Home

I have finally returned to my humble abode. After a very long flight to Kansas City and then on the Manhattan Kansas, Carren I made it home today around one o'clock. In a few days the kids will rejoin us and we'll be a complete family again. I'll try to keep up with blogging, but obviously, I have three people right here that deserve my attention. I can't tell you how much it means to finally be home. It has been a long eight months since I last saw my family.

What this means to the casual reader is that I will be blogging a little less the next few weeks... and to the faithful; it means you may have to go through the archives to get your Chuck Fix.

For now though, you can actually hear what I had to say over at Holly Aho’s. It's my first podcast ladies and gents, and I think it's about 45 minutes of me rambling on before the meds really started to kick in.

--Chuck

Amercan Soldier

Added a link do the right sidebar for of the American Soldier. Now, that doesn't mean that the American Soldiers are the ones that are supposed to read it (I don't think that would be such a bad idea). Basically it's a blog written by a guy who's "been there," and who has, much like me, returned home.

I don't know about, "much like me," I haven't followed him since the beginning of his blog and I don't know if he had his ass splattered all over some bridge in Iraq and is recuperating from his wounds; or if he returned home luckily enough, without a scratch. I hope the latter is true.

Anyway, I have read through his blog, including some of his archives and like the way he writes and thought you might like to peruse him as well. He has written a book called American Soldier can also pre-order it they are if you like the way for the rights. I believe you get a discount if you act soon.

But wait, there's more!

A part of the proceeds from his book will go to Soldiers Angels and to Project Valour-IT. So if you're part of the “not gonna get something for nothing crowd,” this is your opportunity to give and feel good about it. Who could ask for anything more?

--Chuck

Walter Reed protesters

Some of y'all have asked me to weigh in on what I think of the protesters outside Walter Reed. Now. I don't know if I'm letting the tail wag the dog here. As far as blogging on topics that my readers ask about, I don't know if that's pandering to my audience or is just having the same thoughts. I've seen them outside the gates many times. And I've had several thoughts on what to do about them.

First, the Captain Chuck Ziegenfuss response to protesters outside the gate:

I think it's wonderful the people in this country are allowed to express themselves any way they feel, I think it's wonderful that they are willing to go out and hold up signs and demonstrate for what they believe in what they believe to be a true and just cause. I have fought for their right to do this and I believe that their First Amendment rights should not be in any way imposed upon.

Now, as for their selection of a place to demonstrate against the war, I think it is abhorrent that they would choose to do that outside of the hospital that treats soldiers who were wounded in the war. It can only serve to discourage the soldiers who are trying to heal. As the soldiers come in the gates they see these asshats holding up their signs and banners and they see how much these people hate what they do and what they're doing. I would much rather they went and demonstrated in front of the Congress or in front of the White House, and even more so if the simply demonstrated with their ballot, when it comes time to vote.

OK, put all in your tinfoil hats and try and hold on, because his is the to be a fun ride. They're now that my tinfoil hat is firmly affixed and the mind control beams can no longer hurt me, this is what I would like to see people do. I would like to see people show up and join their demonstration. By the tens or by the hundreds it would please me greatly. I would like to see them holding up signs. Great big signs. The signs that say: “We are asshats!” Signs that say: “We are idiots!” And other signs of that ilk. That would serve to discount with the protesters are doing. Smother them with signs that make them look foolish. Exercise your freedom of speech and your freedom to demonstrate and your freedom to express yourself. Don't do it across the street do it right where they're standing set up such a confusing message that their words are lost.

Wait a minute, I think if there's a hole in my tinfoil helmet, I gotta reach for the duct tape. Uncle Bobby stopped by and gave me the ultimate men's toolkit, everything you need: a bottle of liquor (but my wife won't let me touch because all my meds they do not use of alcohol) and a roll of duct tape. That's it, that's all you need. Anyway...

now to the tinfoil helmet is to completely sealed, I would much rather that people showed up there with baseball bats and beat them to a bloody pulp, and then showed up the next day and beat any survivors to a bloody pulp. On the third day, collect up anyone that still shows up, and give them a hug for their dedication to their beliefs. Then club them like a baby harp seal on coat-making day. These shitbags are little more than the people who protested as men came home from Vietnam after serving their country.

As I remove the tinfoil helmet I can't believe what I just wrote. I would never, ever advocate violence against my fellow American who is simply trying to demonstrate what he believes in and who is exercising his right.

Finally, if you are the person who is stalking Dan, please, Please run up and give him a big hug and wet kiss for me right in the office. I'm sure he would love it.

--Chuck

Idiotic E-mail

Some people write to me about my blog, and they try to slam me and make me think that I don't deserve to live. Fortunately, by and large I much smarter than these people, and they don't seem to understand that anything and they send me I am more than willing to post on my blog. It's kind of a fundamental exercise to pick them apart. Now, not everybody who e-mails me send me hate mail. Actually, it's few and far between. I get e-mail from people who just asked questions. I e-mail from people who tell me how much they like what I do, and e-mail from people who congratulate me or they thank me for being a soldier and a combat wounded veteran at that. But the really fun ones are the ass clowns that write me and send e-mails like this:here will a core you well

From: jose loser

To: tcoverride@gmail.com

Date: Aug 26, 2005 2:04 PM

how can you bad mouth the military ans or the government if you love it so much? i think that if you are an officer that do dont need a "wish list" what about all the 18-21 year old service members who have no family close or none at all, you dont see them on the net asking for stuff that they clearly have the money to buy. i think that you are a sorry person and a sorry officer.

My reply:

It's called a wish list for a reason, jackass. I never said that
junior enlisted couldn't ask for things. These are things that I asked for and I wanted. Sure I can ask my wife to go out and get all the things that are all in my wish list, but what with her sitting in the hospital room helping me get well, stretching my hand when I needed, and doing other things to just help me, I think I should burden her with one other thing. Believe it or not between taking care of her self and taking care of me. She's pretty wiped out at the end of the day you wouldn't know that because you probably never had somebody in the hospital you care about, somebody to use to know is a whole person lying broken and bloody in front of you, and you dedicated yourself for the last three months to get them better. So, I'm sorry if I didn't send her off to Wal-Mart to buy something that I would thought would be nice to have.

As far as bad-mouthing the government or the military, I haven't done
that (at least not lately) and it's my right (and my duty) as a citizen to disagree
with them if I choose. It's called the U.S. Constitution you ought to read it once in a while.

Regardless, don't tell me how an Army officer should or shouldn't
behave until you raise your right hand and take an oath. Until you do that you have no earthly idea what it's like to be a soldier or officer.
Thanks for writing,

--Chuck

A Presidential answer

Someone else once had to answer to a mother whose sons died in battle...

Dear Madam, -- I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

A. LINCOLN.

Just thinking...

--Chuck

answering a few questions

I received an e-mail today, from a woman in Seattle. The text of it is below:

I hope you are doing better! I just found your blog and I think it is great. I have a question for you and your guys/gals in Iraq....Should you all come home? All the editorials in my paper (liberal Seattle Times) are calling for a pullout, (Mrs. Sheehan has stirred things up). I am a Christian, and I am not sure that the Lord would want us all fighting. But I want to know, do the Iraqi people want us out? And if not, then where are they, why arent they speaking up? When I get paid in Sept I will send you guys a care package. Thanks for all you do.

I'm officially asked me basically four questions.

1. Should you all come home?

Yes. Every last American soldier should come home in one piece happy and healthy back to their families... as soon as the job is done. We are soldiers and not the ones to decide when that job is done. Only our
President and our elected officials can do that. He decides when where and what we do; Congress decides if they're willing to pay for it. So yes, I truly believe our soldiers should come home when the job is done. The President clearly outlined our mission, and that is simply hunt down and kill terrorists. The sidebar of that is to build a constitutional democracy in Iraq; which would limit the ability of the terrorists to grow in Iraq and would also scare the hell out of the Syrians and the Iranians who tend to breed and grow terrorists as well. You see, I really don't think the war is about oil. If you put a constitutional democracy, one that actually accepts Western ideals and values, (you know, values like liberty, equal rights, freedom, things like that) in between Iran and Syria. I really honestly and truly think that it will bring those two theocracies if not to their knees, then possibly to the point where the "citizens", are wondering why they, too don't have liberties like their neighbors to the east or west respectively.

2. I am a Christian, and I am not sure that the Lord would want us all fighting.

I'm a Christian too, and I'm sure the Lord wants us to fight for liberty of people to choose their own religion, to live free, and not be persecuted for the way they choose to worship. But that just my opinion, that's a funny thing about faith. It's all in how you interpret it.

3. But I want to know, do the Iraqi people want us out?

The ones that're shooting at us and trying to blow us up; the ones that attack police stations and polling sites; the ones that execute police in training; and the ones that pay and support them; they want us out. They make up a very small minority of the population of Iraq. As a matter of fact, some of them are foreign fighters that come in from those very porous borders of Syria and Iran.

4. why aren’t they speaking up?

Don't know, ask the mainstream media why they are not speaking up. As for the Iraqi major that was my counterpart, he told me one day that he considered me to be a brother, one of his brothers. When his headquarters was attacked with a car bomb and rockets and machine guns, he ended up in the hospital. I drove an hour and a half with five of my Humvees to check on him and his soldiers that were wounded in the attack, to make sure that his soldiers that were wounded were separated from the attackers that were wounded, and a check on him. He was ready enough to leave the hospital, so I offered him a ride in my Humvee. I didn't have an interpreter in the truck, so we basically rode in silence for an hour and a half all the way back. When he heard that I was injured and had been sent all the way back to America for treatment, he stated that when I returned to Iraq, he would pick me up in his car and drive me back to the FOB. He said this to my commander, and some of the other senior officers in the Battalion. Although it may seem like a little thing back here in the states, in Iraq it really meant something. Why aren't they speaking out, or speaking up? They are, but they're only speaking to the people that are there helping them. How many reporters do you think go from Iraqi to Iraqi until they get the 15 second sound bite that they want... And then use that one on the nightly news.

And finally, she mentioned Cindy in Texas. I figured it was about time I weighed in on that for the loyal readers of this blog...

Nobody held a gun to my head 13 years ago when I signed the papers to join the Army. It's an all volunteer force, and I reckon her son forgot to mention that he volunteered to join the Army. He wasn't a conscientious objector when he went, more than likely he was excited to go, and he was going with his buddies... buddies who would soon become like brothers.

I doubt that he would be proud of what his mother was doing right now.

I know that my mom respects my choice to be a soldier; I know that my wife understands why I do what I do. As much as it hurts them to see me lying in bed in pieces, literally blown apart, they also understand why when I wake up in that condition, my first thoughts and my first questions are about my men, my concern for them, and my desire to return to them as soon as possible.

Mrs. Sheehan and has my deepest sympathies. She's lost a son. Her son died on the altar of freedom. The medal that they pinned on my chest and they gave her when her son was put in the ground is the same, and did little to ease my pain, and I'm sure it did little to ease hers. I always looked at my command as the care of 63 sons. There were 126 mothers and fathers out there, who had loaned their boys to me. I would take care of them as best I could, and I would hope that I can return them back when it was all over. But the first sad fact of war is that young men die-- and the second sad fact of war is that nobody can do anything to change fact number one.

People call her "crazy cindy”, people make fun of her, people say mean things about her and people generally try to drag her through the mud for trying to understand, trying to ease her pain, trying to scream out into the void because nothing seems to help... she lost her son. How many people can say that they understand what she must be going through? You can sympathize, you can empathize, but how many people can say that they understand? That they know how she feels?

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

--Chuck

Tank Porn

Oh, I'm sorry. Did I break your concentration?

Project Valour

Added a link on the right sidebar for project Valour-IT. (This is for all of ya'll who dinna read the 203-word post I wrote on it. Is it still considered writing if you speak it and the computer transcribes it?). Anyway, go there and donate.

--Chuck

Using Dragon NaturalySpeaking

This is what I look like when I blog.

Tin foil helmet has been removed (temporarily) to protect others from camera flash burns.

famous, almost

Well it looks like I'm famous now. This is a link to an article in the Washington Post on how Soldiers Angels has helped me from the time I got to Walter Reed. Personally I don't think the writer, Neely Tucker, covered the Soldiers Angels enough and he spent a little too much time talking about me. Now, after meeting with Mr. Tucker and I would say that he is probably one of those few journalists that actually does try to get his facts straight. Mr. Tucker spent several days after the interview trying to contact my wife, just make sure the spelling of my children's names was correct. Mr. Tucker also didn't seem to start out with an agenda other than to cover the Soldiers Angels and what they've done for soldiers. So, although I've said many horrible things about journalists, he is one of the exceptions to the rule.

Mr. Tucker even taught me something: (and it's a true statement, no matter how you look at it). Basically, it goes like this: sometimes it's a great reporter having a bad day, and sometimes it's a lousy reporter having a great day. But in every occupation there people who screw it up for the rest. He believes that as a journalist, a 90% average of correct facts will get you fired; again, he's right. How many of us in our jobs would be commended if we were right 90% of the time and wrong 10% of the time? And how many of us would get slammed for that average? Mr. Neely also teaches new aspiring journalists that same fact: in everything you write, you had better get your facts straight. I guess I can die happy now. I found a journalist with integrity, and I'm not so perfect to admit that I was wrong in my axioms about all journalists. I will change that to most journalists. Just kidding. I will just call out the idiots are retards by name. Anyway, here's the link to the story.

--Chuck

ProjectValor IT--make it happen

Okay, I admit it I've been on my ass about telling y'all about this. It's basically a project that came about from me recognizing the need that I had in the hospital: a way to communicate with my friends and family around the world and my complete inability to do that with the equipment at hand, namely a phone. So I asked these folks for laptop. And I asked y'all for Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Needless to say, everyone responded in a wonderful manner. Before I could swallow a handful of pills I had a laptop on my desk and I was installing the software.

Then I wondered "why can't we do this for everybody?" After all, this country put a man on the moon (of course that was what... 40 years ago?) Well, it turns out that we can do it, and for relatively low cost. We've got a company that's willing to give us the computers at or near cost, and Dragon has given Soldiers Angels a hell of a deal on the software.

So please, please go here and donate. Don't do it for me though, do it for our wounded Soldiers, Sailors and Marines and Airmen; and do it for Dad.

free, and out on drugs

Free at last...

Free at last...

Thank God Almighty,

I'm free at last.

Hero Worship

I'm not really sure what a hero is anymore. But I know that I've been called one quite a bit since I got wounded. I'm not really sure the title fits. After all I don't exactly leap tall buildings in a single bound anymore. As a matter of fact, I'm lucky to get out of bed in the morning without rubbing lotion on my scars first. And everybody seems to call me a hero. I'm surrounded by people who call me a hero on a daily basis, whether it's Red Cross volunteers, random passersby, people in the Pentagon, and people on the blog (yes I know I haven't posted about a million years.)

For instance, one of the most moving things I've experienced was my recent trip to the Pentagon. It was in a private visit, and I was in random visitor, rather. It was a trip that was set up and scheduled by Walter Reed. There are about 50 of us cripples on the trip. After we got off the bus we were greeted at the door by none other than Donald Rumsfeld. He shook our hands, and he even remembered me from his previous visit. Both he and his wife remembered it… not just my face, but the different conversations that Carren I had with them. I'm not sure what Carren and Mrs. Rumsfeld had talked about; Secretary Rumsfeld however knew exactly what we discussed in my room almost a week prior-- the decisions that he makes day-to-day and how they can be very unpopular and how brave he must be to make them.

But meeting Secretary Rumsfeld for the second time wasn't the most moving thing I never witnessed. Rather, when the doors opened, the halls were lined as far you could see with people that worked in the Pentagon: Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and even civilians who work in the Pentagon. They began to applaud as the first wheelchair hit the floor in the entryway. The applause continued as we entered the building; as we rounded each corner, and as we went in to each new concourse of the Pentagon. These were the people who sent us to war. And now they were welcoming us home and calling us heroes and saying thank you. They were telling us how proud they were of us and what we were doing. These were the senior leaders in each of the respective branches of military and they were calling us heroes. As we stopped and began the tour and began meeting people, everyone regardless of rank or status treated us like we were royalty. I stopped to ask one man, who is much more senior than I will probably ever be, why we were treated this way. He said to me. "Son, you had given more to this country than any of us had ever asked. Not just by being wounded, but by your actions afterward. Your shrink and determination to get better to heal and get back to your unit is so much more than we could have ever asked for." I think that is what moved me the most: Recognition that we were still trying to get better and to get back. Well, regardless of what moved me, it was a very touching and moving scene. Still, I don't feel like a hero for getting blown up, or for being wounded. I don't feel like a hero for what has happened since I woke up in Walter Reed, or even for the things I did before I got blown up. I suppose heroism is a lot like humility... as soon as you realize you've got it, it's lost.

I must think of a hundred things a day that I want to post on... must be the drugs. Then next couple weeks I will be much more prolific in my writing. The drugs have been really kicking my ass as far as staying awake. I suppose that's a good thing. It's better than lying in bed and screaming from the pain. Anyway and in a few weeks I will be traveling back to Fort Riley, Kansas. The kids will follow on a few days after Carren I arrive, and we will be a complete family for almost a month before come back here for devaluation and probably surgery. Stay tuned for further posts... next up is a description of exactly what happened to me as far as wounds go and then a pod cast over at Holly Aho’s blog.

--Chuck

VERY quick update...

We fell off the radar for a while but all is well....

Chuck is to be discharged from the hospital this evening....

We will stay in the Mologne House until at least 26 August b/c Chuck has an appnt. that day...

He still continues w/ PT and OT and is doing really well...

We've been at the hospital since 0630 and are running on about 3 hours of sleep, trying to make sure discharge stuff isn't screwed up...

Will fill you all in more when I am not so gosh darn EXHAUSTED! (That may be a few years... :)

We hope to get Chuck's voice-activated blogging hooked up in the Mologne House soon so you all can hear from him....

Again, I thank you all for continuing the trek of this whirlwind of a life we have right now. Could be worse, I know...

Until next time... Take care and God Bless!

Carren, Chuck, and Alice

Still here...

Alice and I are up late doing laundry so I thought I'd update you all. Chuck's ear surgery went well. They took a skin graft from behind his right ear to reconstruct his tempanic membrane (fix his eardrum). He has staples behind his right ear and has to wear a cover over his ear (it looks like half of a wrestler's headgear). He, of course, cracks jokes about what it looks like, but he is a good patient and wears it like he is supposed to. The surgeons said the surgery went well and everything should be fine. Next week Chuck will have a hearing test done and we'll go from there. Chuck keeps saying they are going to do the same surgery on his left ear, but Alice and I aren't real sure yet. I know he has some hearing loss in his left ear also, but his right was definitely worse. Anyway... all is okay for now. Chuck wanted me to tell you all that he would like to post himself but has been kinda out of it the last two days. He was soooooo out of it yesterday after surgery... he was definitely in his own world and made absolutely no sense most of the day. When he finally snapped out of his drug-induced state last night, he was chatting up a storm w/ Alice and me and ran around in fast forward. He was like an Energizer Bunny who was super-charged! It was quite funny, but good to see him up and about.

I want to thank you all for your concern about my back. It's nothing new for me... I injured my back in 1996 in ROTC, managed to recover and get commissioned, then re-injured it again at my Officer Basic Course (OBC). I was medically discharged in 1999. I just have spells of intense pain that lasts for a few days and then goes away. I always feel some degree of pain, but usually it is tolerable. It is getting better, slowly but surely. I appreciate your concerns and well-wishes.

On Sunday we had the honor of meeting Donald Rumsfeld and his wife. He is another amazing man and his wife is so cute and charming. If you are not a fan of Rumsfeld, that's fine... please don't turn this blog into a debate. Chuck, Alice and I had a great conversation w/ Secretary Rumsfeld and his wife. They both have a great sense of humor and it was really fun talking to them. We took some pictures. Once we get them developed I am sure you will see them on the blog. We MIGHT be taking a trip to the Pentagon on Friday. Apparently every few months they have a day for wounded soldiers and their families go to the Pentagon for a ceremony that is for THEM (the wounded). Last we knew it was this Friday, but we haven't seen the lady who is planning it in a while so we aren't real sure.

I'm not sure what else to tell you about at this point. I want to thank everyone for keeping our PO box full. The nice woman at the post office keeps a bin for us b/c it is usually full of letters and packages. And we get such a kick out of the funny cards we have received! And many of you have enclosed some great jokes and comic strips that just keep us laughing! So thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Gotta go switch the clothes... down the hall. Y'all have a great day and we'll be back on the blog soon.

Take care and God Bless!

Carren, Chuck and Alice

Sorry

There will not be much in the way of posting today from me or Carren; her back is killing her and I go in for ear surgery in the morning. Don't worry, I'm just having a piece of skin grafted onto my eardrum, so that I can hear. Eventually they'll do it to the other ear. Really, don't worry about me. It's not like I'm having skin grafted to my legs or nerves grafted or what ever. they're just going to cut behind my ear, pull it over, cut off a piece of skin from God knows where, and stick it on my eardrum. What is their worry about? Piece of cake right?

God help me...

Chuck

Carren and Alice

Just thought I'd share another picture. Chuck showed me how to post it another way, but I can't remember how... and he's sleeping again. Sooooo... I am doing it MY way!

By the way, the "Butterbuns" nickname is a story that Chuck and I figure you all can use your imagination to figure out just why he calls me that. It isn't a "gross" story by any means... but we know how curiosity can eat a person alive... :)

Had a good day today... Chuck is passed out now so Alice and I are going to do the same.

Y'all take care and keep on being who you are!

Love,
The Ziegenfi (that's plural for Ziegenfuss, by the way)

Something that I think you should read...

Okay folks, everybody that comes and reads this blog needs to jump over to Holly Aho’s site and read her blog. You can find it here. Or you can find it if you go to the right side of the page and click on Holly Aho, Soldier's Angel. This is not an attempt to get you to do anything other than read. Well, yes it is. What I really want you to do is read what she's written. Her most recent post is about me. I don't care if you read that one or not. Read the rest of her blog. Comment on her entries. She has done so much for the causes that I'm sure everyone who reads this blog cares about. And she is smart, she is funny. She is creative, more creative than I, that's for sure. But she gets very little traffic to her blog. I'm not really sure why that is; maybe most people don't know about her. I'm trying to fix that. I don't know if that will work; I don't think I have the ability to force people to go anywhere on the Internet they don't want to. I really, really think that people would be better off if they went and read what she has to say. Once I get the chance to edit my web site, (That is, play around with the sidebars and such). I'm going to list her at the very top of people I read every day.

I know it's a short post, and I know it's a nagging post, but I really wanted to get my early-morning readers over to her site.

Thanks a bunch, and I really think you'll be better off reading what she has to say.

--Chuck

The CPT and The Mrs.

Okay, I have managed to figure out how to post pictures w/o the help of my computer geek husband (no offense, Honey!). He happens to be sound asleep while I sit on the edge of his bed, determined to figure out this blog stuff.

The picture below was taken a few weeks ago. Chuck's right hand is no longer bandaged like this and he now has a splint.... MUCH smaller!


I will post more pics tomorrow (hopefully), but my butt is getting numb from sitting so "carefully" on the edge of this bed that my feet are asleep! I am sure you all wanted to know that...

Have a great weekend and keep on being who you are... we love you all!

Carren, Chuck, and Alice

It's Carren again...

Hey y'all! I haven't forgotten to post or anything, just wanted to give Chuck his "world" back. But he keeps telling me to go ahead and post, so here I am. I have been thinking about what to post for a few days... and my brain is so jumbled up that I feel like I have been taste testing some of Chuck's lollipops! Unfortunately, I am only allowed to open the package for him... but I picked up a piece of his lollipop the other day and thought, "Hmmm, I wonder what would happened if I licked my fingers?" Sounds funny... but if those pops are as powerful as they seem, I'll bet I could get a good buzz!!! The sad part is, half the time I feel like I am on another planet w/ everything going on around here... and I don't have any fun drugs to blame it on!

An awful lot has happened since I posted last. Chuck is still recovering well and each day is one step closer to a full recovery. We still have a lot of unanswered questions about length of stay, etc., but Alice and I have been bugging a bunch of people and I think we may have to light a few fires soon to get some of these surgeons out of the OR and make them see that there is actually a PERSON amongst the wounds! Too much to explain... we've just been a little, ok, REALLY frustrated lately.

Chuck still has good days and not so good days. The pain management issue is almost "okay," but he still experiences some problems. Tomorrow he is going to have his ears checked again and may have surgery on Monday so he can hear again. He doesn't have total hearing loss, but he definitely needs help - via surgery or a hearing aid, which is also a possibility. Chuck walks all over the hospital when he gets bored, which is good b/c he is up and moving. Thanks to his OT, Michelle, his left hand is improving. I went to OT w/ him yesterday to learn some of the exercises/stretches he needs. So now I can add OT to my resume!!!

I know Chuck is much happier now that he is able to blog, despite the fact that the voice recognition thing can be a hassle sometimes. He is very grateful to have it. He loves to see how many people comment when he posts. This blog is really an amazing thing for him and very instrumental for his healing. Alice and I can only do so much... but he smiles a lot and laughs at all of your comments and the cards and letters he receives in the mail. So again, I thank all of you faithful readers for following our journey. It means a lot to us, it really does.

Chuck and I are missing our kids like crazy, but they are busy driving my sister crazy! We talk to them every day and they are doing well. Creighton just finished swimming lessons and my sister said he did great. Adelle is busy being two and talks up a storm.... when we get on the phone w/ her she yells, "My mommy/daddy is on the phone" so that everyone on the planet can hear her. Next thing ya know, Creighton or my sister is on the phone. Adelle gets so excited she forgets to talk to us! She is such a trip!!!

For those who have asked, Alice said she is looking to find a man like Santa Claus (preferably w/o a Mrs. Claus). A man who will love her just as much as she would love him... that will work for her.

I know this post may seem a bit dry compared to Chuck's posts... he and I write very differently and I am REALLY tired right now. Not an excuse... just my reality. Plus, if I posted all of the drama that has occurred here, complete w/ cuss words and very descrpit adjectives, this sight would have to be under "parental control" warnings! I don't mean drama b/w Chuck and me... we still manage to say "I love you" and actually mean it... just drama. The world is full of drama and we all face it to some degree every day. But I have decided that my "drama meter" is really tapped out and I'm kinda on the exhausted side. Gee, can't imagine why.

May you all have a good day and continue to keep being the amazing people that you are. We are truly blessed to have so many people out there who care about us. It is very overwhelming... but we love it!

Until next time,
Carren

what to do

I am not exactly sure what I want to write tonight but I really feel the need to post. I suppose it is more screaming into the void, but then again that's what this blog was designed for. Turns out it's a lot slower posting this way then it was when I could type,but it is a lot faster than I can type with my gimpy hands.
I really do need to thank everyone for their outstanding and overwhelming support. I have gotten more letters and cards I can possibly read in a lifetime. Well, that's not true, I suppose in my lifetime I'll be able to read them all, considering nothing has been able to kill me thus far. Actually that's a bad joke as well, I used to tell the boys that the man wasn't born yet that could kill me. Well, I haven't met that man yet, I did meet the man that could splatter my ass all over Iraq. Top tells me that it was an 82 mm mortar round that was buried next to the barrier that I was crouched next to. All I really remember from the time it went off to the time that I was in the canal, upside down bobbing for God knows what, is a loud bang and looking at my hands in thinking, oh my God. That's all that I can remember happening from the time it went off. I'm not ready to share the story of exactly what happened when I got hurt. I know many of you are waiting with baited breath for the story of Chuck's mishap. I have shared it with a few of the dignitaries who have come in here, but it is hard to tell a four-star general to mind his own beeswax When he is standing in front of you (not to mention the president of the United States.)
I guess I'll take it from y'all if you want to hear about my day-to-day activities in the hospital. The retards I run into( if you will excuse the term) and the people that I deal with.
For instance, I ran into a guy in the OT (occupational therapy) clinic who was wearing a shirt that said three out of four ain't bad. I looked to see that he was missing a foot. I pointed and laughed at his shirt. I told him that I recognized it from a web site that I found earlier, when I was looking for gloves for the three fingered man. By the way, do y'all have any idea how hard it is to find clothes with no pinkie? I looked for over an hour and ran into a lot of amputee porn sites (use sick bastards). But no luck with the gloves.
So it's up to you guys, if I write about what happened to me today; or if I write about what's bugging me or if I just write about... wait a minute. I just realized that I'm asking you what you want me to write about. That was never the intent of this blog. Seems like I'm starting to write for the reader, not for the person that writes. Sorry, but that would make me a media outlet and I just can't do that (sorry guys, just way too much integrity to be considered a journalist of any kind.)
Of course, notes to self are always going to be a blast, like today. Note to self: don't chew any part of the fentnal lollipop. If you aren't aware of fentnal is a drug that will put you into outer space, cross your eyes, make you dizzy, and make you not recognize the mother's ring that you bought for your wife last Christmas. Fentnal is extremely powerful. And the lollipops were designed for the special forces medics to carry so that they can give their wounded something to calm them way, way down. Fentnal will definitely take you to funky town. They give me these lollipops, before I go to OT. So that they will help me with the pain. They help. They take all the pain away. But the lollipops were meant to be sucked on, not chewed on. I chewed on mine. It made me dizzy. To say the least. Luckily, Carren was there to keep me from getting in any trouble.

--Chuck

Up and Running

Okay everyone I've got the Program up and running. I don't know if I will be able to master it very soon but I will keep trying until I am able to use it without thinking. The hardest thing he used to is talking like with a newscaster. But that is something I too will overcome. You have to say all of your punctuation with this program.
But I guess you don't really wanna hear about the program. I am so glad that you, the "Teeming Millions", (hat tip Cecil from "the straight dope") purchased the software and and got me this wonderful program so that I can continue to blog.
Unfortunately it is after midnight, and I have a new line of narcotics that they are trying on me tonight. So, aside from being stuck for a topic like how am I doing or who delete are the wonderful people that are helping me and for that matter what the hell happened. The fact of the matter is that I don't want to get into any of those topics right now. Right now, I just want to go to sleep.
However, this program is bitchin'! It really hits the nerdy side of me that I can talk into this microphone, and the computer can figure out what in the hell I'm trying to say. It Even gets most of the pronunciation of the cuss words!
Carren never said in the blog exactly what the nature or extent of my wounds was. I'm not sure if y'all are ready for the true grossness of my injuries and it is up for debate as to whether it is anyone's business but mine and Carren's. So will be a while longer before I explain. I just realized the one thing that I don't like about this program is that it doesn't type the way I talk. It corrects my grammar and spelling. Although annoying I guess I'll have to live with it. I actually have to go back and make corrections to my speech to make it sound more like my speech. You all know how much I love to edit any way so you may have to get through some speech hurdles every now and again.

I will talk to you all later.
hugs and kisses, and thank you so very very much for this program, andfor your concern and your compassion, for your support of Carren and me and mom and everything else that you have done since I managed to get my ass splattered all over Iraq.I never thought when I started blogging that it would ever come to this. I never thought that I would have as so many readers. I never thought that there would be so many people out there who were interested in what I had to say or how I had to say it.

as you can see the drugs have gotten to me. I was never ever this mushy before I started being medicated on a four to six hour basis. I am going to take off the headphones now and go to sleep. But I will definitely be blogging a lot more now that this is working.

--Chuck.
PS all you Aces better keep your asses in line. I will return, said MacArthur; and I am saying it too so you better put all my shit back in my room!