SOLDIER DECLARES HE'S `100% ABLED'.Byline: Jeff Wright Jeff Wright can refer to:
Sgt. Johan Christian Bagge may not have legs, but don't call him disabled. "I'm 100 percent abled abled Adjective having a range of physical powers as specified: less abled, differently abled , because when I get my prosthetics I'm going to be walking, running - everything is going to be close to the same," Bagge said Tuesday in a brief telephone interview from his hospital bed at Brooke Army Medical Center Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio is part of the United States Army Health Services Command. It is a University of Texas Health Science Center and USUHS teaching hospital and contains the Army Burn Center. in San Antonio, Texas “San Antonio” redirects here. For other uses, see San Antonio (disambiguation). San Antonio is the second most populous city in Texas, the third most populous metropolitan area in Texas, and is the seventh most populous city in the United States. As of the 2006 U.S. . "I want to try to do everything I used to do," he said. "I'm not going to limit myself and say I can't do that anymore just because I have fake legs." Bagge, 23, was the most severely injured among 10 Oregon National Guardsmen wounded June 3 when two roadside bombs exploded near Kirkuk, Iraq, about 100 miles north of Baghdad. Bagge's right leg was amputated above the knee and the left leg about midcalf. The founder and drummer of a local Christian rock band, Bagge lived in Eugene for about 3 1/2 years before registering for active duty with the National Guard last fall. (His brother, Levi, of Springfield, is still in the band, Calling Simon.) Bagge was first taken to Walter Reed Army Medical Center Walter Reed Army Medical Center, major hospital complex in Washington, D. C., and Forest Glen, Md.; est. 1923 and named for U.S. army surgeon Walter Reed. It is composed of seven units including a general hospital and a research institute. There are several thousand beds. in Washington, D.C., but was moved to the medical center in Texas two weekends ago. The burn center at Fort Sam Houston Fort Sam Houston, U.S. army base, 3,300 acres (1,335 hectares), S Tex., in San Antonio; headquarters of the Fifth Army. San Antonio, long a military center, donated land in 1870 for the site of a permanent military post that was constructed from 1876 to 1890 and is highly regarded, as is its program for soldier amputees. Bagge is accompanied by his bride, Melissa Eagy Bagge - the high school confidants from The Dalles dalles pl.n. The rapids of a river that runs between the steep precipices of a gorge or narrow valley. [French, pl. of dalle, gutter, from Old French, from Old Norse dæla.] married March 9 when Bagge was on leave - and his parents. Missionaries Doug and Pam Bagge were serving in Bolivia when they got the news about their son's injuries. Bagge said his long-range plans include going back to college - and getting back to wind-surfing, snowboarding and mountain biking mountain biking Sports medicine A sport in which participants use specialized bicycles to navigate rough, steep trails covered with unforgiving rocks Injury risk Concussions, fractures, death. See Extreme sport, Novelty seeking behavior. . But a return to the drums, he said, may be a lower priority. "I need stability, a constant paycheck, and I'm not sure that can be provided by playing in a band," he said. Unless infections or other complications arise, Bagge has completed all his necessary surgeries. He says he still battles nausea and takes a host of medicines that can make him groggy grog·gy adj. grog·gi·er, grog·gi·est Unsteady and dazed; shaky. [From grog.] grog . He's been told he can expect 12 to 18 months of rehabilitation at Brooke - though he hopes to become an outpatient by next month. His wife is already looking at apartments in San Antonio and, she said, anticipating "our first time living together as a married couple." Melissa Bagge said her husband, who goes by his middle name of Christian, is determined to get better and doesn't dwell on the negatives. `I remember him saying, `I love wearing flip-flops.' That's pretty much the only thing I've heard him say he won't be able to do.' His mischievous spirit shined, she said, when she visited the medical center earlier this week. `He said, `Hop on my wheelchair - let's go for a ride.' We kind of got in trouble. He wanted to go down this dirt path.' The newlyweds' long-range plans include adopting one or more children, she said. In one of his letters home, Bagge wrote about seeing so many needy children in Iraq. "He has a big heart for kids," Melissa Bagge said. She said she and her husband have known each other for 13 years, and were "walking partners" at high school graduation in 2000. But their friendship didn't blossom into love, she said, until she accepted an invitation to visit him in Washington, D.C., in November, before his departure for Iraq. He kissed her for the first time, she said, then told her, "I think I've always loved you and just didn't know it." He later wrote a letter to her parents - her dad, Alan Eagy, grew up in the Halsey/Brownsville area - explaining that he'd fallen in love with their daughter. When Christian suggested they get married during his leave home in March, Melissa initially balked balk v. balked, balk·ing, balks v.intr. 1. To stop short and refuse to go on: The horse balked at the jump. 2. . "But then I thought, why wait? My heart's not going to change. I already know I want to be with him the rest of our lives." Melissa Bagge, 23, said she fell for her husband's sense of humor Noun 1. sense of humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humour, humor, humour , considerateness, confidence, "bright blue eyes" and strong religious convictions. "We're both strong in faith, and we both had been praying he'd come home safely," she said. "But we don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. God's plans for our lives - we may find out in heaven what this all is for. I know good things are going to come out of this despite what happened." CAPTION(S): Sgt. Christian Bagge with his wife, Melissa, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center earlier this month. Alan Eagy "I'm not going to limit myself and say I can't do that anymore just because I have fake legs." - SGT. JOHAN CHRISTIAN BAGGE, INJURED IN IRAQ |
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