The long road back.

• Author: Carpenter, Bryan
• Position: Armed Forces

"... Seeing IED explosion holes big enough to swallow my Humvee had me on high alert, but my driver's side tire barely nicked a pressure plate, which ignited a bomb that blew up right below my seat. This threw the vehicle 20 feet in the air...."

FROM THE TIME I was a child, I dreamed of being in the military. All of my school reports and projects were based around the military. Once I turned 18,1 tried to enlist, but was denied because of a severe skin condition. That did not stop me, though. I kept trying to achieve my dream: I got a letter from a dermatologist, as well as a local congressman. Finally, in 2004, the Marine's accepted me and, in 2005, shipped me off to Parris Island Boot Camp. I was thrilled; I dedicated my every moment to being all I could be as a Marine. After boot camp and schooling were completed, I checked into my Permanent Duty Station. Right away, they gave me orders to deploy to the war in Iraq. It was then that my family and I prepared for the worst, while hoping for the best. Not knowing what the future held, I was shipped out to Combat Training, and shortly after arrived in Fallujah, Iraq.

On Easter in 2006, I was struck by a small improvised explosive device (IED). Thankfully, nobody was hurt. The bomb just rang my ears --and put a little fear into my reality. I would not be so lucky a couple of months later.

On June 6, my unit was conducting a trip down Henry Road--the same road where I was injured a couple of months earlier--which had been closed off to foot patrols. I knew to be cautious of this area from prior trips, and seeing IED explosion holes big enough to swallow my Humvee had me on high alert, but my driver's side tire barely nicked a pressure plate, which ignited a bomb that blew up right below my seat. This threw the vehicle 20 feet in the air, and dragged me and three other Marines 40 feet into an abandoned building.

I was knocked unconscious and began choking on my own blood, as I had been struck with shrapnel on my chin. A Navy Corpsman conducted an emergency tracheotomy, but accidentally nicked my carotid artery. At this moment, I was losing so much blood that I was within moments of taking my last breath.

I survived, though, and was transported to a military hospital in Fallujah, then to Germany, and then to Maryland, where my family was waiting for me--all within four days. During that time, I had to be cut open from the bottom of my chest to the top of my pants line for internal bleeding, and...