DAV service team assists disabled Iraq war veteran.

Staff Sergeant Gene Westbrook couldn't move from where he had fallen. Out of the comer of his eye, he could see a dark stain spreading away from him on the floor. He didn't feel any pain and was strangely calm in the after-math of the mortar attack on the mess hall where he sat down to breakfast on April 28, 2004.

Westbrook had just finished giving thanks, when he heard mortar rounds exploding in the distance. Like many members of the U.S. military participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom, he was used to the sound, but this time, for some reason. he looked up. Before his mind could register why he was looking at blue sky rather than ceiling, there was a loud noise.

"I knew something was wrong with me," Westbrook said. "I couldn't move. I was sitting straight up, then started to fall and couldn't stop myself. I didn't feel any pain, but I knew something was frighteningly wrong. I saw, boots running everywhere, as if they were scared. I tried to yell, but only low toned screeches came out. I told myself -you are a drill sergeant; yelling is your business.' but I couldn't do any better."

In the chaos, Westbrook realized the dark stain spreading away from him was his own blood and knew he was dying.

One of the Iraqi soldiers he had been training for two weeks rolled him onto his back and assured Westbrook he would be OK. Several Iraqi soldiers gathered over their fallen American comrade, and one placed a piece of cloth over the wound in his right shoulder area and applied enough pressure to stop the bleeding.

Two American drill sergeants soon took over. With his still functioning left hand, Westbrook grabbed the hand of Drill Sergeant Harris. He told Harris not to let him die and to tell his wife, Peggy, what had happened. Harris assured him he would.

Harris refused to leave his comrade's side until Westbrook was placed on a table under the care of the medical staff at the field hospital. Before leaving, he told Westbrook to hold someone else's hand. A specialist took Westbrook's hand as Harris left.

The U.S. Army medical team went to work saving Westbrook's life. He remembered little more than waking up and being awarded the Purple Heart Medal, and was later told he had talked to his wife by telephone. She had known of his injury before the information had reached his unit at Fort Sill, Okla.

"Once my unit, 1st Battalion 19th Field Artillery, found out I had been injured in Iraq, they took fantastic care of my family," he said. "What the unit could not take care of my church, Grace Fellowship, was able to pick up and accomplish."

Westbrook was stabilized and transferred to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. D.C., where he underwent additional treatment and drifted in and out of reality recalling little about visits by family and friends.

It was nearly three weeks before he recovered enough to understand the two half-dollar sized pieces of shrapnel from the exploding mortar round had severely injured his lung and severed his spinal cord, resulting in complete paraplegia below the chest and partial loss of use of his right ant and hand.

By May 28, Westbrook had recovered enough to be transferred to the VA medical center in Dallas. Still on active duty. In remained in Dallas until July 14, when he was released to return to Foil Sill and his home in Lawton, Okla., to wait medical retirement from the Army. But a retirement would be some time wining, because somewhere in the complexity of the system Westbrook's medical discharge slipped through the cracks and into limbo. He didn't know it yet, but to rebuild his life, Westbrook was going to need help from the DAV an organization with along history of finding and fixing those cracks in die system.

At Fort Sill. Joe Bayones, a DAV Transition Service Officer (TSO), assists military men and women transitioning from the military back into civilian life. With a broad knowledge of benefits, services, and program available to veterans, Bayones interviews persons leaving the military, answers a variety of questions, introduces them to the DAV, and helps them initiate VA claim forms. In general a TSO makes the move from a productive military career to being a productive civilian much easier because veterans going it alone can easily be over-whelmed by the complexity of the VA.

TSO Bayones was interviewing an Army captain going through the Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) program at Fort Sill on Aug. 12, 2004, when he learned of Westbrook. The captain was an officer in Westbrook's unit.

"I didn't know Westbrook was in the aura until a claimant asked me if I knew him," Bayones said. "Come to find out. he was here and coming to a parade at Fort Sill:"

TSO Bayones contacted Westbrook later that day to inquire about his status and learned he was pending a medical discharge from the Army. He also met with Westbrook and Pegggy the next day and assured them the BDD office would check into his discharge status.

It took the rest of August, but eventually it was discovered the medical discharge paperwork at Walter Reed had not been sent to Fort Sill. The paperwork was immediately requested.

Now in a wheelchair, Westbrook began researching ways to get his home modified With no luck getting the Army to do it, he asked Bayones if Ore VA could help and asked about the VA Home Improvements and Structural Alterations (HISA) Grant.

Working with representatives of the VA. Bayones learned he could obtain a HISA grant application from the VA medical center in Oklahoma City, and picked an application up on Sept. 29, 2004. A contractor was contacted to obtain estimates for the modification the very next day.

On Sunday, Oct. 3, an article by Josh White about VA claim backlog was published in the Washington Post. Pan of Ore article disclosed how Westbrook was supporting himself, his wife, and throe children on regular military pay while waiting to receive more drat twice the amount per month following medical retirement and being awarded disability compensation. The article prompted an untold number of phone calls and "nails supporting Westbrook.

The following Tuesday Bayones met with Westbrook at the hospital to deliver the HISA grant application. During the meeting Westbrook assigned power of attorney (POA) to the DAV to represent and advocate on his behalf before the VA. The two men also completed the HISA grant application and got Westbrook's doctor to endorse the grant application.

Later that day the POA and HISA grant application were submitted to the VA. Supervisory National Service Officer (NSO) David Reeves at the DAV National Service Office in Oklahoma City also was notified that the DAV had received POA to represent Westbrook.

As NSO Reeves went to work on behalf of Westbrook. Bayones continued meeting with him. Bayones and Westbrook talked about vocational rehabilitation, the DAV and one of Westbrook's favorite topics, golf. Bayones told him about the National Amputee Golf Association (NAGA), funded in part by a grant from the DAV and gave him the Internet link for the NAGA. He also signed him up as a member of DAV Chapter 56 in Lawton.

Westbrook was promoted to Sergeant First Class, effective Nov. 1, 2004, and his retirement date was set for the last day of the year.

"I assigned the DAV as my representative because they really helped and were always able to give me straight answers. NSO Charles Lobdell in Muskogee and NSO Supervisor David Reeves in Oklahoma City were both informative and helpful," Westbrook said. "Dave Reeves actually took me to my first appointment at the VA hospital in Oklahoma City.

"The DAV was there to help again when I medically retired. Joe Bayones, a retiree himself, met me at my final out. He checked over my DD-214 and ensured me everything was correct and took a copy back to his office where it was faxed overnight to the VA regional office in Muskogee, Okla. He even helped me apply for TRICARE, the military health system."

With everything checked and double checked, after more than 17 years of service, Westbrook was medically retired from the U.S. Army on Dec. 31, 2004.

Several weeks later, Westbrook received the decision on his claim for service-connected disability compensation from the VA--an overall rating of 100% with special monthly compensation established, effective Jan. 1, 2005, his first day as a civilian.

"There are a lot of folks who have been hurt in Iraq and Afghanistan who don't know what is available or what is going on," Westbrook said. "There's a lot of help, and I encourage everyone to contact the DAV for the straight answers.

"When I was at Walter Reed, I stressed to everyone to take care of the people coming behind me. I think I made my point. I believe they are now better preparing others disabled in Iraq and Afghanistan to better handle what is ahead of them. And it's good to know the DAV is there for them all the way." The Gene Westbrook story isn't over. It is but one of many examples of how the DAV is building better lives for America's disabled veterans and their families every day from Puerto Rico to Hawaii, according to National Service Director Edward R. Reese, Jr.

"The commitment of DAV National Service Officers and Transition Service Officers to provide the very best advocacy, assistance, and representation possible to veterans disabled in service to our nation is unsurpassed;" Reese said.

"The Gene Westbrook story is a fine example of how TSOs and NSOs work together to better fulfill the DAV's mission of service in the expansive and complex systems that exist in and between the VA and Department of Defense.

"Communication, education, experience, determination, and action continue to put DAV service officers at the forefront of building better lives for disabled veterans and their families. It's the way we achieved success in the past; it's the way we are building still greater success today."