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VETERAN STORIES
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On February 27, 2006 Marine Staff Sgt. Paul McQuigg and a convoy of nine tactical vehicles were crossing a bridge in Iraq when an Improvised Explosive Device was remotely detonated next to SSgt McQuigg's vehicle and searing shrapnel ripped into McQuigg's face, shattering his jaw, and causing severe lacerations of his tongue, neck, and face. With massive blood loss and a collapsed lung, SSgt McQuigg was stabilized by two Navy corpsmen at the site of the attack and subsequently medevaced to a nearby airbase. SSgt McQuigg survived with his life, but the fight to recover from the devastating injuries would be a struggle that continues to this day.
In the aftermath of the explosion, doctors in the field performed an emergency tracheostomy so SSgt McQuigg could breathe. Only later, at a hospital in Germany, could physicians assess the full extent of the Marine's injuries. Damage to his mouth and tongue made it impossible for SSgt McQuigg to eat and a feeding tube had to be inserted directly into his stomach. Additionally, SSgt McQuigg suffered a grade 3 concussion, decreased vision in his right eye due to nerve damage, nerve damage to his left extremities, and chronic head aches. When SSgt McQuigg, his jaw wired shut, regained consciousness in the German hospital, he wrote his first words, a question: "How are my Marines?"
SSgt McQuigg was flown to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD on March 6, 2006 where his initial two weeks of recovery expanded to six weeks as his injuries brought on a series of medical complications that would require numerous future surgeries. On April 18th, 2006 SSgt McQuigg, on convalescent leave returned to his home at Camp Pendleton, CA. He is divorced and lives in Base Housing with his four and a half-year-old son Sebastian, of whom he has a sole physical and legal custody. Fortunately, SSgt has had extensive physical, emotional, and spiritual support from his family and thanks to the support and assistance of a number of nonprofit veterans' support groups, like Step Up 4 Vets, his mother was able to leave her job to reside with her son and grandchild and serve as primary caregiver.
The this day, SSgt McQuigg maintains that it was better for him to have been injured than any of "his Marines." SSgt McQuigg came back to duty in April of 2007 and his desire remains to server our country in the Marin Corps as long as possible. Although he has returned to duty, SSgt Mcquigg continues to deal with the physical limitations and medical issues caused by his injuries which have required numerous additional surgeries.
SSgt McQuigg is but one of the tens of thousands of Veterans who have returned from battle with injuries requiring extensive recovery, convalescence and rehabilitation. The mission of Step Up 4 Vets is to partner veterans like SSgt McQuigg with assistance as they readjust and rebuild their lives.
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