America's North Shore Journal

The last time Sgt. Christopher A. Burrell was in Iraq he was pulled from a burning vehicle in Sadr City, a neighborhood in Baghdad. A tourniquet applied by another Soldier saved his life, but a nurse here at the Air Force Theater Hospital had to break the tragic news—his left leg was gone, taken by an explosively formed projectile. Now, almost a year and a half later, and after months of rehabilitation and physical therapy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Burrell returned to Iraq with five other amputee combat veterans as part of Operation Proper Exit. “I don’t remember much, but I remember my nurse,” Burrell said, remembering the incident, which occurred December 2007. “Shelly. She was an angel, there to comfort me when I was in a … Read entire article »