After the Blast, Rebuilding a Life

[unhappycamper]

After the Blast, Rebuilding a Life
November 26, 2008
Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO - Mary Dague hears the catty whispers sometimes. "So ugly," the strangers say when they think she can't hear.

The 24-year-old has bright green eyes, a quick smile, and on the days she gets her husband's help, perfectly applied mascara and blush.

But all the gawkers really see are her arms, each amputated above the elbow.

What they don't suppose - with no BDUs or standard-issue Army T-shirt to clue them in - is that this chatty young woman, who likes to wear a little black dress to fancy parties as much as the next girl, is an Army sergeant whose arms were blown off as she dismantled a bomb in Iraq. She was awarded a Purple Heart.

In uniform, she's often recognized as a wounded veteran and thanked for her service. Out of uniform, she pretends not to hear the careless whispers.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/after-the-blast-rebuilding-a-life.html?col=1186032310810