Posted on 06/29/2005 10:37:51 PM PDT by Maigrey
By Wednesday afternoon, Spc. William Brooks was at his brother's house in Southaven, watching himself on TV.
"Turn it to Fox 13!" his mother, Carolyn, yelled from the kitchen, not knowing he; his brother, John; his father, Larry and his best friends, Jeremy Johnson and Chris Tapper, were already watching his feted homecoming at Memphis International Airport earlier that day on Channel 3.
There the 23-year-old military policeman was -- three months removed from March 29 when he drove his military vehicle over a roadside bomb near Baghdad, literally leaving himself half the 6-foot man he used to be.
There he was -- wearing his old uniform, pants legs tucked where his lower legs used to be -- propelling his black, American-flag stickered wheelchair past the Concourse B security checkpoint into a throng of cameras, cowbell-ringing friends and strangers.
His astonished expression captured forever.
"I really didn't think it would be that big of an ordeal," William would say later, recalling that he thought the celebration was only limited to the people at the gate who clapped when he and his family got off his flight from Washington.
He has been recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington since April.
At least 70 people greeted him at the airport, including longtime family friends like Tommy and Virginia Tony of Batesville, Miss., fellow members from Trinity Baptist Church in Southaven, several veterans and National Guardsmen.
They came to hug him, shake his hand and call him a hero.
"Tell him thank you for making the world a better place for me to live," a woman whispered to her infant as she placed him in Brooks's lap.
This is Brooks's new life on full view until he returns to Washington on July 24 and gets fitted for his prosthetic right leg. Brooks, though, desperately wants to reclaim his old life.
"What drives me to walk is that I want to get my life back to normal," he said at his brother's house. (Reeves-Williams is making his parents' home handicap-accessible; it won't be completed until sometime this fall.)
"I don't want to be treated differently. No special treatment," said Brooks, adding that being called a hero makes him feel uncomfortable.
"I'm just an idiot who drove over a roadside bomb," he jokes. "It wasn't like I went out in a blaze of glory."
Brooks doesn't even remember how the blast occurred. The last thing he remembers is driving his vehicle, with three other men inside, out of a forward operating base near Baghdad.
The next thing he knew, he was in Walter Reed, hallucinating from the heavy medication doctors gave him to dull the pain from amputating his legs above the knee. They tried to tell him his legs were gone, but reality didn't sink in until his mother, the rock of the family, told him.
"She said I just sat there with a blank stare," said Brooks, who never thought he would get hurt.
He had been in Iraq since January. His six-year commitment to the military expired in early March, but Brooks said he couldn't leave his unit -- Detachment 1, Headquarters Company of the 155th Brigade Combat Team out of Tupelo -- behind.
Now, his blue eyes have a familiar gleam in them. His motto: "Life is not any better, not any worse. It's just different."
When he finally comes home in about six months, give or take, Brooks will have four sets of technologically advanced prosthetic legs: two walking pairs, one running pair and another for water sports.
It means that once he learns how to use the legs, he'll be able to do many of the things he used to do -- even finish his political science degree at Mississippi State.
It'll just take some extra effort, he said.
And as the TV broadcast ended, Brooks was already back at his old routine, plotting with friends Jeremy and Tap to check out some old haunts -- even find some new ones Wednesday night.
"Big Daddy is back," he said.
Sounds like a FReeper to me.....
SEMPER FI
It is real American heroes like this man that the left can never comprehend. To the leftist pukes all patriots are strange creatures. Thanks to all the heroes who are serving and who have served. (Patting myself on the back) Because of you thereis an America.
NO WAY! An idiot would wreck his vehicle without help. These guys were attacked. They ARE heroes whether they had the chance to shoot back or not.
What a guy!! I thank God everyday for these heroes!!
If not now - soon, I bet!!!!!
This is a Hero.......not a victim......
Bring your lawn chair, your American Flags or Welcome Home Posters and show your support.
OR
Get a float, antique car or your Civic group together and join the fun. Host a Soldier in your float!
The Parade will end at the USA Ball Stadium with a concert to follow at 6:30 pm "Welcome Home the Troops and Keep Kids Safe and Sober" sponsored by the City of Millington and the ACAR Center of Memphis. Entertainers to announced soon.
To register your float or for more information please call Millington City Hall @ 872-2211 and ask for Rhonda.
Line up: Randy Travis, Little Big Town, Jessica Andrews, Carolyn Dawn Johnson plus a special guest. Ticket Masters is the agent for tickets.
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