Gods honest truth this is my story... (yes I made stupid mistakes)
On August 25th 2006 In the Ghazaliya district of Baghdad an IED blast went off In front of my HMMWV (I was the gunner standing up) The blast slammed me against the back of my turret. My squad leader asked if i was alright i responded "Yes i just hit the turret" We rolled in from sector and I began feeling slight back pain. Later that night i couldnt sleep. so I went to see my doc (platoon medic) who provided me Naproxen. I continued to go out on missions I didnt want to go to the clinic and make a big deal out of it. For several retarded reasons. A: we only got 1 day off a month and if i was taken out that would eliminate everyones days off. B: I didnt want to look like an idiot because weeks before we had someone awarded the purple heart for hearing loss that actually improved on there hearing test. The pain gradually got worse as time went on. Once we got back to Germany I began going to the clinic. which said I just had muscle spasms some doctors said there was nothing wrong. My physical therapist kept trying to help me but it took another 6 months before I was finally seen by the chief neurosurgeon of Landstuhl. He ordered a CT scan which showed multiple fractures in my vertibrate disk degeneration/narrowing "protrusions" on my disks "schmorl nodes" and other fun stuff. Ive told every doctor ive seen what happened and they all made note of it in there reports but never said anything else about it. Almost a year after that my PEB finished and I was medically discharged for this injury. Now I'm facing the issues that could of been avoided if I made wiser decisions back then. Dont get me wrong i know theres worse off then me. But walking with a cane and being in constant pain isnt fun. Now I would like to attempt to get a purple heart so I can get the medical benefits I need for my back. I know I can get statements from my squad and my medic but I really dont know what to do.
Any tips or information would be greatly apreciated. Thank you
On August 25th 2006 In the Ghazaliya district of Baghdad an IED blast went off In front of my HMMWV (I was the gunner standing up) The blast slammed me against the back of my turret. My squad leader asked if i was alright i responded "Yes i just hit the turret" We rolled in from sector and I began feeling slight back pain. Later that night i couldnt sleep. so I went to see my doc (platoon medic) who provided me Naproxen. I continued to go out on missions I didnt want to go to the clinic and make a big deal out of it. For several retarded reasons. A: we only got 1 day off a month and if i was taken out that would eliminate everyones days off. B: I didnt want to look like an idiot because weeks before we had someone awarded the purple heart for hearing loss that actually improved on there hearing test. The pain gradually got worse as time went on. Once we got back to Germany I began going to the clinic. which said I just had muscle spasms some doctors said there was nothing wrong. My physical therapist kept trying to help me but it took another 6 months before I was finally seen by the chief neurosurgeon of Landstuhl. He ordered a CT scan which showed multiple fractures in my vertibrate disk degeneration/narrowing "protrusions" on my disks "schmorl nodes" and other fun stuff. Ive told every doctor ive seen what happened and they all made note of it in there reports but never said anything else about it. Almost a year after that my PEB finished and I was medically discharged for this injury. Now I'm facing the issues that could of been avoided if I made wiser decisions back then. Dont get me wrong i know theres worse off then me. But walking with a cane and being in constant pain isnt fun. Now I would like to attempt to get a purple heart so I can get the medical benefits I need for my back. I know I can get statements from my squad and my medic but I really dont know what to do.
Any tips or information would be greatly apreciated. Thank you