Seeking clarity from tragedy: A veteran's journey

Seeking clarity from tragedy: A veteran's journey
The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
By David Singleton
Published: November 10, 2013

SCRANTON, Pa. — The question raced through Staff Sgt. Earl Granville's mind in the chaotic moments after the roadside bomb in Afghanistan exploded five years ago, shattering the left leg he would ultimately lose.

"What the heck is going to happen to me now?"

Like many other men and women who have suffered grievous injuries in service to the nation, and whose sacrifice Americans will honor Monday with the observance of Veterans Day, Mr. Granville found the answers to that question have been slow in coming.

Especially after his twin brother, Joe, took his own life in 2010, clarity has been a process, not a revelation; healing a journey, not a destination.

Today, Earl Granville is 30 years old, a junior at the University of Scranton and driven to provide hope, comfort and inspiration to other veterans in distress, to those who may be asking themselves the question he asked that surreal day in June 2008.

"I just want to help people, you know, like so many people have helped me," Mr. Granville said. "I'd like to inspire, too, especially people with disabilities. That is very important because I never thought I would be where I am when I was lying on the ground in Afghanistan."

The broad details of Mr. Granville's adult life have been well-documented: Enlisting with Joe in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in 2000. The deployments with his brother to Bosnia and Iraq.

Volunteering in 2007 for the ill-fated tour of duty in Afghanistan. The heartbreak of Joe's suicide.
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