Shattered survivors from Iraq

With bombs the insurgent weapon of choice, many U.S. soldiers who survive the explosions must learn to live with missing limbs or damaged brains. Walter Reed hospital is a microcosm of the challenge.

By Jonathan Bor

Sun Staff

Originally published June 12, 2005

WASHINGTON - In his last memory of Iraq, he was riding in a Humvee on the main highway south of Baghdad. Ten days later, Army Sgt. Joey Bozik opened his eyes in a hospital to find that his right arm was missing. And both his legs. His remaining limb - his left arm - was braced in a plaster cast. He couldn't move his swollen fingers.

"I was glad to be alive," said Bozik, 26, who learned after regaining consciousness at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center that his vehicle had detonated a land mine. "I was in a lot of pain but decided to deal with the problem I had then. I was an amputee."