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BamaCoast
We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who has supported us through this difficult week. Your calls, emails, prayers, and help have enabled us to have the strength we needed to face this new chapter in our life.

We would like to tell you a little about our experience as well as update you on our son. Going to Walter Reed was an experience we will never forget. If you have a child/grandchild that needs a hero to look up to there are many men & women that can fill that bill. They are not the sports stars or movie stars but these brave men & women who are willing to put everything on the line for freedom. This is something each of them chose to do knowing the price they could pay. I hope each of us never forget the price for freedom in our country as well as other countries seeking freedom. It is easy to take for granted the freedom we enjoy. Many before us paid that price for what we enjoy.

Walter Reed is an amazing experience. The staff was unlike any we have experienced. At any time you appeared lost or had questions everyone had ownership of helping you. Many companies could benefit from this organization. Doctors, nurses, anyone would stop and ask if they could answer questions or give us direction. We even had staff offer to take us into their personal homes when we were having problems locating rooms. Everyone owned the job of helping us in any way possible. They have an
amasing network of volunteers that work full time jobs then spend their
spare time working at Walter Reed helping the wounded soldiers and
their families.

We have seen many sobering realities this week. Most of the faces were very young men and women. What we didn’t see was regret, pity, depression, or anyone feeling sorry for themselves. Each would tell you they would do it again. We have seen a steel determination. The same fire is in each of their eyes. The same willingness to give of themselves to others. It is amazing! They are facing any new challenge they have, and yes there are many. These are true heroes. They welcome any new comers with advice, a smile and that same willingness to help them face their issue. How? I don’t know but it has to be the same inner strength that drew them to the military.

What were amazing are the parents, wives and husbands of these hero’s. If you look at these families you see pain for what their love one is facing. No one wants to see someone they love in pain. It is a tough experience. Yet you see strength, amazing strength. You can always find something to be grateful for even when facing times as tough as these. We are all so thankful they come home that we can work with the rest. Our hope & prayer is that we can be some of these amazing parents for our son.
Please do not forget to pray for each of these men and women. For each one we have seen there are many upstairs much worse off and in need of love and prayers of us all.

Now for an update on Kenneth Delon. We must start at the beginning. Before the plane arrives the staff prepares the front entrance with beds and bags of personal care items for the incoming wounded. A medical bus brings them from the airport to the hospital. The family is called into a room with the Red Cross where we are given updates. They let you know when the plane lands, and 5 minutes before the bus arrives and what will be done. Each one that is not critical is taken to the “cast room”, where they are checked from head to toe and bandages changes. The critical of course are taken up for care. We saw 8 beds, there could have been more we are not sure. The hard part is waiting to see them at long last. We were so shocked to learn of all the ones coming in we were the only family their to meet our soldier. If they can walk and talk we learned they are called a walkie/talkie.

We soon learned our son was the only walkie/talkie on the flight. Only 2 from the flight went to the cast room the rest were critical. The SGT that came to tell us how our son was doing described him in a way we knew it was him. She told us that he walked in and was very vocal of how much he disagreed with the rule we couldn’t greet him upon arrival. The cleaned up version is “I’ve been blown up in Iraq and it is dumb that I have to wait to see my family”. She informed us she would speak to him later about his tone/attitude with her. (she out ranks him) We knew this would be our son. A bit later she returned to the room we were waiting in to hand us his purple heart, coins and a double quarter pounder with cheese. He must have carried his Purple Heart & coins in his hand for the trip. Someone at the hospital visiting gave him the burger upon his arrival. The odd part is that it is just what he would have ordered had he had the chance. We were told he said, “hold on to my medal and don’t eat my quarter pounder I’m starving!” We knew at that point all of his spirit was there. He was born hungry.

We were told we could visit in his room about 30 minutes and then would be moved because his roommate had no one to greet him and they didn’t want him to be overwhelmed with the greeting our son was receiving. It ended up with us going to a family room from the start because he his roommate was processed quicker than they thought. What an emotional time it was to see him and touch him at last.

There were some things better than expected and some we weren’t expecting. His arm that had the skin graft looked great, better than we thought. His eye we expected, what we didn’t expect was the extent of ear injury and other injuries to his face and head. His neck wound was very large. We have learned it had to be attended to in the field, we are sure to save his life. We also learned he had died in the field and was revived by the medics. He had staples in his neck. He also had stitches in his eyebrows, his temple and his head. We didn’t know about these at all. His ear was a big shock. We understood it to be just his ear lobe, it was half his ear. His ear was damaged from the opening in your ear down. Shrapnel went through the back of his ear, burst his eardrum, and out in the cheek area. He still has a lot a schrapnel in both legs that they may not remove because of the risk of infection. The bottom of his ear had been detached. They had completed some plastic surgery with more to go. It was much worse than we had thought. Our hope is they will be able to do something for his hearing. His eye is still an uncertainty. He will not have sight in the eye for sure. We watched as they did the ultrasound. He has a large piece of metal behind his eye in what we are told is the worst place it could be. They completed a cat scan as well. They will not know for sure if the eye can be saved until they complete surgery next Thursday April 14th. We had been told when he was in Germany that it would be removed and it still may be. All of the white part of his eye is red from large amounts of blood. His brown pupil is all cloudy and white. Due to the large amount of blood still in his eye they are waiting to see how much will clear to better determine the damage he has. He has the normal emotions of having experienced such a horrible time. He is upbeat but on edge. He has a good bit of pain due to the metal in his eye. We are praying this will end soon. He is only looking forward to his future. He knows he will be fine and land on his feet. His fighting spirit is in tact.

We feel we have to end on a high note and tell you how he has been. All returning soldiers receive street clothes upon arrival. Monday he was dress in a very nice Nike outfit. We went to his room to visit him, he wasn’t there. We asked at the nurse’s desk where he was. The nurse said, “are you talking about the guy not dressed like a patient, that does not think he a patient who walks around all the time?” “The one we can’t find when we need to do things to him?” we knew that was our son. He was doing so well he felt being in the bed was a waste so he roamed the hospital. He was released on Monday to an out patient center like a hotel next door to the hospital. (Mologne House) He and his wife and Hannah are there. It is a very nice way for them to reconnect and recover. He has appointments starting tomorrow.

Kenneth has a long road to recovery but he is on that road. We are so blessed and feel God is still working in his life in the healing process. The prayers have gotten him this far and will continue to help him. Thank you again for each prayer you have and will pray.

Kenny & Renae Bosarge