Vice President Dick Cheney swears Cpl. Jerrod Fields as he re-enlists in the Army Friday, July 21, 2006, at Fort Stewart, Ga., as his wife, Kirra Fields, watches. Fields was wounded by an improvised explosive device in 2005 while he was serving in Iraq with the 3rd Infantry Division. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)
FORT STEWART, Ga. – During a rally for more than 8,000 Georgia troops, Vice President Dick Cheney administered the re-enlistment oath Friday to a 24-year-old Army gunner determined to remain in the ranks after losing his left leg last year to a bomb blast in Iraq.
Flanked by risers crowded with his fellow 3rd Infantry Division troops, Cpl. Jerrod Fields of Chicago raised his right hand before Cheney and pledged to serve another four years. The Army approved Fields to remain in his cavalry unit after he passed his physical fitness test with flying colors, including running 2 miles in 14 minutes, 9 seconds with a prosthetic leg.
“I wasn’t going to let the bad guys, the enemy, affect a decision I’d already made,” said Fields, who was wounded by a roadside bomb while driving a Bradley armored vehicle near Rustamayah, Iraq, in February 2005.
Fields opted to have his leg amputated below the knee to improve his chances of returning to active duty. He said Cheney offered words of personal praise offstage.
“He just told me job well done,” Fields said. “He was happy that I decided to stay in and said just to keep pushing.”
Cheney traveled to Fort Stewart, about 40 miles southwest of Savannah, to thank Army troops of the 3rd Infantry and the 48th Infantry Brigade of the Georgia National Guard for their service in Iraq.
The 19,000 soldiers of the 3rd Infantry finished their second combat tour in December. The 48th Brigade returned in May after deploying more than 4,500 citizen-soldiers to Iraq for a year. It was the largest deployment of Georgia guardsmen since World War II.
Cheney promised the troops the U.S. will keep fighting in Iraq until it can declare victory, and urged Americans not to become complacent nearly five years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
`We have only two options in Iraq: victory or defeat. And I want you to know, as members of the United States military, the American people do not support a policy of retreat of defeatism,” Cheney said. “We want to complete the mission, get it done right and return with honor.”
The soldiers cheered raucously for Cheney after waiting two hours on the Fort Stewart parade grounds, where the July sun pushed temperatures past 90 degrees. Troops dabbed sweat from brows topped with black berets. And Cheney quickly shed his dark suit coat after taking the outdoor stage.
Fields, who has returned to the field training with his unit, said he was “amazed” to be re-enlisted by the vice president.
But the 3rd Infantry’s commander, Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, said the young soldier had earned it.
“He’s gone through eight legs because he’s so difficult and demanding on that artificial leg,” Lynch said. “I’ve got to tell you, I’m inspired by him as an individual and I’m inspired by him as a soldier.”
Wild Thing’s comment……..Thank you, Cpl. Fields! Prayers for all our troops and keep them all safe.
All the men in my family have served our country. They have represented every branch of the service. One of my Uncles was injured in the Battle of the Bulge and had to have one of his legs amputated. Some of our soldiers have reactions to this in that there is an irritation over the years from the prosthesis they use, my Uncle Ed was one of them. Medicine has changed a lot since back then and when I see a wonderful story like this one about Cpl. Fields I am not only proud of him, and proud to be an American but also grateful to God that he is doing so great.
The courage that all of our soldiers have is something that fills my heart with such pride and gratitude. Letting them know what their service means to us, to America and even to the world. The troops today as in past wars are making history, they are living it every second of the day.
What a wonderful country we have, there is nothing like it on this earth and we owe it to our Veterans and our troops today.