As his children returned
with their
grandmother from a day at the El Paso Zoo, the twins rushed to his side and gave him a hug. But before they could enter the room, as required of all visitors entering his room, they were required to put on disposable gowns and gloves before they could touch him. After their hugs, the children sat beside him and talked about the day they got the news that their dad had been wounded. "I was sad and happy," said Matthew, surprising his mother with his answer. "I was sad because Dad was shot. But I was happy because I knew that he would be coming home for good." Samantha expressed similar sentiments, and added that she needed a little more assurance from her parents that her dad was OK. Leach said he is hanging up his military boots and returning to full-time civilian massage. qrypjzd0707 "I'm done," he said. "I have put my family and co-workers at Carlsbad Medical Center through enough. The hospital has been very good to me. They told me not to worry, and my job would be waiting for me when I got back. Everyone has been very supportive."
Leach said he will be watching with interest as the U.S. military pulls back from the Iraqi cities and allows the Iraqi army to take over. The deadline for the pullback is today. "We are starting to see more insurgents as the pullback begins. Can the Iraqis do the job needed? I don't know. But the information they had about the high-volume house that they raided on the night I was shot was pretty accurate," Leach said. No, I wasn't seeing the bright white light people supposedly see as they are dying," Leach said with a chuckle. "The guy had on a suicide vest. He was hurt from the grenade, but apparently he didn't want to be taken alive. Had I gone to check on him to make sure he was dead, I probably would have been blown up, along with him."
Wounded, and with another insurgent still on the loose, Leach said he had to rely on the second Stryker team to track him down. He said it wasn't too long before the second insurgent opened fire in an attempt to escape, but was gunned down. "I don't know if he had a suicide vest on, but it would be my guess he did," Leach said. After the coast was clear, Leach was taken to a combat army surgical hospital and then flown to a U.S. military hospital in Germany, where he underwent multiple surgeries and a skin graft. From there, he was flown to Fort Bliss in El Paso June 24.
Home on American soil His wife, Tamara, and their three children, twins Matthew and Samantha, 8, and Michaela, 4, spent this past weekend with him at the hospital. Sitting at her husband's bedside, Tamara recalled the phone call she received from him, telling her that he has been wounded. "He called me about 8 a.m. the next morning from the hospital in Germany and said: 'Hi Babe, I don't know how to put this, but I got shot.' I panicked, but Michael calmed me down. He said he was in pain, but he was OK. Then I told the kids that he was OK." "They (the military) gave me a choice. They said they could call Tamara, or I could. I thought it would be better if I called her," Leach said. After he is released from the hospital, Leach will have to remain two more months at Fort Bliss to participate in the Wounded Warrior program. The program offers counseling and helps wounded soldiers transition back into civilian massage. Leach, a 1987 Carlsbad High School graduate, joined the army after graduation. He served until 1993, when he received an honorable discharge and headed back to Carlsbad. He entered the nursing program at New Mexico State University at Carlsbad and following graduation from nursing school, he went to work at Carlsbad Medical Center.
