SwiftVets.com

[Harvuskong]

http://www.jonesborosun.com/story.php?ID=24606

Have heavily edited the article- Made it a bit shorter.

Soldier recovering from attack sees meaning of Veterans Day

By LeAnn Askins

JONESBORO -- For Army Spc. Kevin Neece this Veterans Day will be a time to reflect on the changes in his life, and the service that he and countless others have offered to the country.

Neece landed in Iraq on Thanksgiving Day 2004. In June 2005, he suffered severe injuries from an improvised explosive device, and he spent eight months recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Maryland. Today he is working with the 875th Engineer Battalion and living in Waldenburg.

"My memories of the day prior and that day's events are sketchy at best," he said recently.

Neece suffered a shrapnel wound to the left hip, a pelvic fracture, a destroyed spleen which was later removed, a lacerated diaphragm, a collapsed lung, compression fractures in his back and a herniated disc. Portions of his pancreas and upper intestine were also damaged.

"It's been a long road," he said. "All of this stuff happened over a year ago and I'm still seeing doctors on a regular basis."

He was awarded a Purple Heart while still at Walter Reed. His other awards include the Combat Action Badge, which means he was in a war zone and has been engaged or has engaged the enemy.

"You can't help but have a different outlook on life entirely," he said.

Reflecting on the day

Today Neece thinks of all of the individuals who have served before him and will serve after him.

"I definitely have a much deeper appreciation for the celebration of Veterans Day," he said. "For me it's a show of appreciation for the few brave souls of this world who have been willing to fight and sometimes die for the freedoms that every one of us enjoy."

Neece said this is what makes the United States such a great country.

For anyone who knows him, meets him or just hears his story, Neece wants "to be a living, walking, breathing example of the power of prayer."

He believes that without the prayers of the nation, along with specific prayers of his friends and family, he wouldn't be here today.

"There's no amount of luck that could have saved me from that," he said.

He said there were a lot of hands involved that day, the strongest being the hand of God.

"There's nothing else in this world more useful, more powerful than accepting the fact that there are certain things beyond our control, but there's nothing God can't do."