HCBA Lawyer Magazine Vol. 29, No. 2 | Page 5

E D I T O R ’ S
M E S S A G E
E d C o m e y - L a w C l e r k t o U. S . B a n k r u p t c y Ju d g e M i c h a e l G. Wi l l i a m s o n
reclaiming a sense of normalcy
thank you to all the hCBa members who are doing their part
to help our veterans reclaim a much-deserved sense of normalcy.
I
“I was up all night with severe nerve or phantom pains.
Let me tell you, you shouldn’t feel pain in body parts that
you no longer have.”
That was a tweet I stumbled across a few days ago. In
fact, I read it, ironically enough, just hours after waking
up complaining about the awful night’s sleep I had
gotten because my oldest daughter had decided to sleep
at the foot of my bed, keeping me from stretching my
legs out. The tweet was by retired Marine SSgt. Johnny
“Joey” Jones.
SSgt. Jones, a bomb technician, lost both his legs eight
years ago in a bomb blast while serving in Afghanistan.
On August 6, 2010, SSgt. Jones was defusing bombs in
a bazaar to protect
Afghan civilians, when
he stepped on an
improvised explosive
device, triggering an
explosion that resulted
in him losing both his
legs — one below the
knee and the other
above — and suffering
severe damage to
both wrists and his
right forearm.
After more than 20
surgeries and two
years of grueling
rehab at Walter Reed
Medical Center, SSgt.
Jones is walking again with the help of prosthetic limbs.
Today, he devotes his life to making life easier for our
wounded warriors.
After reading SSgt. Jones’ tweet, I couldn’t help but
feel a bit guilty. A few months ago, as part of a work
retreat, I helped write greeting cards to servicemembers
serving overseas. It wasn’t easy coming up with the right
© Can Stock Photo / astrozombie
NOV - DEC 2018
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HCBA LAWYER
words to express my gratitude for their service. So when
I was done, I confess feeling a bit satisfied that I had
done my part.
But after reading SSgt. Jones’ tweet, a “thank you for
your service” card hardly seems enough for a veteran who
feels pain in body parts he no longer has. And it’s not just
the physical injuries taking their toll on veterans.
According to a recent study by the American Psychiatric
Association, more than 300,000 veterans of the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq have been diagnosed with post-
traumatic stress order, a number that surely undercounts
the number of veterans who suffer from PTSD. Want to
hear a more startling — and heartbreaking — statistic?
In 2012, more military
deaths were caused by
suicide than combat.
That’s why veterans
don’t want my greeting
card or a “thank you
for your service”
column, although I’m
sure they’d appreciate
the sentiment. They
want their life back.
Recently SSgt. Jones
was kicked off a ride at
Six Flags, after walking
up an enormous hill,
because he didn’t have
“real” legs. In talking
about his experience,
SSgt. Jones said, “There are thousands and thousands of
us who are in this situation because of our service to our
country. We’re just trying to reclaim a sense of normalcy.”
Thank you to all the HCBA members who are doing their
part to help our veterans reclaim a much-deserved sense
of normalcy.
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