A Line In The Sand

Hugh Hewitt

If you happen to have just come to this site via Hugh Hewitt, I welcome you.  As a longtime fan of Hugh Hewitt and his program, it is an honor to have him on board with spreading the good news of the project.  Check out his website here: http://www.hughhewitt.com/

KOLO Video

Be sure to view the interview on KOLO Channel 8 from Carson City last night by clicking here.  PJ is doing a wonderful job getting publicity for the project www.webofsupport.com which is set to begin July 17.  I am still mapping out the rest of the tour, but she has done some amazing work to make the "kick-off" event in Carson City absoltuely fantastic.  As it stands, you are all welcome to come to the Casino Fandango on July 17 at 6 PM to bring donations that will be sent to the 150th (SFC Galatas' group that it still in Iraq), and to enjoy meeting some outstanding individuals who are doing all they can to support the troops. 

Carson City!

I wanted to welcome all the new Carson City, NV viewers!  Carson Cities own KOLO Channel 8, featured the project www.webofsupport.com and PJ Degross tonight on their local broadcast after the Presidents speech.  PJ and I met online through this blog well over a year ago, and I will be meeting her on my first stop in Carson City on July 17.   

To read more, please click here!

The Speech

I wish I would have had the opportunity to write before the speech on what I felt would be the impact of the Presidents speech tonight, but I have been quite overwhelmed with the project I am working on at www.webofsupport.com.  I do think that by tomorrow, the one thing we will be hearing is how this speech has not necessarily changed the mind of the American people, that it has not changed the tide of opinion.  In my opinion, such rhetoric does not look at what the core of the speech was about.

Before this evening, I felt the core of the speech was for Americans who still support the war effort, it was a speech for those of us who have served our country and for those who serve our troops who are deployed by supporting their efforts.  The speech is ultimately a call to those who follow with the conclusion that this war in Iraq is being fought on the soils of terrorism's base.  It is a war being fought thousands of miles away in an effort to defeat terrorists, so that terror may be prevented from once again visiting our shores. 

Ultimately, the President relayed his most prescient words in my opinion, when he relayed to the American people the words of OBL and his encouragement to support our servicemen and women and their families.  All in all, I thought it was a great speech.

SFC Galatas **Update**

I received the following update from Janis, the wife of SFC Galatas.  As many of you know by now, I first met Janis through the blog when she wrote to me last June informing me that her husband would be deployed to OIF.  He arrived in theater in January and was severely injured in April.  The following is an update on his condition at WRMC.  Keep him in your prayers and assist in any way you can.  His address is listed below and a fund has been established in his name as well. 

"SFC Norris Galatas is still recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC.  Janis came home to care for the "kids" (three horses) and left Norris in the care of his best friend Michael Sanders of Biloxi.  The surgeons say in another couple of weeks they can take some skin off the backs of his legs to graft over his open belly and close him up.  As soon as the buttock wound heals enough to get rid of the wound vac, he can come home for some convalescent leave.  We are
hoping it is Mid-August or early September. 

Janis set up a "Sergeant Galatas Benefit Fund" at Community Bank on 22nd Avenue and C Street to allow the many individuals to donate who have asked about a fund in Norris's name.  Norris is so appreciative of all the support he has received from people all over the USA as well as England, Germany and New Zealand.  He got cards and letters from Montana, Utah, and California. 

He is gaining strength now that he can eat again.  He lost 50 pounds in 30 days, but has only gained back two.  He'll get there.  His wounds are still open.  He will take a long time to heal, but the doctors all say if he doesn't get an infection he should fully recover.  He is blessed and he knows it.  Every step of his recovery was an answered prayer.  Janis and Norris are deeply appreciative for all the prayers that went up for them during this trying ordeal.  Janis met so any miracles at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and it is amazing  what the surgeons can do.  Many of the soldiers there are multiple amputees, but they are happy to be alive.  Norris is too.  Our many thanks to those who have been concerned about his injury and recovery.  We are
deeply grateful.  I will keep you all informed as to his welcome home party in Meridian!
Please remember all the soldiers in Meridian's 150th Combat Engineer Battalion who are still very much in harm's way."

Be sure to check out the 150th's website at :http://www.dixiesappers.org.  To view outside of my website, right click and choose "open in new window."

More Details...

Check out the latest update on my project at www.webofsupport.com.  (Be sure to right click, and choose "Open In New Window".  The response has been overwhelming so far and I would love to hear from you!

Web Of Support

It has taken me a a few months to get off the ground, but I have finally begun working out the details for a project I have been thinking about for a few months.  Over the course of the summer, I plan on embarking on a road trip throughout the United States to personally thank the patriots who supported me along the way.  I have begun sending out e-mails and letters to inform some of the people who had supported me while I was deployed about the upcoming project of profiling patriots that I am beginning.  If you have any questions, please e-mail me.  In the meantime, please visit www.webofsupport.com to learn more about my upcoming national blogging project. 

Contact Info for SFC Galatas

I've received a number of requests for SFC Galatas' contact information and his wife Janis was happy to oblige my request to post it for all of you.  I would encourage everyone reading to send him a card or letter to let him know how much support he has. 

SFC Grayson N. Galatas
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Ward 65, Room #62, Building #2
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, DC    20307

Please don't forget to include some kind words for the men and women he is surrounded by at Walter Reed, they are all our nations most valiant heroes. 

SFC Galatas

It was nearly a year ago that I was contacted by a wonderful and supportive woman in Mississippi.  Her name was Janis and she wrote me about how her husband was preparing for his deployment, and that his units activitation orders had just come down.  Her husband was a platoon sergeant, a Sergeant First Class who had been in the military for decades, and she was a strong woman who knew that being married to a soldier often times mean being married to the military.   She had the courage that it takes to be an Army wife, which is important, because it takes a lot of courage. She would send me updates from time to time throughout my deployment as to the progress of her husbands unit and how they were coming along in their training and deployment status. 

His unit ultimately deployed in Mid-January and SFC Galatas was now in theater and doing the best he could by his men and his mission.  She contacted me a few days ago to inform me of a tragic attack he endured when a 155 mm artillery round detonated under his vehicle.  Fortunately he is still alive, but feeling so connected to this brave soldier through his wife's communications with me, the incident deeply impacted me.  I have pasted the story of SFC Galatas below and I hope you all read it, and offer your prayers for his recovery and the recovery of all our soldiers at Walter Reed.

Hi Chris! I love telling Norris's story, because it is the perfect example of how soldiers go above and beyond their duties when other members of the unit are in trouble. It's long, but I've typed it a thousand times.

May 8, 2004...the 150th Combat Engineer Battalion out of Meridian Mississippi got the alert call....this Army National Guard unit was to prepare for war. SFC Grayson "Norris" Galatas went to work as the Readiness NCO preparing schedules for schools, training sessions, and duty rosters getting the unit ready to go. Our "MOB PARTY" took place on September 2, 2005 when we kissed our soldiers goodbye and good luck as they traveled to Hattiesburg, Mississippi to Camp Shelby to train up.

Norris was actually happy to now be a Platoon Sergeant again and get rid of all the paperwork and responsibilities of a busy Readiness NCO...now he could concentrate on getting his nine men ready to do their job well. Norris had a 1LT as Squad Leader, a young man whose father Norris knew and respected when they worked together in Quitman, Mississippi. His E-6 was a young man who was determined to be "just like Galatas" and it certainly paid off when the "Sarge" got injured. His E-5 was a good friend with weighty responsibilities at home and I promised Norris I would keep in close contact with this good soldier's family to help whenever I could. The other six soldiers making up the Support Platton were all E-4's...very young, with little experience, but Norris promised their fiance's and Moms that he would take very good care of them...and at Camp Shelby he shaped and moulded them into soldiers who knew what to do and needed little or no assistance to accomplish their jobs.

When I met them at Camp Shelby, they all said he had been really hard on them, but I assured them that he was preparing them for what would come and I told each of them all one day "Galatas is an old fart and he wants to come home...if you will watch him and do what he says and do what he does, you will all come home to us...and he would never ask you to do something he wouldn't do himself". They believed me and trained hard.

It showed at Fort Irwin California when they went out there to train. His platoon performed very well and got high marks. The Colonel even told me "Galatas's men did very well, and he was very proud of them". When the troops got some leave for Christmas, we all could see the difference in them. They were soldiers. Mid-January 2005, the 155th Brigade Combat Team headed to Kuwait and Iraq.

The "Galatas Curse" was alive and well, and while Brigade landed at Camp Kalsu ( a very nice, modern FOB with porcelain toilets, showers, 2-man sleep trailers with air conditioning, and a modern dining hall with wonderful food), the 150th Combat Engineers landed at Camp Dogwood...a "rat hole" for a better word, with nothing. It is now known as "Mortaritaville" and "IED Alley". But the men in the Support Platoon rallied....when the mail and supplies didn't come to them, they went to get them. Norris didn't have to stand over them with a stick and he was so proud of them. You will have to get him to tell you some of the funny stories about Mississippi boys trying to deal with Iraqi National Guard and Helicopter pilots who "just want fuel...go ahead and fill-er-up"!...Say, where are we anyway?" LOL!

The Support Platoon's primary mission was a fuel stop. Basically all they had to do was re-fueling and fuel supply runs. But this bunch jumped right in there with the rest of HHC and dug up weapons caches and hauled them out to the detonation area and lots of times they just went into Baghdad or other places for supplies for the non-existent PX and MWR tent they built for themselves.

Norris and his E-6 were in the process of building a shelter so that they could run the air conditioner off the HEMTT's engine and at least two or three of them could sleep under air conditioning for a few hours to help re-hydrate. The shelter was going well when the IED attack occurred. Norris was just relaxing on the morning of April 19, 2005, when his Captain came over and said some Brigade guys had run over an IED with their HEMTT, and they needed help and someone to recover the heavy vehicle. Norris's E-6 had just been up all night with special duty, and his other men were scattered on other missions, so he just said "Let's go get 'em" and grabbed the nearest Cargo HEMTT.

There was a tank and a humvee ahead of him in the convoy, with the Captain in the HEMTT wrecker following and then several other vehicles behind them. The tank passed over the IED, so did the humvee, but when Norris drove the 10-ton HEMTT over it, the 155 mm artillary round exploded on the driver's side. He remembers the loud "clang" of the explosion and the "poof" of sand in his face. This truck had a piece of steel on the floorboard with sand bags over it. (Perhaps this is why his face and front side are unmarked...all his wounds were from under the seat...but that is a "whole other story"). He remembers reaching up to pull the air brakes "off" switch. He remembers lying on the ground, and riding in the Black Hawk medivac, but that is about all. The Captain who was just behind him filled in the details for me.

The truck exploded and came to an immediate stop...the front wheels blown away. Norris's passenger was ejected from the truck and hit the ground hard....he was OK...just shaken up. Norris was wearing his seat belt and had to be pulled from the truck. The medic said "Grayson, this one is your ticket home" and they stopped the bleeding on his back and flew him to the 86th Combat Support Hospital. The HEMTT was totally gutted. The nurse at the 86th spoke to me one night by phone and said "ma'am, he walked into triage and when we asked him how he felt, he just said "kind of weak" and one of the nurses asked him how he was doing and he just said "I've had better days"...so his sense of humor was intact.

When they went into surgery they discovered the severity of his injuries and gave him 55 units of blood and had to tie off a major blood supply to his pelvic region to save him. They did a bang-up great job and I am forever grateful. The shrapnel tore through his right buttock and punched all the way through into his abdomen, "nicking" intestines and colon, and severing major bloodlines and nerves along the way. The wound is about the size of a man's fist and punches all the way through his belly, passing through the vertebrae in his back and just missing his spinal chord. The other wound is in his lower back and is about the same size and depth. They had to open his belly to flush the organs and repair the colon and intestines. When he was stable, they flew him to Landsthuhl, Germany. Here is where the miracles start to show. It was certainly no co-incidence that he was driving a HEMTT rather than a Humvee, his truck had at least hillbilly armor on the floorboard, he was attended by four of our best medics, the 86th is one of the best, and when he arrived in Landstuhl, he has a friend from home whose brother lives in Landstuhl and his wife WORKS AT THE HOSPITAL! This friend's brother took a peek in to see him and told me how bad he was. This kept me grounded and focused on what I faced. When he made it stateside to Walter Reed on the night of April 24th, the Army flew me up here to be with him. I arrived on the night of April 25th. He was swollen like a toad from all the blood he received, he was heavily sedated and on a ventilator. He had tubes and hoses all over him and drains everywhere. He was white and cold and looked dead.

On the night of April 28th, through the efforts of his nurse (named "Wonder") we finally woke him up. He was combative and afraid, but he knew me. He spent 10 days in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) and 10 days in the Intermediate Care Unit (ImCCU), underwent six surgeries to clean out dead tissue, remove a piece of intestine, and flush out his belly and then moved up to a room in the wards. He was improving every day and had several CT scans and ultrasounds to assess the damage to his nerves on his right side and trauma to his head. Things were going so well, and then during surgery number eight, he aspirated stomach bile and severely burned his lungs. Back to SICU we went. He spent four days there where he got two more units of blood and dodged a severe respiratory distress, and went back to the ward. Here again are the miracles...he has not developed pneumonia so far, he has little abcesses in his belly, (but the antibiotics are working on them), and his wounds on his back are healing on their own without plastic surgery or tissue grafts. He spent 34 days with nothing to eat or drink, only IV diets, and lost 50 pounds. Now he is beginning to take little bites of soft, bland foods and sip juices and water. If he can keep everything down and begin to eat again, he can regain his strength and start to move around.

Donald Rumsfeld came Memorial Day and presented the purple hearts to Norris and two more guys on our ward. (Now you at least have that in common that you both met him)...and he had surgery number nine on May 31st without aspirating...they are too wary now to put him totally to sleep, so he just gets "happy medicine" and they work on his back with him awake..we both like that. His organs are sewn into a mesh bag for protection and strength (he looks like a turkey about to go into the oven for Thanksgiving) and his belly is open. The nurse dresses it twice daily and it will take months for it to heal. Same with the buttock and back...they are so deep, the drains will stay for six to eight months. He still can't stand or sit up on the bed by himself, but with help, he can get into a wheelchair and go down the hall to check his e-mail.

CNN Interview Now Online

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was fortunate enough to have been chosen last weekend as a guest on Saturday Live with Carol Lin.  The interview was about "milblogs" and what soldiers are writing about when they are deployed.  I have added a copy of that interview to this site, for anyone interested in viewing. 

Download CNN Interview Here

If you need assistance viewing the video please contact me in the comments below.  It is a .asf file and should play in most Windows Operating Systems.  Simply right click on the link, choose "save as" and designate the file location.  When the video has downloaded to your computer you can choose "open" to view the video.