Part 5: Soldier’s charitable spirit survives

‘Far from ready to leave’
Other changes had left Deierlein feeling unmoored since his return to the States. From his vantage point, he was distressed by plans brewing among politicians to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq as quickly as possible.

“In my opinion, we are far from ready to leave this place if we want to leave a stable, functioning democracy,” he wrote in one of his e-mail updates from Baghdad about six weeks before he was shot by the sniper. “I do not want to see more American soldiers die, but we simply have to finish (properly) what we started.”

Deierlein hasn’t wavered on that issue despite what happened to him. He said it upsets him to think about leaving Iraq in the condition it’s in now, and he’s worried about how a U.S. pull-out would be perceived by the Arab world.

“History will show that we made a series of miscalculations and Saddam wasn’t an imminent threat. But we did go over there,” he said. “Is the right thing to do to leave when the job is half complete?”

Deierlein’s parents, who are crazy about their son and incredibly proud of him, disagree with him on this point.

“There’s going to be civil war there whether we leave now or a hundred years from now,” said Tom’s father, Bob Deierlein, who served in the Marines.

“I do think that it’s time for us to go,” Tom’s mother, Kitty Deierlein, added quietly.

A stray bullet, a little boy
Two months before the sniper’s bullet pierced Deierlein’s left hip, a 2-year-old Sunni boy suffered a similar experience in the same neighborhood of Baghdad. He and his family were on their way to a funeral in the Sunni enclave of Adhamiya when gunfire erupted.

A stray bullet sliced through the little boy’s left hip, smashing his thigh bone and leaving him unable to walk. His frantic parents tried in vain to find medical care for him in Baghdad.

“The local hospital either wasn’t able or wasn’t willing to treat him,” said Capt. Bill Billeter, Deierlein’s friend and fellow soldier. “They just sewed the leg up and told the family good luck.”

Desperate for help, the boy’s parents put aside their misgivings about Americans and discreetly approached Billeter, who was with Deierlein that day.

“Can you do anything to help?” the mother asked through an interpreter.

Billeter scrambled to line up assistance for the little boy — a process that took months of finagling and required the help of many people in many time zones. Maj. Phil McIntire, commander of Billeter’s and Deierlein’s civil affairs company, worked in the medical field for years in his home state of Michigan, and he started making calls. A surgeon, other doctors, an anesthesiologist and physical therapists with the University of Michigan Health System agreed to treat the little boy free of charge.

The process of actually getting the boy from Adhamiya to Michigan was daunting, though. Passports, visas and safe passage to Jordan and then to the United States had to be obtained. Beyond that, travel expenses for the boy and at least one of his parents would total thousands of dollars.

By this point, Deierlein was back in the United States recovering from his own gunshot wound. Billeter and McIntire contacted him. They knew he was always looking for ways to help Iraqi children. Throughout his recovery, he had continued to run his charity, using his laptop to arrange for a massive shipment of children’s clothes, shoes, school supplies and stuffed animals to Baghdad in January for Billeter, McIntire and others to distribute.

Deierlein immediately agreed to use money donated to the foundation to cover travel expenses for the boy and his mother.

When the little boy’s parents learned that this group of U.S. soldiers had gone to so much effort for their injured son, they were overwhelmed. The boy’s father began to cry.

“I feel like I am talking to an angel from heaven!” he told the interpreter. “I feel like I’ve been talking to an angel!”

The boy, now 3, arrived in Michigan in April and underwent surgery in early May. He is still recovering in Michigan with the hope that he will be able to walk again — something that would not have been possible without such extensive medical care. (For the safety of the boy and his mother once they return to Iraq, MSNBC.com is not publishing their names or photographs.)

“The mother told me something interesting as she was on her way to the airport,” Billeter recalled. “Months before this happened, she distrusted the Americans and saw us as the enemy, but now she trusted us as much as her own brother. …

“That was a success story in an otherwise pretty bleak situation. … When you do happen upon something like this, it’s something to remember.”

First pitch
William Haven, Deierlein’s physical therapist, was at the baseball stadium. So was Holly Oswald, the bartender from the pool bar at the Doubletree Hotel in Tampa, where Deierlein had been living for the past couple of months. Other wounded veterans and their families made the trip from Tampa as well.

Deierlein walked to the mound. His balance was fine. His gait was quick. The expression on his face was stoic.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this West Point graduate and Airborne Ranger … was severely wounded by enemy fire, which fractured his pelvis,” the announcer said. “After months of hospital care he is on the mend and, by the way, out of the wheelchair and walking. Baseball fans, please welcome and salute United States Army Major Thomas J. Deierlein!”

Applause rippled through the audience. A drum roll began.

“Major, it’s your pitch.”

He stood on the mound, alone. He paused for a moment, then threw the baseball.

It was high and outside. The catcher strained for the ball, but he couldn’t get it.

“A little bit outside, but that’s all right!” the announcer was saying. “Our thanks to Major Deierlein ...”

Deierlein broke into a huge smile. He knew it wasn’t perfect. But it would have to do.

MORE FROM CHARITY BEGINS AT WAR

Charity Begins at War Section Front

Part 1: From executive suite to Baghdad Journal: Called back to active duty — ‘No joke’ Day 2: Minimal training for a huge task Journal: Readying for ‘very dangerous job’ Part 3: Venturing ‘outside the wire’ Journal: ‘ThunderCat6’ arrives in Baghdad Part 4: It all comes back to garbage Journal: Goodbye Baghdad; hello bed rest Part 5: Charitable spirit survives Journal: A new foundation Charity Begins at War Section Front   Add Charity Begins at War headlines to your news reader: