejack]

3. Now if he can make it through the next few months after the support wanes.

And he becomes just another crippled person. That is when it will become hard, when the inevitable depression will strike, when he feels alone and friendless. Hopefully he will not seek solace ina bottle or with drugs. I hope he has a good life, without the pitfalls that have claimed so many of my brothers and threaten so many more daily.

For him the battle has just begun.

[earth mom]

4. This is why the US needs to get out of Iraq NOW!

How many more people need to maimed or killed for a f*cking LIE???!!! :cry:

[Jackpine Radical]

5. Maybe he'll turn into another Max Cleland.

[Ice4Clark]

7. Here is a story about this vet.

United States Army Specialist Bryan Anderson….

Last October, Rolling Meadows native Bryan Anderson lost three limbs when a roadside bomb demolished his Humvee in downtown Baghdad.

Three soldiers escaped the Humvee, two of them wounded. Anderson was trapped inside. He was stunned and in pain, choking on smoke. He remembers screaming: "I need air!"

Spec. Michael Wait was in a Humvee ahead of the convoy when the bomb exploded. He heard the explosion and saw the Humvee burning.

Michael Wait is a trained combat lifesaver. He stated, “I kind of lost my mind, because I knew they were hit bad," he said.

Wait also stated that what he saw took his breath away: "I saw his legs were gone and his hand was missing and all the blood under the radio mount, and I said, 'Oh, my God.'"

Anderson was dragged out into the fresh air, which seemed to revive him. He states that he remembers a calm and solitary thought: "My life is really going to change now."

Michael Wait applied tourniquets to both leg stumps and another soldier tied a tourniquet around Anderson's left arm.

Tourniquets saved his life.

Surgeons said that the tourniquets were the most effective they'd seen. He would have bled to death in minutes without them.

A helicopter flew Anderson to the hospital a few miles away.

Anderson, 25, is among 432 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who have undergone amputations. Seventy-three have lost two limbs. Anderson is the fourth to lose three.

Since then, Anderson has undergone physical and occupational therapy six hours a day, five days a week. He was determined to use his arms and legs again.

By late May, he was back at his unit's base at Ft. Hood, ready to reclaim his life.

[Ice4Clark]

8. Here's a slideshow narrated by SPC Anderson

about his experience on that day and what he's now facing.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-070506wounded_part4-fl,0,3526613.flash?coll=la-home-headlines