Staff Sgt. Roy Mitchell, heads to the Soldier Support Institute’s Basic Career Counselor course. Mitchell, wounded in action in November 2003, is taking the course to reclassify in hopes of remaining in the Army. Tobi Elder
Posted on 12/20/2005 3:10:26 PM PST by SandRat
FORT JACKSON, S.C. (Army News Service, Dec 20, 2005) – Despite several injuries acquired during combat, to include an above-the-knee leg amputation, Staff Sgt. Roy Mitchell is not willing to let go of his 12 years in the Army without a fight.
“People came into my hospital room two weeks after my injury and wanted to process me for medical retirement, and they presented it to me as if I didn’t have an option,” said Mitchell. “I told them no.”
For him, there was no decision to make, because the Army is his career. “And this injury didn’t change that thought process,” said Mitchell. “I wasn’t going to accept defeat for answer. I have never been that type of Soldier and I will never be that type of Soldier.”
Slowed by the traumatic nature of his wounds, Mitchell still wants to be a part of the fight for freedom and the military way of life. He hopes that other Soldiers will see his dedication as an inspiration to stay in the Army.
Wounded in action
Mitchell, then assigned to 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, was wounded the day before Thanksgiving 2003 on his second deployment to Afghanistan, when his vehicle hit an anti-tank mine along the Pakistani border.
There to relieve a sister company in the battalion, his unit was on a leaders’ reconnaissance when the attack occurred.
“The leaders from the prior company were taking us out to show the routes that they used to get from point A to point B,” said Mitchell.
He was riding with 11 other Soldiers and two reporters in a HMMWV that had not been equipped with up-armor modifications.
“There is only about 10 seconds of memory that I have from that day, but according to eyewitness accounts the vehicle struck the mine and tossed everyone in the back out of the vehicle,” said Mitchell. “The only Soldiers left in the vehicle were the driver and myself, located in the right front passenger seat.”
Insurgents had armed the device to detonate on the third strike, which happened to be the vehicle that Mitchell was traveling in. Two other vehicles had rolled over the very same spot and nothing happened or indicated that it was in danger,” he said.
Hummvee rolled over pinning Mitchell underneath
Because of the crater created by the explosion, the vehicle rolled over on its passenger side, pinning Mitchell underneath. The driver and other Soldiers escaped the vehicle and opened fire to secure the area.
Once his comrades determined the area was secure, they surveyed the situation and realized that Mitchell was trapped. Getting him out of the vehicle took about 25 minutes.
“They started first aid and 10 minutes later, the medevac helicopter was on station and took me down to the evacuation site,” said Mitchell. “A field medical team did an assessment on me and stabilized me until I was taken back to Germany and then to Walter Reed.”
Mitchell had a shattered jaw with sever lacerations, stress fractures throughout his face, loss of four teeth, a shattered left elbow, shrapnel wounds to the mid-section, third degree burns on 40 percent of his right leg and his left leg was amputated. He underwent two surgeries to be fitted for a prosthetic.
“I was pretty beat up,” said Mitchell, who spent 11 months at Walter Reed Army medical Center in Washington, D.C. before he was able to return to Fort Drum, N.Y.
Many people believe that the military has to discharge a Soldier who is severely wounded in action, but as long as the Soldier is found fit for duty in an available military occupation specialty, they can continue their military service, Mitchell said.
During the past two years he’s seen many good Soldiers who were wounded make the decision to leave the Army, he said. That wasn’t for him.
“My attitude is that once you allow people to start closing doors on you, you will never get where you want to be in a life,” said Mitchell. “I have had to change my MOS because I am no longer fit to be an 11B (infantryman).”
Mitchell is at Fort Jackson taking the Career Counselor’s course.
One of the hardest things for Mitchell to face was the fear of losing touch, and not having day-to-day interaction with Soldiers.
Light infantryman, leader
“Being a light infantryman my whole career and then as a leader, I was able to directly affect Soldiers by giving them advice affecting their professional careers,” said Mitchell. “When I got hurt, I had to accept the fact that I wouldn’t be able to do that anymore.”
As a career counselor, he feels he will still interact and affect Soldiers lives, fulfilling one of the things he didn’t want to get away from, which makes it a good career choice for him.
“I didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk and chained to a computer the whole time,” said Mitchell. “With this job, we get out and visit Soldiers down on their level where they are training, just like I used to as a squad leader or team leader.”
The Basic Career Counselor course is eight and a half weeks long and Mitchell is currently serving in the seventh week. The job entails counseling Soldiers and helping keep them in the Army or helping them in the Army or helping them transition out of the Army.
“I didn’t realize that my counseling (work) starts the day that the Soldier arrives at my unit to the day that Soldier leaves,” said Mitchell. “There are so many different automation systems that I have learned to use and there are a lot of aspects of the job that I wasn’t familiar with until I arrived here at school.”
Preparing a future
Mitchell’s future is still in doubt. A Soldier wounded in action has to go through a medical evaluation board, which will determine whether to retrain the Soldier in their current job, to retain them and reclassify them into a different job or recommend discharge in the best interest of the Army.
“I have not been through that process yet,” said Mitchell. “Technically, in the big picture, the Army hasn’t blessed off and said ‘Staff Sgt. Mitchell is going to stay in the Army.’ But with all of the steps that I have taken so far, I have set myself up for success.”
Mitchell said that he doesn’t have any regrets. “Because as an infantryman, as soon as you step foot in that foreign soil, you know that thee is a chance this could happen,” said Mitchell.
Some people think because of his experiences, he would scare more people off as a career counselor than retain them.
However, he’s been doing the rear detachment career counselor job at the battalion level for almost a year with success.
“Once I go in front of that board, I am optimistic they will see that I am already MOS qualified in a job that I can psychically do the rest of my career in the Army,” Mitchell said.
(Editor’s note; This story contributed by the Fort Jackson Leader Newspaper.)
Can you say HERO?!!!!
God bless this soldier.
Staff Sgt. Roy Mitchell has much to offer the Army. I hope they keep this brave soldier.
One would think the Military would love to retain someone with this type of attitude.
Our “esteemed” MSM will never understand.
I dare Ted Rall to interview this man.
God Bless you Sgt. May you live as long as you want and never want as long as you live.
God bless this man! The Army would lose an excellent individual if it opts not to keep him, and, his very story, much less his charater and dedication, exemplify just what it means to serve with honor. In this guy's case, I'd add, also, with dignity, strength and determination surpassing all.
This man is a leader, no doubt about it, and deserves ongoing opportunities to do so.
God bless Staff Sgt. Roy Mitchell - A true warrior, a true man.
He was in the movie Fahrenheit 9/11. Without Mitchell's permission Moore took a clip from an interview and placed it out of context into the movie, making Mitchell look bad.
In an interview at Walter Reed by Geraldo Rivera, Mitchell is quoted "...it wasn't just the importance of the War on Terror, but that all of the well wishes, phone calls, and support from everyday Americans has made my loss well worth it.
The man lost his leg and says that "it was worth it". God bless Staff Sgt. Roy Mitchell.
Add me to the ping list. Remove me from the ping list.
Click Here for information on the Ft.Jackson "Adopt-a-Soldier" program.
God Bless you, Staff Sgt. Roy Mitchell. And thank you from the bottom of my heart.
BTT
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