The Wyandotte news-herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1943-1963, 1944-10-12

l. - 81 { ~ u, D
Ernie Pyle Strand OF the
made the long trip with me Just for
company.
An Raj station wagon, driven by
a WAAF, met us at the station and
took us to a hospital out in the
country. The lieutenant had been
informed we were coming. We were
ushered into a small, sunny ward,
and the lieutenant began smiling as
we walked through the door. He held
out his left hand, for the right one
was still tender from bullet wounds.
When we got him out of his
plane that day almost a month
ago we knew that in a very few
days he would either be dead or
over the hump toward recovery,
because his burned back was
gangrenous, and gangrene works
fast.
Well, he was first taken to Q
clearing station of the American
Both division. He was very drowsy
from morphine. When he began to
come to, all he could hear was a
lot of chatter in German, with voices
answering to Hans, Herman, etc.
The drowsy lieutenant figured
that he must be In German hands
after all. But 1t turned out that he
was hearing wounded German pris-
oners talking to each other.
The Heutenant's back respond
ed to treatment. The gangrene was
cut away, and it was seen that he
would pull through. He was moved
next day to another field hos
pital, and then three days later
he was evacuated to England by
air.
You may remember that when we
got him out of his wrecked plane
he asked the date and said his we'd
ding anniversary was only three
days away and he hoped to make
it back to England for that. He was
nearer right than we had thought.
He arrived in England one day after
the anniversary.
After that he was in an American
general hospital for Is days. AS
his wife says, he was treated like
81 lord" He was their prize pa
tent. And then he was removed to
the Raj hospital where he Is now
and will be for a long time to come.
His wife and baby come to see him
twice a week.
His present condition is this:
His back is still painful but is
healing excellently. Unfortunately
he has to lie on it, because Of his
shattered leg being in a rack.
His right hand, on which q bullet
had cut the fingers to the bone, is
out of the bandage now but Is still
very tender.
His right leg, which was not
wounded ut ALL Is giving him
trouble. Because Of lying for eight
days in one position, with the leg
bent and pressure on certain
nerves, he has lost control over
his foot. He can move the leg all
right, but the foot just flops
around. The doctors think Il VIII
eventually be all right.
His left leg Is the worst problem.
AS you may recall, his left foot
was pinned under the rudder bar all
that time, and the calf Of his leg
had a shell hole In it. We couldn't
tell just how bad the wound was
when we got him out.
Well. the wound was apparently
caused by a 20-millimeter shell
which exploded inside his leg. It
completely destroyed about an inch
Of both bones In the leg. There was
simply a cap there, with no bone
whatever.
He has already had three opera
tons on this leg, and he will have
many more. They will have to
graft in new bone and then give it
months to grow and strengthen. The
doctors say it will be 10 months to
a year before he can walk, but that
eventually he should have 80 per
cent use of his leg. That means he
will probably walk with limp, but
he will walk.
As his wife wrote me, In beauti-
full letter:
1--WE have our fingers crossed to
get him home for Christmas. After
that guess he and Clare Margaret
can teach each other to walk"
Clare Margaret Is their baby, now
nine months old.
At the hospital the Raj pilot and
I enjoyed living over again the
climax to those eight days Of i'm
prisonment in his wrecked plane in
France.
When we rescued him that day I
had not wanted to badger him with
trivial questipps. so there were some
things I didn't get straight. and
other things I had 81 |gbtwhich he
was mixed up on.