'Changing the way a Corps thinks'

'Changing the way a Corps thinks'

July 20, 2008 - 12:29AM
JENNIFER HLAD
DAILY NEWS STAFF
It began as an idea: a place for wounded warriors to heal. It blossomed into a barracks, then grew into a battalion. Now, Wounded Warriors Battalion East has entered its second year, still growing as it offers injured Marines and sailors a place to connect, commiserate and recover.

Master Sgt. Ken Barnes was a gunnery sergeant in 2004, the commander of the personal security detachment for then-Col. Ron Johnson, commander of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Barnes was standing in the turret of a humvee when a huge aircraft bomb exploded.

He saw the bright flash and watched something he initially thought was his hand bounce across the top of the vehicle. He later learned it was his watch - which saved his hand.

Barnes took a two-inch piece of shrapnel in his left wrist, causing nerve damage so severe he can't move his fingers independently or feel most of his hand. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and "shredded" the cartilage in both knees.

The explosion came just about a month after another blast - one that severely injured the MEU's operations officer, Lt. Col. Timothy Maxwell. It was during their own treatment and recoveries that they realized - firsthand - the need for a place where the wounded could recover together and help each other heal.

What began as a type of support group grew into a barracks, and in 2005, the living facility near the II Marine Expeditionary Force headquarters was christened "Maxwell Hall." On June 30, 2007, the growing group of wounded warriors became a battalion.

The idea really isn't new, Barnes said. After all, during the Vietnam War, combat wounded would spend their recovery time in Veterans Affairs hospitals together. But with advances in technology, doctors would work to get the injured service member on the road to recovery, then send him home.
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