Heroes: Wounded in Iraq, National Guardsman Wants to Return

For an Arkansas Army National Guardsman, the war in Iraq came to an abrupt end in the alley of a Baghdad neighborhood on June 13, 2004. [snip] it was eight days before Pannell awoke at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here to find doctors had amputated his right leg below the knee and his left leg above the knee.

Two prosthetic legs and plenty of physical therapy have Pannell up and walking again, and despite all he’s been through, he wants to return to the country where his life was turned upside-down.

“I think it would be vitally important for those dudes to realize that once we get hurt, we don’t forget about them,” Pannell said. “That’s something a lot of people can’t understand, but it’s impossible. It’s impossible to forget your guys.”

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