After severe war injuries, a new battlefield

U.S. Marine Juan Dominguez, 27, takes his first step on his new "stubbies" with the help of prosthetics specialists Kevin Kohler, left, and Peter Harsch at Naval Medical Center San Diego.
(Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times / May 7, 2011)

After severe war injuries, a new battlefield
Troops with severe war injuries such as multiple amputations face a long and difficult rehabilitation. Naval Medical Center San Diego is where some learn a new way of life.
By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
May 7, 2011

Reporting from San Diego—
Marine Lance Cpl. Juan Dominguez has come a long way since October, when a roadside bomb in Afghanistan ripped off his legs above the knees and shredded his right arm above the elbow.

A Navy corpsman, part of the same patrol, kept Dominguez from bleeding to death and wisely refused his pleas for morphine, lest he go into shock. Then there was the Navy doctor at nearby Forward Operating Camp Dwyer who "wouldn't let me die" and the intensive care he received at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

After that, Dominguez spent five months at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he underwent 23 surgeries. Today, the 26-year-old from Deming, N.M., is an outpatient at Naval Medical Center San Diego.

"This is home now," he said of the hospital on a hill beside Balboa Park.

Dominguez is among a growing number of Marines and soldiers who have suffered catastrophic wounds that will require years of care in military hospitals. The Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs are scrambling to put together a continuum of long-term care for Dominguez and other severely wounded personnel.
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After severe war injuries, a new battlefield

If there is one thing our disabled veterans have to teach us, not giving up should be at the top of the list.

After the Vietnam War many amputees returned home. Suffering the loss of limbs, there was a time when each of them had to wonder what their future would look like. Then came a time when they decided they were in charge of what their future would be.

In the Orlando Chapter of the Disabled American Veterans there are two living examples of not giving up. As a matter of fact, they went on to become outstanding.

Meet a Hero!

Jim Sursely
Jim recalls fire and noise erupting at his feet. But he doesn’t remember being thrown into the air by the explosion of a Viet Cong land mine. In fact, he didn’t learn the full extent of his sacrifice for America until he landed in an Army hospital in Colorado.

The explosion tore away both of Jim Sursely’s legs and his left arm. It could have been worse. If Jim’s clothing had not caught fire, cauterizing his gaping wounds, the young Army Staff Sergeant might have died. That’s why he says, “It’s an absolute miracle that I’m still around.”

Jim survived some of the most severe battle wounds ever, and the demons of fear, depression and despair came knocking on his door early on. But he remembers the tough love he got from other disabled veterans. As he built a successful real estate career, he always made time to give other disabled veterans the same kind of help that once meant so much to him.

That involvement led to Jim’s election to a one-year term as National Commander of the Disabled American Veterans. He continues to play an active role in the DAV nationally, in the state of Florida, and in his local DAV Chapter.

Jim with Dennis Joyner

Dennis Joyner
Dennis A. Joyner, Director and Secretary

Mr. Joyner served in the U.S. Army, 9th Infantry Division, in Vietnam. While on patrol in June 1969 in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, he became a triple amputee due to a land mine explosion. For the injuries sustained in battle, he received the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

Mr. Joyner served as National Commander of the 1.3 million-member-plus Disabled American Veterans (DAV) from 1983-84. During his term as National Commander, President Reagan named him the nation's Handicapped American of the Year, and he was honored as DAV's National Outstanding Disabled Veteran of the Year in 1977.

Mr. Joyner’s DAV leadership includes all elected offices in DAV Chapter 36 in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania; service as an officer in the DAV’s Department of Pennsylvania; and two years as DAV Department of California Adjutant. He served as President of the DAV Vietnam Veterans National Memorial Corporation from 1986 to 1998, when the corporation made a gift of the Memorial to the David Westphall Veterans Foundation. Currently he serves as Secretary-Treasurer of the DAV National Service Foundation Board of Directors, and in various leadership positions at the Department and Chapter level in Florida, where he now lives.

Mr. Joyner earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting at Robert Morris College in Pittsburgh in 1975 and an Associate of Arts Degree from the Community College of Allegheny in 1974. His professional experi¬ence includes four years as Westmoreland County Juvenile Service Center Accountant and as Fiscal Manager for the Westmoreland County Courts, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He was appointed Westmoreland County Court Administrator in 1979, responsible for administration of the eight-judge court system and all court-related offices. While living in Pennsylvania, he was appointed by then-Governor Richard L. Thornburgh to serve on that state's Vietnam Herbicide Commission. He was a budget analyst and manager for the Seminole County, Florida Office of Management and Budget from 1989 to 1998 when he was appointed Assistant Supervisor of Elections. Governor Jeb Bush appointed Mr. Joyner Supervisor of Elections for Seminole County, in January 2004. He retired in January 2005.

Mr. Joyner was appointed to the Disabled Veterans LIFE Memorial Foundation Board of Directors in June of 2008.

Jim Sursley with Gary Sinise

When the newly wounded come home, they have a lot of changes and challenges in their lives. Some of them are lucky to have a spouse like Jean Sursely and Donna Joyner supporting them but some have no one. We need to face the fact that not all families are strong or have an unbreakable bond. For them, it takes the rest of us getting involved in their tomorrows.