~Dawn~'s Page

By Lt. Colonel, Oliver North, USMC


The following story is an excerpt from Lt. Col. Oliver North's new release,
American Heroes: In the Fight Against Radical Islam.

"The explosion of a carefully planted IED mangled Sgt Edwards below his body armor. The first person to him was U.S. Navy medical Corpsman Christopher Anderson. The man they called "Doc" Anderson immediately applied tourniquets to Edwards' shattered limbs and started an IV to ward off shock.

As they raced for the LZZ to meet an inbound casualty-evacuation helicopter, Edwards looked up at the man who was checking his pulse and said, 'take care of my babies, Doc.'

Anderson shouted back, 'You're going to take care of your babies. You're going to be OK!'

Marine Sgt Gregory Edwards was on his third deployment to Iraq when new wounds sent him back to Walter Reed. In 2003 he had been part of the initial assault on Baghdad and saw the statue of Saddam Hussein toppled. He'd been wounded on his second deployment and spent time recovering at Bethesda and Walter Reed. When 1st Bn, 6th Marines, was slated for a third deployment, he insisted on going along.

This time, however Gregory Edwards' road to recovery would never end. Though the doctors operated on him more than thirty times, they couldn't save his shattered legs. When all the surgery was done, he had one stump above the knee, a stump below the other knee, and only one functioning hand.

'I lost my legs for the people of Iraq, so their children will be able to run around, just like mine. If time was turned back, I'd do it all over again," said Sgt Edwards, father of two."

This excerpt, taken from American Heroes, is dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of fathers who are standing on the front lines of war while their families anxiously await their return home.

"These 'heroes on the home front' are essential for the strength of our military as a whole and for the defense of this nation," said Lt. Col. North.

To celebrate Father's Day and honor the tremendous sacrifice made by so many fathers since the beginning of the war on terror, Lt. Col. North has made signed copies of his book available on his website, http://www.olivernorth.com/, throughout the month of June.

With more than 350 full-color images and exclusive access to even more stories from inside the trenches online, American Heroes presents a no-holds-barred, up-close look at this generation's citizen soldiers who have chosen the path of the patriot to go into harm's way.
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