Fighting to Stay Active
Marines' Hearts, Warrior Spirits Help Overcome Loss of Limbs
Staff Sgt. Berle “Jack” Sigman
'Good luck, bad luck'
Staff Sgt. Berle "Jack" Sigman's first trip to Iraq was with Regimental Combat Team 5, F Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines. His unit deployed from Camp Pendleton, Calif., to Iraq from February to August of 2003.
"We rolled all the way into Baghdad that time," said the 29-year-old native of Stafford, Va.
He deployed for his second visit to the "sandbox" in August of 2004 to relieve 2nd Bn., 4th Marines, in Ramadi, Iraq. This time, he was a platoon sergeant with Weapons Co., 2nd Bn., 5th Marines.
His life drastically changed on Oct. 19, 2004.
That morning, his platoon, acting as a quick reaction force, responded to another platoon's call for an explosives ordinance disposal team to destroy an improvised explosive device. His platoon members had set up a protective perimeter and were returning to their vehicles, under the cover of an alleyway, when they received fire.
"A tactic that the enemy had started using (was) to pop out of a hiding place, shoot, then roll back in," Sigman explained.
The insurgent, armed with rocket-propelled grenades, was probably aiming for one of the trucks, Sigman said. "Good luck, bad luck – however you want to look at it – it was certainly good luck for my Marines. He missed the vehicle but hit me directly."
The rocket detonated on the staff sergeant's leg, turning him around and knocking him to the ground. From there, events become hazy for the Marine. He tried to fire his rifle and at some point called for the platoon's corpsman.
Sigman was taken to a forward surgical unit in Baghdad and this is where he was told doctors were going to remove the wounded leg. Within 13 hours, he was out of Baghdad and headed for Germany.
Though he spent a couple of days in Germany, he did not regain consciousness until he arrived at Bethesda Medical Center. The doctors at Bethesda performed the necessary reconstruction that would prepare Sigman to go to Walter Reed for the next step – prosthetics and rehabilitation.
He arrived at Walter Reed Dec. 1, 2004, Sigman said. He was in such a hurry to take the prosthetic with him when he went home for the holidays that he overdid it.
"I wound up rubbing a raw spot on the back of my (amputated) leg that made it uncomfortable to wear the prosthetic."
Having a goal to work on helps the recovery process, he said.
"I want to stay on active duty and retire. I know that it is going to be a long hard road," said Sigman who joined the Marine Corps in 1993. "The commandant and assistant commandant (of the Marine Corps) both told me that as long as I can pass a (physical fitness test), I can stay on active duty.
"But there is so much more that I want to do. I want to be able to function without any special treatment," he said. He knows that his only limitations are the ones he places on himself.
Sigman looks forward to the day he gets back to his unit in California and wanted to be out of the hospital by May or June. "I can't let all that good motorcycle-riding weather go to waste."
He plans to get back onto his 2000 Softtail Harley-Davidson as soon as possible. "I figure I probably want to be able to walk first. Once I can walk, then I ride.
He has already submitted his paperwork to the medical evaluation board to begin the process that he hopes will allow him to stay in the Corps.
Read on for 1st Lt. Charles E. Hayter's story.
