My husband, Pat, had been serving as a Stryker Brigade platoon leader in Iraq for a little over a
year. It was a beautiful Saturday morning in the Pacific Northwest, and I was sleeping in. That morning, the phone rang and rang without mercy. It was my mother on the other end, in a complete panic. “There has been a serious accident, and Pat has been shot in the head,” she said. All I could think was No, no, not Pat, not this. He
was supposed to come home safe and sound in less than two months. I had actually fantasized about our reunion, envisioned the overwhelming relief I would feel once I could just hold him in my arms. Today would change everything. Early Sunday morning, a casualty assistance officer called and said Pat was due to arrive at Andrews AFB, Md., at midnight. I would take the red-eye out of Seattle that evening; Pat’s brothers, Richard and Steve, would be there to meet him in D.C. Richard called right before I was about to fly out and gave me a full report. I remember he said, “Pat is really banged up, but he is home, and it felt so good to hold his hand.” I landed at [Ronald Reagan Washington National
Airport in Arlington, Va.], and my father-in-law met me at the gate. Once beyond security, a colonel greeted us and showed us to a black sedan. There were five of us in the car. The conversation started with small talk and slowly became a hospital briefing. I really cannot remember anything that was said. Completely sleep- deprived, nervous, and sick to my stomach, all I could focus on was what I was about to see. The car finally stopped at the Navy Lodge. My fa-
ther-in-law — who had been waiting anxiously for days — insisted we go see Pat immediately. I remember the hospital doors swinging open to a semicircle of flags and a little coffee shop on the right. We said farewell to the escorts and proceeded deep- er into the hospital with Jeannie, the Army family liaison. She brought us up to the third-floor ICU. The minute
the elevator doors opened, a harsh antiseptic odor over- whelmed us. At the doors to the ICU, we were introduced to one of Pat’s neurosurgeons. Pat’s injury was more cata- strophic than I had imagined. Because of where the bullet entered his skull/ brain, he would most likely suffer total weakness on the right side of his body, with little possibility of walking again; severe language impairment, with a strong possibility he might never speak again; and profound memory loss, to the point he might not recog- nize me or his dad. Moments later we were buzzed
into the ICU. Walking through the unit was chilling. Bed after bed was filled with young men in grave con- dition. It was dark and cold, and all I could hear were high-pitched beeps and hissing ventilators assisting many to breathe. Pat’s head was wrapped in gauze. His left eye was se-
verely bruised and swollen shut. He had two large tubes coming out of his mouth. He was hooked up to every machine imaginable, and he lay there, unresponsive. My heart sank. It was Pat. This was really happening. Neither of us said a word. After a few minutes, Pat’s dad, visibly overwhelmed, abruptly turned to me and said, “Let’s go.” We walked in silence until we reached his wife at the front of the hospital. They dropped me off at the Navy Lodge so I could
rest, but my head was spinning, and within minutes I was hysterical. I dialed Pat’s brother, Chris, in Atlanta. Between gasps and sobs all I could say was, “Chris, I can’t do this alone. Where is everyone?” Chris said, “Patty, I will be there tonight, don’t
worry, we can do this together.” And so the road to recovery began. — Patty Horan is a full-time caregiver for her hus-
band, Army Capt. Pat Horan. She is a member of MOAA’s Currently Serving Spouse Advisory Council.
Connect With MOAA’s Spouse Programs Online
Check out the MOAA spouse blog, Making It in the MilLife (
http://moaablogs.org/spouse). • Friend us on Facebook (
www.facebook.com/moaaspouse). • Follow us on Twitter (@MOAA_MilLife). • Subscribe to the MOAA Spouse E-News at
www.moaa.org/email. Visit
www.moaa.org/spouse to learn more about MOAA’s Currently Serving Spouse Advisory Council: 15
active duty and reserve component spouses, representing the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard as well as our wounded warriors. The council is both an advisory group to MOAA President Vice Adm. Norb Ryan Jr., USN-Ret., and a focus group for MOAA departments.
64 MILITARY OFFICER MAY 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100