After being wounded, Team Cherokee Captain gets his Christmas wish

He's leaving Germany this week to go back downrange.

By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, December 12, 2008

HOHENFELS, Germany — Capt. Terry Howell could have stayed in Germany for Christmas with his wife and 10-year-old daughter and people would still regard him as a hero.

The Taliban shot the 43-year-old Team Cherokee (Company C, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment) commander in the left kneecap and right calf back in August, two months into an eight-month mission to Afghanistan.

After two surgeries downrange, another two in Germany, three months on crutches and numerous physical therapy sessions, Howell is on the verge of achieving his goal — rejoining his unit downrange.

"My big drive to get back there is because I’m the commander. I need to be with my boys and help the guy who has taken my place — Capt. Chris Wadsworth — who had to step up and do my job along with 1st Sgt. Montae Clark," Howell said.

The 22-year Army veteran leaves Hohenfels this week for southern Afghanistan’s Zabul province, where Team Cherokee is battling Taliban insurgents near the porous border with northern Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas.

Team Cherokee commander Capt. Terry Howell shows the scars on his left knee, where he was wounded by enemy fire in Afghanistan. Photo: Seth Robson, S&S.

The return to Afghanistan is likely to be emotional, Howell said.

"There’s probably going to be a tear in my eye when I see them … the guys who helped me when I was shot," he said as he prepared to leave Wednesday.

Most soldiers would not be rated fit to deploy in Howell’s condition.

Eight-inch-long scars run down both sides of his swollen knee and along his calf where the bullet lodged. There are nine screws and two metal plates that will stay in the knee for another year, limiting its movement to 100 degrees.

Howell said he can live with his physical handicaps.

"It is the emotional part (that is hard)," he said. "Being the first one in my team to get injured is not what I expected. You don’t think it’s going to happen to you."

When he gets home, the former triathlete hopes he can get back to cycling but doesn’t expect to run again.

"I could hump up a mountain with my gear but coming down would be painful," he said.

Lt. Col. John Lange, the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment commander, said that Howell recovered faster than expected and that he was probably pushing himself because he wanted to get back to his unit.

At the Mudville Gazette Robert Stokely shares a story about CPL (soon to be 1st LT) Elijah Carroll, who was wounded when his son Mike was killed.

Meanwhile, others somehow continue to believe this is a funny subject.