Personal Narrative: I Walk Without A Cane

For ten years Mike could not walk without a cane. Seeing a young man in his twenties hobble around with a cane regularly elicited questions from strangers in public. Mike was always polite and answered their questions, preferring to keep the answer short – "I was injured in the military". This inevitably lead to this stranger thanking Mike for his military service and, more often than not, further questions. Though initially, I didn't see the nearly indiscernible cringe, as I witnessed this interaction more and more over the years I spotted how uncomfortable it makes him. Mike was injured in the military, and he was deployed in Iraq, but he was already injured when he arrived in the combat zone. Not every soldier's story is the Hollywood …show more content…
After being assigned to grounds clean up and fence duty (walking the fence line around the base) he spoke with his commander about his profile. She informed him "the profile was just the doctor's recommendation and they had final say." She then assigned him to grounds cleanup "until further notice." Mike was in constant pain at this point and his leg had begun twitching uncontrollably. He was unable to eat and managed to lose 30 pounds since arriving in Iraq. Three weeks after returning to Iraq from Germany, the medical staff was finally able to convince base command to send him back to the …show more content…
Convinced he would be given time to heal and return to Iraq to support his unit, he began to regain some hope. Unfortunately, when his command became aware he was still seeking medical treatment, and as Mike puts it "worried he may attempt to file for a medical discharge," he was ambushed. He had a meeting with the Company Commander, Company First Sergeant, Brigade Commander, Base Commander and the Post General. They presented him with two options – sign a discharge for other physical or mental conditions not equal to a disability or risk a dishonorable discharge. Mike took the honorable discharge and shortly after returning to Washington, began a 10-year battle to receive adequate treatment from the VA Medical system for permanent nerve damage caused by repeated and prolonged