By Greg Corrales
“The individual activity of one man with backbone will do more than a thousand men with a mere wishbone.”
- J.H. Boetcher
A British veteran of the Afghanistan war who lost one of his legs at the knee in a minefield explosion has been unable to convince local officials that he deserves a handicapped parking sticker because they think he “might get better.” Johno Lee, a former lance corporal in the Royal Army, told the London Daily Mail newspaper that the Nottinghamshire County Council has rejected him three times for a disabled parking pass in what he assumes is a misunderstanding.
“They possibly did not quite understand the situation and that I thought it unlikely my leg would grow back.” Lee said. The British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association is now trying to help Lee get his handicapped sticker.
Just days before deploying to Afghanistan, three Marines met up in Long Beach, for what would likely be their last home-cooked meal for a long time. Before the food ever hit the table, however, they would find themselves locked in a life-or-death struggle to save a police officer and take down a knife-wielding assailant.
Pfcs. Anthony Rolden, 18; Ryan Shuey, 20; and Christopher Smith, 20, combat engineers assigned to 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, were enjoying a light-hearted evening on Rolden’s porch. Joined by a fourth friend, Army Pfc. Abner Marquez Lopez, 20, they reminisced about the days before they joined the service. Suddenly, a single gun shot cut their conversation midsentence. In an instant, training took over and all four were battle-ready.
“It was pretty much a reaction. We didn’t really have time to think about it, no time to discuss. We heard a gun shot and the police yelling for help, and ran towards it,” Shuey said. When they arrived on the scene, they saw a police officer wrestling for control of his gun with another man, identified as Junior Antonio Fonseca, 19, one of Rolden’s neighbors. The police officer was spurting blood from the side of his head and ear, where he had been stabbed three times with a knife, according to a Long Beach Police Department spokesman.
The police officer had been investigating reports of a man brandishing a knife at residents, when Fonseca emerged from an alley and rushed him. Fonseca had his hands on the officer’s weapon by the time the Marines and soldier arrived on the scene. In an instant, Rolden and Shuey tackled Fonseca to the ground using their Marine Corps martial arts training. After Rolden and Shuey subdued Fonseca and handcuffed him, Smith began administering first aid to the officer.
On October 7, the four service members were honored by the City of Long Beach. During the ceremony, Mayor Bob Foster and Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell thanked them for their assistance. Chief McDonnell stated, “We are very thankful that close by was a person from the United States Army and three Marines. Had this intervention not been done, it is anybody’s guess how this would have turned out today, so we are extremely thankful for their willingness to get involved.”
When a bomb exploded under Captain Dan Luckett’s Humvee in Iraq two years ago, blowing off one of his legs and part of the other foot, the first thing he thought was: ”That’s it. You’re done . No more Army for you.” But two years later, the 27-year-old is back on duty, a double-amputee fighting in one of the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan, near Kandahar.
Technological advances have been crucial: Artificial limbs today are so effective that some war-wounded can return to active duty as fully operational soldiers. The Pentagon says 41 American amputee veterans are now serving in combat zones worldwide.
The Justice Department is battling to save a federal law that makes it illegal to lie about being a war hero, appealing two court rulings that the law is an unconstitutional muzzle on free speech. The fight could be carried all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it would face an uncertain fate, legal analysts said.
“This is a Supreme Court that is friendly to parties asserting speech rights and skeptical about restrictions on those rights, said Kannon Shanmugam, a former Justice Department official. The Stolen Valor Act makes it a crime punishable by up to a year in jail to falsely claim to have won a military medal, whether or not an imposter seeks financial gain.
San Francisco Police-Fire Post 456 meets on the second Tuesday of every month at the War Memorial Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue, second floor. Try to attend a meeting. We would like all veterans to join the post. Contact me at gc1207@comcast.net or at Mission Station. Happy holidays!
