A picture of 3 yr old Aya, after the surgery I believe.
Posted on 04/21/2003 5:08:44 PM PDT by cgk
Wounded girl moves Fort Benning soldier
Staff Writer
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BAGHDAD, Iraq -Staff Sgt. James Mattwig has seen too many children wounded by war, but there was one little girl he couldn't shake from his mind, and he couldn't sleep Saturday night.
Mattwig, 31, a D-Troop scout with the 3rd Infantry's 3rd Brigade from Fort Benning, had escorted civil affairs officers earlier that day to conduct war-damage assessments inside Baghdad.
That's when he saw 3-year-old Aya.
She could see him with only her right eye; an oversized patch covered her other one. Her parents explained that an artillery round about two weeks ago had blown out windows and some glass had lodged in her left eye -- possibly blinding it.
Aya (pronounced I-AH) is shy. But Mattwig, the father of three children, noticed that he could make her smile. By the time the officers were done with their assessment, Aya was laughing, poking him in the nose.
"She's such a pretty little girl that I just had to help her out," Mattwig said.
He told his commanders about her when he got back to headquarters. They made a few phone calls.
On Easter morning, Mattwig and his two-man crew escorted an ambulance to her house -- a ground-level flat squeezed between two-story apartment buildings.
She emerged from behind a metal gate, overwhelmed by the soldiers and the 10 or so neighbors they attracted. The patch was gone, her left eye was closed. She got in the ambulance with her mother and another woman.
Army doctors examined her at the brigade hospital. Nurses and other soldiers surrounded her, showering her with candy.
Doctors said they were optimistic they could save her sight. But they didn't have an ophthalmologist, and the only one around was in Kuwait.
Kuwait, however, does not permit Iraqi nationals in for temporary visits. More phone calls. A flight was arranged for Aya to go to the hospital ship USS Comfort in the Persian Gulf.
Aya, her mother and friend returned home to pack an overnight bag. The girl's father wanted to make the hospital trip with her. Mattwig and his team returned to the brigade hospital with Aya and her father.
When they arrived aboard the ship, Aya's father told doctors he wanted to pay for his daughter's treatment. He opened his suitcase, revealing his life savings.
"You don't need to do that, we will take care of her," one doctor, 33-year-old Maj. John Yelton of Columbia, S.C., said through an interpreter.
It will take a couple of days before it is known whether Aya's sight can be saved. Mattwig is anxious to hear about it.
"Every time I see one of these kids I want to do as much as I can," he said. "This time I had an opportunity to do something."
It is stories like these that fly in the face of every claim by the "peace" creeps, that our soldiers are slaughtering the innocent.
A picture of 3 yr old Aya, after the surgery I believe.
When they arrived aboard the ship, Aya's father told doctors he wanted to pay for his daughter's treatment.
Apparently Aya's father is not a Democrat.
When they arrived aboard the ship, Aya's father told doctors he wanted to pay for his daughter's treatment. He opened his suitcase, revealing his life savings.I'm developing an odd affection for our Iraqi brothers and sisters. This is a beautiful people we just liberated.
Undoubtedly he knows all too well the yoke of oppression that is The-Government-Knows-Best-Ideology. It is inspiring to know that there are Iraqis who still have their pride -- and priorities -- still fully in tact.
Would I? Could I?
Like that reporter Martin Savidge said: "Where do they get young men like these?" My answer is the God Blessed U.S.A.
Your daughter and I made breakfast today, and went to the
park. She asked where you were, and I told her you were killing Iraqi children, and might not make it back. She didn't seem so bothered with the latter.
She slipped and called me "daddy" a couple of days ago--it was cute.
Don't worry; I'll keep up on your "homeland security,"
inventing new ways to please your wife, and driving your car.
So keep dropping your bombs over there, and I'll keep dropping my "bombs" over here.
--Anonymous
Make no bones about it folks, this is how many on the left view those who serve and it is taken word for word from one of the leftist rags here in Seattle. This ought to show not only how out of touch they are but also to what depths of depravity they are willing to go to show their true colors.
There's a Blue Cross joke here someplace....
But if he were to get to this country, he would quickly learn how much WE owe HIM.
And please, no gripes about how many of our own people were shunted to the back of the line because of this little girl.
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