Posted on 01/22/2006 12:14:03 PM PST by PastorBooks
AUGUSTA, Me. - To Laurie, who married him two years ago, Harold Gray is still "the guy I felt like I waited for my whole life." Mercedes, his 6-year-old daughter, likes to think of him racing around the yard, chased by an angry pet goose as she watched and laughed with her two sisters, Isabelle and Natalie. His father, George, calls him "an excellent man," a carpenter and a proud soldier, tough on the outside but with a dream of teaching kindergarten. ...
On Dec. 26, 2004, Sgt. Gray, then 34, a member of the 133rd Engineer Battalion of the Maine Army National Guard, was driving in a convoy outside Mosul, Iraq, when a bomb blew up underneath his truck.
He has been in hospitals ever since. Blind and severely brain damaged, he cannot speak, move voluntarily or communicate. He is fed through a tube implanted in his stomach. Though he appears unaware of his surroundings, family members say they believe he hears their voices when they visit. ...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
This is very hard for everyone involved.
What a tragedy for one of our heroes and his family.
Praying for healing of body, mind and spirit.
May the Lord bless and keep them,
may His face shine upon them
And grant them peace.
Bump, and Big ole Maine Freeper Ping
Please post your replies to PastorBooks

PastorBooks, My prayers going up for Sgt. Harold Gray and his family. God's healing for Sgt. Gray...God's comfort for his family.
Blessings,
trussell
If you want on/off my prayer ping list, please let me know. All requests happily honored.
Amen
My prayers are with this brave man and his family today.
Prayers for this brave man and his family.
I join in urgent prayer for Sgt. Gray.
More prayers for a healing for this child of God/son/father/soldier. Prayers for his family, too.
In Jesus's name,
Amen.
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for Harold Gray, his wife Laurie
and their daughter Mercedes.
Please comfort this family.
Please guide the doctors, caregivers
and nurses as they deal with Harold's
medical condition.
May Your will be done.
I humbly pray all this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Prayer ping.
and Amen.
Continuing prayers for this honorable soldier.
Just in case someone is still there....here is a link to an article from today that indicates persistent vegetative states can be awakened with the sleeping pill Ambien.
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2006/09/sleeping_pill_ambien_cure_for_persistent_vegetative_state/
Prayers Said.
Bless you for your prayer! It's been over a year since I posted that first story, so I was curious and did a Google search. I found an update from last November -- apparently there has been some improvement.
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Wounded Soldier Makes Gains
http://ellsworthmaine.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4991&Itemid=31
Written by Jennifer Osborn
Thursday, November 02, 2006
PENOBSCOT Sgt. Harold Gray, the local soldier wounded in Iraq, has begun showing signs of improvement, his father said.
Gray, 35, is a member of the Maine Army National Guards 133rd Engineer Battalion. He suffered serious shrapnel injuries after a roadside bomb hit a convoy he had been riding in Dec. 26, 2004, in Mosul.
Gray has been at Togus VA Medical Center since July 2005 after spending six months at hospitals in Florida and Washington, D.C.
His father, George Gray, said Harold has been giving the thumbs up sign. When questioned, Gray has been blinking twice to answer yes and once to answer no, the elder Gray said. He can move his limbs and squeeze someones hand on command.
Hes just doing good, said Gray. One of his main doctors who sees him says Harolds in there, he just hasnt figured out how to come out yet....
The soldiers wife, Laurie, travels to Augusta every day to take care of her husband. George Gray goes Saturdays. Harold Grays mother visits Sundays. The rest of the family, which includes the soldiers young daughters, Natalie, Mercedes and Isabelle, visit as well.
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You are most welcome.
Bless you too.
May this man’s health continue to improve and as I read I witness the beauty of family. I pray for those, around this man, struggling for him.
You are most welcome.
Bless you too.
May this mans health continue to improve and as I read I witness the beauty of family. I pray for those, around this man, struggling for him.
Had to do this twice.
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