1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs

Story by Mike MacLeod

CAMP RAMADI, Iraq – The first time retired Sgt. Ethan Payton walked the dog after his amputation, the dog ran off with his prosthetic hand.

2nd Lt. Richard Ingram, a platoon leader with 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade), lost his hand to a shopping cart in Target.

Brave humor shared between amputees and other wounded warriors helps the healing, but thanks to the Troops First Foundation, some are returning to the combat zone in Iraq where they were injured to find a sense of closure.

For Payton, who in 2004 was attached to the 1st Cavalry Division in Baghdad when he lost his left arm to a rocket-propelled grenade blast, that moment came this week when he met with Brig. Gen. Kendall P. Cox, commander of the Transatlantic Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Baghdad. Cox was Payton's battalion commander when he first came to the 101st Airborne Division after air assault school, and he was also in Iraq during the period of Payton's injury.

"His professionalism, integrity and the way he respected soldiers really influenced me as a young soldier," said Payton.

After convalescing at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Payton could not get Iraq out of his mind. He spent two summers in Morocco studying Arabic. In spring 2009, he graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Arts in Middle Eastern Studies, paid for by the GI Bill and the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program. When the call came to be part of the second Operation Proper Exit, he did not hesitate.

The group will spend a week in Iraq, traveling to many of the places where participants received their injury, to see firsthand what progress their sacrifices and those of their comrades have brought to the Iraqi people and to the service members still here.

At Camp Ramadi, the wounded warriors were assigned "airborne buddies" with whom they visited and shared war stories.

Command Sgt. Maj. LaMarquis Knowles, command sergeant major of 1/82 (AAB), briefed the eight wounded warriors on the progress made in Al Anbar, which included a decrease in attacks from around 1,350 in March 2007 to only 50 in September 2009.

The most tangible sign of progress is the reduction of U.S. forces here, where an Army brigade of 3,600 paratroopers is replacing two Regimental Combat Team headquarters that were the ground combat element in Anbar, said Knowles.

"You can be assured your sacrifices were worth something," he said.

Several of the veterans remarked at how odd it seemed to be in Iraq without the background noise of mortars, improvised explosive devices or small-arms fire.

At a "town hall meeting," each program participant related his own journey from injury back toward health before several dozen paratroopers.

"This program is an important part," said Sgt. John Hyland, who is on active duty while recovering at the Center for the Intrepid, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. "I haven't slept this well in weeks."

Hyland removed his prosthetic leg so the audience could see how it was adapted to fit with Army combat boots.

"You can play with my leg if you want," joked retired Staff Sgt. Luke Wilson. "I've got five more at home."

At the town hall meeting, Payton met Ingram, who, in spite of an arm amputation similar to his, is still serving on active duty with the 82nd Airborne at Camp Ramadi.

Payton asked the lieutenant how he is able to accomplish all the tasks of being a soldier, with only one hand.

Ingram demonstrated how he reloads his M4 rifle and said that most combat-related tasks just take practice.

"It's shuffling paperwork that'll kill you," said Ingram.

Payton admired Ingram for coming back to active duty, he said. He understands the need to properly exit the battlefield.

Unlike the other veterans, Payton is planning a civilian career in the Arab-speaking world, either in North Africa or the Middle East, he said.

"The Army teaches you to complete the mission," said Payton. "This is my way of completing the mission."

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