Entertainment, Books - Marine Corps Times

Wounded reporter’s memoir offers view of amputee ward

“Blood Brothers: Among the Soldiers of Ward 57” may well become the touchstone for all writing on the experiences of wounded combat veterans who endure excruciating pain, amputation, reconciliation and acceptance of a new life.

But it is more accurate to describe author Michael Weisskopf’s richly detailed and personal story as a welcome window into the amazing work being done along the corridors of “Amputee Alley” — Ward 57 of Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

While riding with soldiers in a Humvee through Baghdad in December 2003, Weisskopf, a senior correspondent for Time magazine, heard a soft thud next to his foot.

Since no one noticed the grenade rolling around, he picked it up to throw it out. Then his right hand liquefied as everything went black.

Later, in the intensive care unit of the 28th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad, a nurse told him, “You’re a hero. You lost a hand and saved lives.”

Less than a week later, Weisskopf found himself in Room 5735 as Walter Reed’s 56th amputee to arrive since the Iraq war began. For the next three weeks on Ward 57 and during 18 months as an active outpatient, Weisskopf faced an unexpected set of health-related issues. Grappling with his physical and psychological wounds and physical therapy challenges, the author and three amputee soldiers — Master Sgt. Luis Rodriguez, Cpl. Bobby Isaacs and National Guard Sgt. Pete Damon — had to wade through the inevitable questions and self-doubt. Once the haunting questions were resolved, the four entered a new reality when they went home.

Weisskopf, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, wrote, “The idea of writing a book emerged after I left 57 and discovered that other war amputees were the only ones who really understood what I was going through.” His comrades “opened their hearts and minds to lead me through dark moments of suffering and shining breakthroughs of recovery.”

He depicts his friends with care and affection, while at the same time combining a wealth of rehabilitation detail with a clear sense of perspective.

Cartoonist Garry Trudeau has taken his readers inside the amputee ward, laying bare the physical, mental and emotional hardships of recovery, with his comic strip “Doonesbury.” Weisskopf does the same with his book — but his intimate knowledge of these challenges adds tremendous depth to the journey.

Of Weisskopf’s work, Trudeau wrote that “Walter Reed’s Ward 57 is often in the news, but always viewed from the outside in. ‘Blood Brothers’ gets it right because its author actually shared in the torments of the amputee warriors he befriended during his stay. Weisskopf’s story is theirs, with the unyielding pain, the acute sense of loss and the deep need to recover a personal narrative that makes that loss bearable.”

Blood Brothers: Among the Soldiers of Ward 57. By Michael Weisskopf. Henry Holt and Co. 301 pages. $25.

Don DeNevi is a freelance writer in California.