Returning from Iraq, the Damage Done - 6

Luis Calderon
AGE 22; MIAMI, FLORIDA

Tank operator in the Army's 4th Infantry Division. Injured May 5, 2003, while destroying a mural of Saddam Hussein in Tikrit.

The wall just crashed on me. Crushed my head, broke my neck. I felt separated, like in relaxing mode, but really I was still driving the tank. I couldn't feel my hands on the wheel. I felt nothing. My sergeant was telling me to stop on the radio, but I couldn't speak loud because my voice just went away, I was whispering, a very slight whisper. Another tank got the wall from ahead and took it out, and we waited until the medics came.

They took me to the support camp, and that's where the doctors determined I had a broken neck and a spine injury. My spinal cord is C3-C4—quadriplegic. From my neckline down I cannot feel anything.

I'm just happy I took the wall down. I did my job. If I had the chance to, I would go back now.

I wanted to be a diesel mechanic. I was going to make a career in the Army, do my 20 years. I got an Army Commendation Medal—not a Purple Heart. I'm disappointed. It would make me more confident that I really did something. There's another story I can tell in the future to my kids.

I still think I'm active. I'm 22 years old. You don't see a lot of veterans at 22 years old. I would like to talk to soldiers. Do volunteer work. Just talk to soldiers. But for the moment, right now, I just want to heal.