Courtesy Photo | Retired Sgt. 1st Class Michael Schlitz, who was burned over 85 percent of his body...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. — One was recovering from injuries sustained in combat, the other was a physical therapist, but they became great friends after realizing what they had in common, humor.
“I couldn’t even really see Staff Sgt. Shane Elder when we first met because my vision was badly damaged after I was blown-up by an improvised explosive device,” said Ret. Sgt. 1st Class Michael Schlitz, a former Ranger who received wounds and severe burns to over 85 percent of his body while on a mission in Iraq Feb. 27, 2007. “All I knew was that he was tall, thin and had a great sense of humor.”
Their friendship started at the Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas where the two would exchange wise cracking jokes throughout the course of their physical therapy sessions.
“He lost both his hands, suffered vision loss and couldn’t move very well, but that never stopped him from cracking jokes on me,” said Elder, a former physical therapist at BAMC. “He would talk about me and I would talk about him.”
Elder, now a senior combat medic assigned to Company C, 702nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, still kept in touch with his former patient through e-mails and occasional phone calls over the years.
Thinking it would be a great idea to have an old friend visit, not to crack jokes, but to speak to 30 medics from his unit about his recovery process, injuries and the importance of medics on the battlefield, Elder asked permission from his commander if his guest could come by on May 6, here.
“Elder asked if I would like a wounded warrior to come and talk with our Soldiers,” said Capt. Gabriela Niess, the company commander. “I thought it was a great idea for him to come by our company area.”
She added Schlitz wasn’t a stranger to her, having met him in Iraq.
“I live in Texas, but I have a lot of friends that live in the area,” said Schlitz. “I was glad my friends wanted me to come.”
The company commander saw it as an opportunity for her Soldiers to listen to someone with his experience with the medical system.
“I wanted Michael to come and speak to my medics,” said Niess. “Many are new to the Army and some have never deployed to deal with injuries as serious as Schlitz’s.”
She added that Schlitz is very animated guy and is open about what happened to him.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Spc. Crystal Heflin, a combat medic assigned to the unit. “From the little that I knew, I heard he was a great guy and a hero.”
She added that when he arrived that she was amazed by his story.
“My medic died from the explosion,” said Schlitz, while adjusting his prosthetic arms. “If it wasn’t for the other soldiers that he trained, I would have died.”
For one of the medics sitting in the room, this was an eye opener to how important medical training is to the lives of soldiers who are in harm’s way.
“His story and his message really hit home,” Heflin explained. “Speaking to a bunch of medics, it definitely hit home.”
She further said that for some of the younger soldiers, seeing him brought the reality of war and the realization of some of the more serious injuries to life.
“His story is very powerful,” said Heflin. “I thought he was a cool cat, and I can tell that the military surgeons have done a great job with his face.”
She added that medics need to always be in that training mode because that’s what saved his life.
“I wanted to emphasize the importance of medics who properly train Soldiers on how to provide medical aid,” explained Schlitz.
At the end of his story, the wounded warrior asked if there were any questions about his injuries or his treatment.
The room of medical personnel became a little tense, a little too tense for Schlitz. He began telling a few jokes that broke the ice and really showed his personality.
“He was very funny,” giggled Heflin. “You can see that the Ranger mentality is still very strong in him and he cracked us all up.”
He wasn’t afraid of any question, and he insisted that there were no questions that he wouldn’t answer.
“We asked him a lot of questions out of curiosity,” explained Heflin.
Niess pointed out that as medics it is always good to hear what the patient thinks about the medical system.
After every question was addressed, Niess presented Schlitz with a challenge coin and a thanked him for his time.
When asked why he travels around to speak with other soldiers, he replied that it wasn’t easy.
“I give credit to where I am today to my friends, family and the military community,” said Schlitz.
| Date Taken: | 05.19.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 05.19.2011 23:19 |
| Story ID: | 70725 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WA, US |
| Web Views: | 821 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Wounded warrior visits a friend, by SFC Luisito Brooks, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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