Wounded in Iraq

By Dave Steffenson-- Assistant Editor

Note: For an account from Brian on this incident, read this.

Gilroyan Cory McCarthy, 21, a medic with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, was injured in Iraq Saturday. He played three sports at Gilroy High and graduated in 1999.

GILROY, CA - On the other side of the country, a terrified young man lies in a military hospital awaiting more surgery as he ponders whether his life will ever be the same.

Meanwhile, his father can do little more than wait by the phone as his only son, his surfing buddy and best friend, begs for his parents to come see him.

Cory McCarthy, 21, a medic with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, was injured in Iraq Saturday when two rocket-propelled grenades hit his company while they were on patrol. McCarthy sustained heavy injuries and has undergone three operations with several more to come. Thursday night, he was taken to Walter Reed Hospital in Maryland, but his family can’t afford to make the trip to see him.

“He’s asked us, but we can’t do it,” said Cory’s father, Mike McCarthy, who wears a copy of his son’s dog tags around his neck for luck. “Hopefully, we can get out there in a few weeks, but in a few weeks he could be back in Germany.”

The injury occurred when Cory’s convoy was going on what his father calls “seek and snatch patrols,” where the soldiers go on a mission to look for certain Iraqi leaders and take them into custody.

“All I know is that they had been on their seek and snatch and hadn’t found their guy,” Mike said. “There were four vehicles in his group, and the one in front of Cory’s was hit.”

Cory ran to see if anyone was in need of aid. However, as soon as he reached the Humvee, a second rocket-propelled grenade hit the vehicle, knocking Cory across the street.

When he gained consciousness, Cory heard the voice of one of his friends.

“Doc, I’ve been hit.”

“I’ve been hit, too,” he replied.

Cory’s thumb was attached by a few threads of tissue, and he had shrapnel in his arm. He put a tourniquet on his arm with the help of another soldier and then helped out the other injured man, who had shrapnel in his chest.

The group drove back to the base and began a series of different stops and treatment. He went from Tikrit to Kirkuk, where doctors removed the shrapnel and stitched his thumb back on. Then he was taken to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, where he had three surgeries, and then he traveled to Maryland for more. He has undergone skin grafts, bone grafts, a re-built major artery, re-attached thumb and work on his index finger - all on his right arm.

“They honestly don’t know (if Cory will regain full use of the arm),” his father said.

Cory, a 1999 graduate of Gilroy High School who played three sports - football, soccer and swimming - and played the saxophone and guitar, has movement in his fingers, but not in his thumb, leaving him wondering about his future as a firefighter.

Cory joined the Army on Memorial Day in 2001 as a way to make money for college. He eventually planned on becoming a firefighter/paramedic and thought the military would be a good place to get training that would look good on his resume.

He trained in Missouri, Fort Sam Houston in Texas and received airborne training at Fort Benning in Georgia.

The airborne group is completely voluntary, but Cory decided he wanted to do it because he might one day want to become a smoke jumper. He also had become interested in skydiving when his father took him to skydive at the airport in Hollister for his birthday on Aug. 30, 1999.

“For his 18th birthday, I took him down to Hollister, and we went sky diving,” he said. “He was hooked, right from then.”

After training, Cory chose to go to Vacenza, Italy, instead of Fort Bragg because he wanted to see Europe. He was there for nearly a year before they entered the war, doing training drills on being a medic - knowing who to treat first in different situations and how to take care of himself.

“He was drilled in there,” his father said. “They know what they were required to do.”

In the early days of the war, 1,000 troops of the 173rd parachuted on the Northern Iraqi airport, with all of the troops skydiving from 700 feet in just one minute. While Cory couldn’t tell his parents about it, they are certain he was with the group that took over to hold the northern front.

Cory, who is 5 foot 9 inches tall and weighs 175 pounds, actually weighs closer to 350 pounds when he jumps out of a plane because he has to carry his medical supplies.

Cory didn’t have to go to Iraq. He put in for recruiter duty months earlier and the paperwork came through a week before the war. He was told he was going stateside and probably would be headed near his home. However, after talking with his fellow soldiers, he had his orders changed to remain with his group until after the war. He was told recruiter duty would be waiting for him when he returned.

“There have been guys who have been hit, who have been shot, and he’s been there for them,” Mike said. “They put their trust in him.”

While Cory was in Iraq, his family did what they could to stay in touch with him.

“I write to him at least once a week,” Mike said. “I don’t ask him what’s going on. I write about what’s going on in town, what his friends are doing. I want to give him a break.”

At first, Cory didn’t write back very often, but the first letter he sent back home was a scary one for the family.

Written on the box of a food package while the troops were being hit with artillery, the letter apologizes for things Cory had done and for things he might never get to do.

“He was dealing with his own mortality,” Mike said, his voice straining. “It was a tough letter to get through.”

After that, they sent him pens and paper to write with and are receiving regular letters and even a few phone calls. Cory would wait as many as four hours in line to make just a 10- or 15-minute phone call home.

They hadn’t heard from him for about a week before the ambush, so they knew he was on the move - and that something might be wrong.

An Army captain called Longs Drugstore Tuesday, where Cory’s mother, Carol, works, but she was out to lunch. As soon as the captain said who he was and that he needed to talk with her, the co-worker who answered the phone instantly replied, “Is he OK?”

The employees of Longs Drugstore have been wearing yellow ribbons with Cory’s name on them since the war began. They all know about Carol’s son’s efforts and often ask about him.

Mike, who is a driver for UPS, said all of his customers also asked about Cory.

Now, they can only sit by the phone when they’re not at work. and wait to find out about each surgery and how their son is doing.

“I’m definitely proud of him. I’m proud of all of them,” Mike said. “I’d love to have them all home, but the job is not done.”