Staying Power: Marine Returns to Help Others on Road to Recovery

Those who haven’t been seriously wounded “can’t relate to getting flown away from your buddies, bleeding and in pain, mad at yourself because you want to go back regardless of the injury.” Kachmar said. “You can’t relate to lying in that bed at Bethesda [National Naval Medical Center] for months at a time.”

Kachmer is now part of the “Tiger Team” that helps those evacuated to U.S. military hospitals work their way through the recovery process. He also is one of the 2,700-plus Marines who have opted to stay on active-duty since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom despite injuries that could have released them from their obligation to the Corps.

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