War - Wounded 88 MIKE
 

THE NEW YORKER magazine
March 8, 2004
Pages 64-73

Re: SFC Michael Cain, hemmit driver, Tikrit

An excerpt:

"Although Charlene (Michael's mom) took all her sick days and vacation days and her co-workers donated hundreds of hours of theirs, she and Kenneth (his dad) eventually had to return to Wisconsin (from Walter Reed). After they left, Cain's warrior spirit drained away. One day, he refused to go to physical therapy, and when he was wheeled there against his will he was sullen and uncooperative. Frequent phone calls from his men in Tikrit - another amenity unknown to casualties of earlier wars - would cheer him up for a few minutes, but then he'd start to miss them, and sink lower in spirits. Captain Blain (Cain's CO in Iraq, still there) sent his father and wife, both of whom live in the Washington area, to visit. Celebrities pass through, too - Cain met the actor Gary Sinise, who played a Vietnam War amputee in "Forrest Gump," and country singer Shania Twain. One day, President Bush sat on the edge of his bed and asked him if he wanted anything. Cain told the president that his men (in Iraq) needed water. When Cain spoke to them by phone two days later, they told him that they suddenly had more water than they could possibly use."


The entire article is another matter altogether... worth reading... but this passage stood out relative to some other posts concerning our President's regard for the military that have appeared in recent days on another PF Forum.