Frustrating
A local soldier apparently suffered serious wounds in Iraq last week. And another soldier somewhere apparently deserves credit for saving his life. The newspaper I work for is finally picking up on this story today, but the information in what's been written is so scant, it's a shame to run the story as it is. Yet I can't seem to make it better. The reporter is someone I like, who can write some wonderful stories, about a rock band, say -- and she does get good quotes in this one, which is sort of her specialty.
But like most of the reporters (and editors) I work with, she knows very little about the military, and is not interested in knowing much about the military, as far as I can tell. I tried to elicit more information from her while editing this story, but mostly what I got back was an assertion that such attacks are just a daily fact of life in Iraq, and as it was tending toward a "wrong war wrong place wrong time" talk, I gave up. I went into the Internet, and our archives, but found nothing helpful.
Maybe some of the Mil-bloggers can help figure thus one out.
The soldier's name is Army Staff Sgt. Jason Leisey. I don't know what unit he's with. I had the reporter call his family members again, and she came back with "Bravo Company, one-eleven," but she didn't know what that meant. I'm not even 100 percent sure he's not with a National Guard outfit, based on what the reporter wrote.
Apparently a suicide bomber plowed into his Humvee -- somewhere near a base in northern Iraq -- on Thursday (April 7). Leisey's family said a soldier inside the base ran to the scene and managed to pull Leisey and three other men from the wreckage. Leisey's wife told us she learned the name of the soldier who rescued them was "Scott Saze." Reporter, however, has a habit of misspelling names, and the family doesn't know anything about the unit or rank of the rescuer.
Leisey suffered a concussion and third degree burns on the left side of his face and left arm and hand. He ended up at "Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas," where he's still in critical condition and family is by his side. It looks like he'll make it, but he faces a lot of rehab and pain. The family are good people, supportive of their man and the effort of all the troops.
Leisey has been in the army for 8 years and apparently was in Kosovo.
A fund has been set up, and donations are being taken at the Jason Leisey/Kate Gribbin Fund, in care of the Hempfield Area School District, 200 Church St., Landisville, Pa., 17538.
I'd like to know more about the incident, and especially the rescue. And of course, do what you can for
But like most of the reporters (and editors) I work with, she knows very little about the military, and is not interested in knowing much about the military, as far as I can tell. I tried to elicit more information from her while editing this story, but mostly what I got back was an assertion that such attacks are just a daily fact of life in Iraq, and as it was tending toward a "wrong war wrong place wrong time" talk, I gave up. I went into the Internet, and our archives, but found nothing helpful.
Maybe some of the Mil-bloggers can help figure thus one out.
The soldier's name is Army Staff Sgt. Jason Leisey. I don't know what unit he's with. I had the reporter call his family members again, and she came back with "Bravo Company, one-eleven," but she didn't know what that meant. I'm not even 100 percent sure he's not with a National Guard outfit, based on what the reporter wrote.
Apparently a suicide bomber plowed into his Humvee -- somewhere near a base in northern Iraq -- on Thursday (April 7). Leisey's family said a soldier inside the base ran to the scene and managed to pull Leisey and three other men from the wreckage. Leisey's wife told us she learned the name of the soldier who rescued them was "Scott Saze." Reporter, however, has a habit of misspelling names, and the family doesn't know anything about the unit or rank of the rescuer.
Leisey suffered a concussion and third degree burns on the left side of his face and left arm and hand. He ended up at "Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas," where he's still in critical condition and family is by his side. It looks like he'll make it, but he faces a lot of rehab and pain. The family are good people, supportive of their man and the effort of all the troops.
Leisey has been in the army for 8 years and apparently was in Kosovo.
A fund has been set up, and donations are being taken at the Jason Leisey/Kate Gribbin Fund, in care of the Hempfield Area School District, 200 Church St., Landisville, Pa., 17538.
I'd like to know more about the incident, and especially the rescue. And of course, do what you can for
