A Hero's Homecoming

By BRYAN MITCHELL, Mitchellb@knews.com
August 26, 2005

VONORE, Tenn. - Maci Thomas has never had to look far for her hero. She just had to look up.

The Monroe County third-grader has depended on her father without fail for years

But today, as Spc. Dave Thomas prepares to be flown back to the United States after being seriously wounded in an Iraqi roadside bomb blast, Maci readies for a new role.

"I've got to take care of him and help him out and stuff like that," the 8-year-old said Thursday from the Thomas family's rural Monroe County home. "I'm ready."

Her father, a 41-year-old member of the Tennessee National Guard 278th Regimental Combat Team, was one of two soldiers wounded Aug. 22 when a roadside bomb detonated near the vehicle they were riding in while on patrol near Samarra.

Thomas suffered two skull fractures that led to brain swelling. He also has to have his left leg amputated below the knee, according to his wife, April Thomas.

She has spoken with her husband a few times since the attack - each time briefly.

"He really can't talk that well right now," she said. "He doesn't recall the accident at all."

Fellow Monroe County guardsman Spc. Charles Andrew Newman, 25, of Sweetwater, suffered four cracked vertebrae in the attack, which claimed the lives of Spc. Joey Hunt, 27, of Sweetwater, and Sgt. Victoir Lieurance, 34, of Seymour.

Nine Tennessee members of the Knoxville-based regiment have died while serving in Iraq. A Wisconsin National Guardsman attached to the Volunteer State's largest National Guard unit also died in Iraq.

Nationwide, more than 1,860 troops have died in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, 13 of which were Tennessee National Guardsmen.

Thousands more have been evacuated from Iraq as a result of injuries, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. As of Aug. 6, Pentagon statistics show 13,877 troops injured in Iraq and another 537 in Afghanistan.

The military's medical technological advancements, body armor and other life-saving equipment, and speedy exits to medical facilities in Germany have translated into fewer deaths but increased casualties. Severe trauma that would have killed a soldier in Vietnam or even during Desert Storm is now being treated quickly and well enough to save lives.

The men and women who survive such trauma, like Spc. Thomas, return home with amputated extremities, burn scars or permanent disabilities.

The Tennessee National Guard does not keep constant track of the number of casualites, according to spokesman Randy Harris.

The Pentagon keeps a tally of the injured by state.

Since the start of the conflict in March 2003 through Aug. 6, 2005, approximately 279 Tennesseans have been injured serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Nineteen more troops who hail from Tennessee have suffered casualties while serving in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, which is based primarily out of Afghanistan.

While the fatalities capture national headlines and spur the anti-war movement, the injured often fade into the background of a 21/2-year, $200 billion war fought on the other side of the planet.

To escape the media's attention and return to their quiet Monroe County life would be just fine with the Thomas family.

April Thomas is slated to fly to Washington this weekend as soon as her husband arrives at Walter Reed Medical Center for additional treatment. Both Newman and Thomas are set to arrive back in the United States this weekend, April Thomas said.

She said she plans to stay with him until he returns to Monroe County, where she expects an additional six to nine months of recovery time.

Maci already has her own plans to welcome her hero home.

"I'd probably end up hugging him," she said. "And we'd talk about how much we love each other."

Story Copyright to KnoxNews