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Written by K. Tracey Fabian
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Thursday, 01 December 2011 15:13 |
 Every parent of a deployed soldier dreads the moment when the phone rings and the voice on the other end breathes life into the recurring nightmare. For Lorrie Chudley, of Swoyersville, August 13, 2011 was a surreal day that will stay with her for the rest of her life.
A home healthcare provider, Chudley happened to stop home between patients when the call came from Afghanistan. For a moment she assumed that the call was her son, Navy Construction Electrician 3 Aaron Chudley. But, she soon realized that Aaron’s commanding officer was on the other end of the line.
“I started saying, ‘No, no, no,’ and his commander quickly said, ‘No, he’s alive, but he’s been shot,’” Lorrie recalled.
Aaron, 22, a member of the NM Seabees 1 based in Gulfport, Mississippi, later recalled that his unit had been going from forward operating base to base in southern Afghanistan, building SWA huts– wooden structures used for offices and housing– and hooking up generators. Aaron was working on a HESCO Barrier, a special wall filled with dirt, designed to protect soldiers from enemy fire. He was on top of the first layer putting on the second when he was shot in the back by a Taliban sniper.
The commanding officer told Lorrie that the bullet had penetrated Aaron’s back armor, then hit the front armor plate and exploded back into Aaron’s stomach. She questioned whether her son had the right armor protecting his back.
“They did send him a plate for the front, but not the back,” Lorrie explained. “The bullet went in the back and there’s an indent in the front plate where the bullet hit and exploded.”
Aaron still isn’t clear on what happened after he was shot. He knows he was airlifted by helicopter to the local hospital, but isn’t sure of exactly what happened next.
“They kept him pretty sedated for the following few days because of the pain,” Lorrie explained.
The Seabee was airlifted to Kandahar Hospital, where he had his first surgery, then went on to the hospital at Bagram Air Base for his second surgery. He spent a short time at two hospitals in Germany, finally landed in Washington, D.C., and was taken by ambulance to the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia.
It was there, in his hospital room, that Aaron was awarded the Purple Heart on August 17, 2011. The medal is awarded to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who are wounded or killed in action against an enemy of the United States.
“It’s been a mind-opening experience,” Aaron said of his injury and being awarded the Purple Heart.
His mother, who was there, said he was very humble as he received the honor.
Since leaving the hospital to recuperate at home, Lorrie noted that Aaron hadn’t talked much about his ordeal. Other family members noticed that Aaron was quieter than before his injury.
“Just in the last week and a half,” Lorrie said in late September, “he’s started to deal with it. He’s healing physically, now he’s dealing with the mental pain.”
The hospital told Lorrie not to push Aaron and provided sound advice and information.
He was scheduled to return to his unit in Mississippi at the end of September. Lorrie was hopeful that being around his fellow soldiers would give him the chance to open up more about what happened and help him heal. She noticed that it was much easier for Aaron to talk to soldiers who visited him in the hospital than civilians.
Lorrie asked Aaron’s commander what happened to the Taliban sniper who shot her son. She was told that the sniper had been responsible for the deaths of many U.S. soldiers.
“Though he wouldn’t say if they got the sniper, he did say that the Army provided a VERY BIG fire response to Aaron’s shooting,” Lorrie noted.
Aaron doesn’t think he’ll have to go back to Afghanistan for the remainder of the current deployment, though he may have to go in the future. If he is called, he will go.
“I’m proud to serve,” he said.
With one year left on his contract with the Navy, Lorrie hopes that is not the case. She feels it’s time to bring all of our soldiers home.
“It’s awful. We send these kids to them whole, and they send them back broken– either physically or mentally,” Lorrie stated. “The thought that Aaron could possibly be sent back frightens me. All I can say is that I’m praying. My prayers were answered this time.”
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