Spc. Willie Stewart, combat wounded, hailed as hero

Wounded warrior hailed as a hero
Fayetteville Observer
By Drew Brooks
Staff writer

Army Spc. Willie Stewart wants a cigarette, but he can't find the words.

Instead, the Fayetteville native turns toward his father and taps on his arm.

"Do you need a drink?" James Wilburn guesses.

A shake of Stewart's head and the guesses continue until, a minute later, Wilburn is lighting a cigarette in his son's mouth.

Less than a year ago, it would have been absurd to think Wilburn, who suffered a heart attack in early 2012, would be the one nursing his son.

But Stewart's 6-foot, 5-inch frame is now folded into a wheelchair at a rehabilitation center in Raleigh.

His body is a shadow of its once muscular, 250-pound self, the right half paralyzed, the left half still responding to months of slow, tedious rehabilitation.

The top of Stewart's skull has been replaced by a titanium plate. His memory is unreliable. His sight is gone, never to return. His speech is coming back, but at a pace that frustrates him. Stewart knows what he wants to say, but he can't get his body to respond.
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