Iraqi War Veteran

I sat next to a Marine on the bus yesterday. I was on the way to Oakland to meet a friend for lunch and shopping. He was on the way to the Veteran's Hospital to pick up his file for a weekend session of training.

He was a handsome man. Beautiful blue eyes, rugged face, friendly. He was injured last fall when his vehicle hit a land mine. He says he does not know how the front wheel of the vehicle managed to miss the mine. Perhaps it swerved just enough out of the way, perhaps it was a time-delay. The man sitting next to him died when the mine exploded. He survived with massive damage to one of his legs and months of physical therapy.

What do you say to a man who has been through that? How do you comfort them? How does one, as myself, who was against the invasion of Iraq and the current war, say the right thing?

In this man's civilian life, he is a landscaper. I took his name and phone number and will try to convince J to save up some money and give him some work. It is the least we can do.