Bruised, not Broken
by Steven Walters
Staff Sgt. Jarod Behee sorts through the stacks of paperwork that surround him on his desk. It’s an all-too-common routine for him during his stay in Balad, Iraq. Soldiers aren’t sent to Iraq to do paperwork; they are sent there to fight. Jarod doesn’t expect to see any time in real combat unless he volunteers to assist another unit. That’s why today is going to be different. Today, Jarod is going to break up his boring, paperwork-filled morning and head out on a real combat mission.
Jarod is planning to leave with some engineers, but they move out earlier than expected, forcing him to change his plans. Instead, he asks some soldiers if he can join them on a personal-security-detail mission. They agree, and Jarod quickly puts on his battle dress uniform, better known as BDUs. The entire uniform weighs more than 50 pounds, which makes it tough to maneuver in. Worse than the weight of the uniform, is the heat in Iraq. The heat is so intense that many of the soldiers carry small packets of saline solution that, when mixed with water, replenish the salt their bodies lose from sweat. Most of the time, the soldiers just drink the solution, which tastes like warm salt water. It’s particularly hot on May 25, 2005. Jarod doesn’t know the temperature, but he knows sometimes it can reach more than 120 degrees.
Jarod is quiet as he rides in one of the gun trucks.
While others around him talk and joke, he sits in the corner, concentrating on his mission. The lieutenant colonel has a meeting in Bayji, Iraq, with the police, and it’s the unit’s job to protect him.
The four trucks arrive at the police station, and the unit is deployed, creating a perimeter around the trucks so the soldiers can establish fields of fire and still protect the lieutenant colonel. Jarod and two other soldiers are ordered to take positions on the roof. This is essential to ensure security. One of the soldiers takes the most exposed position and lets Jarod and the other man decide where they want to position themselves. Jarod takes a well-covered position in the back right corner of the police station.
Twenty minutes pass. The soldiers engage in casual talk and sometimes-silent boredom. Suddenly the talk is interrupted by a sharp crack, as if someone dropped a concrete block from one of the nearby construction sites. The soldiers on the ground take cover beside the four trucks. Nobody knows what has happened, but a few minutes pass and the soldiers return to their positions, writing it off as a false alarm.
On the roof, however, the same sound is heard again, along with the sound of a rifle hitting the concrete. In the corner, Jarod slumps to the ground. One of the soldiers on the roof rushes toward him. Quickly, the rest of the unit is alerted that Jarod has been hit. Three minutes pass as the soldiers on the roof begin medical treatment. The soldiers on the ground panic, and military discipline begins to break down.
Every member of the team who can be spared runs up two flights of stairs to form a perimeter around their fallen brother. Some soldiers level their weapons over the roof while two others carry Jarod down the stairs. As he is put in a waiting Humvee, medics are alerted, and a helicopter is sent to Forward Operating Base Summerall in Bayji. The last soldier on the roof carries everything that was left behind, including Jarod’s rifle and kevlar helmet.
Jarod suddenly wakes up, looking as if he has been asleep for days. He opens his eyes and looks around. Some soldiers notice he has bitten down on his tongue to the point that it has almost been severed off. Nobody knows where the shot came from. It must have been a sniper. The soldiers look at Jarod, who still lies motionless. His helmet tells the whole story. A single bullet has pierced it. Jarod has been shot in the head.
JAROD GREW UP in Glendora, Calif. Like many boys, he enjoyed sports, especially football. He excelled in it, becoming the starting quarterback for Glendora High School. He was tough, never the type of person to show pain, which was evident during his senior year when he broke his wrist and continued to play. He was an all-American boy who loved his country. He always wanted to serve in the Army and said he would do anything, including die, for America. He thought it was an American’s duty to serve and fight for his country.
In March of 1999, Jarod was finally able to fulfill his dream when he enlisted in the Army. After his basic training
at Fort Sill, Okla., he left for Heidelberg, Germany. But before leaving for Germany, Jarod had some personal business he had to take care of. He married his girlfriend, Marissa, in 2000. One year later, Marissa gave birth to a baby girl, Madison. The Behee family was living the American dream.
In February of 2003, one month before his enlistment was up, Jarod’s unit was sent to Iraq. During his eight-month tour in Baghdad, he worked with the command sergeant major in Combined Joint Task Force 7. Once his tour in Iraq and his enlistment in the Army was complete, Jarod joined the Army National Guard Reserves. His goal was to get on active duty with the National Guard, but in November 2004, he was sent to Iraq for his second tour of duty. This time he would be working in an office for the 1st Battalion, 148th Field Artillery in Balad, Iraq. Jarod would be given a chance to fight for his country again. He would be given another chance to show what he was made of.
THE RIDE BACK to the base is hectic and wild. As the Humvee reaches the outskirts of town, a sweep team races by; they will be looking for the shooter. A gunner on the Humvee speaks to Jarod. The entire team urges him to hang on. The gunner screams at Jarod to squeeze his hand, and, to his surprise, he does. The ride is finally over, and Jarod is quickly moved to the waiting medics, who have just enough time to change him out of his field dressings before the helicopter arrives. Jarod’s injuries are severe, and the medical staff doesn’t know if he’ll survive.
Because of the extent of his injury, it’s evident to the surgical team in the aid station at Summerall Base that
he needs to be rushed to Walter Reed Army Medical Center
in Washington, D.C. The medical staff must quickly remove the bullet and stabilize Jarod, who is close to death. Doctors prepare him for the long flight to America by immobilizing his head.
Miles away, Marissa receives a phone call about her husband’s injury. Upon hearing the news, she boards a plane to meet Jarod at the hospital. As soon as Jarod reaches Walter Reed, he must be prepared for his next surgery.
Even though he is no longer biting down on his tongue, it continues to swell. There is still no guarantee he’ll survive and, at this point, he is lucky to be alive. The doctors are able to stabilize him, but blood vessels begin to fail in his brain. Marissa feels helpless, knowing there is nothing she can do to save her husband except wait and pray.
It’s June 1, and Jarod undergoes his first angiogram Doctors inspect his blood vessels and find a spasm in one of them, which means the vessel has collapsed, and an angioplasty must be performed to try to clear the clot. A doctor inserts a catheter with a balloon at the tip. The balloon reaches the artery and inflates, compressing the plaque and enlarging the inner diameter of the blood vessel. His second surgery is complete.
It’s June 5, two days after a second angioplasty and a day before Jarod’s tracheotomy. Jarod has gained over 40 pounds of fluid. He swells up like a balloon about to burst. As hopeless as the situation seems, Marissa has not left his side. She finds hope in a fortune cookie from the hospital cafeteria that reads, “God will give you anything you want.”
The tracheotomy begins, and a small incision – just large enough to allow a tracheotomy tube to be inserted – is made along Jarod’s neck to expose his windpipe. The procedure is a success, and Jarod begins to breathe easier. Doctors place a feeding tube in his stomach, and Marissa can finally look at her husband’s face without countless tubes blocking her view. Jarod is beginning to respond to Marissa, opening his eyes and squeezing her hand. His fourth surgery is complete.
After a fifth surgery to drain fluid collecting in the right side of his brain, Jarod’s vital signs remain stable. Tests are run to check the seizures in his brain, and doctors find they have diminished. Doctors remove a part of Jarod’s skull to compensate for swelling that will inevitably occur from an aneurysm. As the fluid is drained from Jarod’s head, a portion of his skull sinks, causing it to look like a bruised piece of fruit.
Marissa still feels helpless but receives comfort from the parents of a Marine. Marissa can see that the Marine’s injuries are similar to Jarod’s; however, his body is in much worse condition. Even with their son in danger of losing his life, the parents stand right by Marissa’s side. Later on that day, four more soldiers are sent to the Walter Reed ICU. It’s unclear whether they’re from Iraq, but the chaotic scene is now common for Marissa. But she stays strong knowing that they served their country.
On June 13, doctors discover a fungus in Jarod’s blood. It most likely caused the fever he had been suffering the past few days. His temperature is over 100 degrees. Doctors perform a simple procedure to fix the problem.
It’s June 15. Doctors find another aneurysm next to the first one. A more complex surgery will have to be performed. The surgery begins with a doctor drilling an opening in Jarod’s skull. The doctor spreads apart his brain tissue to place two titanium clips on the aneurysm and remove 10 to 15 pieces of bone fragments from his brain. The surgery, Jarod’s sixth since his injury, lasts six hours.
For now there is no way to tell what type of effects the surgery has caused, but Jarod continues to show signs of improvement. He is able to move his right arm and wiggle his toes. Later in the week, the bandages on his head are removed. It takes one hundred staples to close the incision.
Marissa, who has not left his side, continues to nurse Jarod. She notices that Jarod is able to respond to the words she says. When Marissa asks for a thumbs up, he gives it. She asks him to squeeze her hand; he does. She asks him to lick his lips and kiss her finger, and he does. Jarod, however, still hasn’t moved his left side.
It’s now July 12, and tomorrow Jarod will finally leave for
his rehabilitation at the Veteran’s Affairs Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif. The medevac plane is by no means glamorous; it’s completely gray inside. There are no windows, and the smell of diesel fuel fills the entire hold. The soldiers are stacked three high, strapped into their gurneys so they won’t fall out. Most of the injuries are broken bones, nothing as serious as Jarod’s. He lies motionless, his entire body covered in sweat from the unbearable heat, which is only relieved when the plane reaches higher altitudes. Finally they arrive at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif.
The next journey for Jarod and Marissa is a difficult one. Their daughter, Madison, sees her dad for the first time since he left for Iraq eight months ago. She is frightened at first, but each day she grows more comfortable around him. After a few days, she brings in her tiny scrubs and toy medical instruments to take care of her daddy. She feeds him applesauce, cleans his face and gives him a kiss on the forehead.
Jarod is able to get a wheelchair and can begin to work on strengthening his arms and legs. Marissa would love to be able to talk to her husband, but he never responds. She asks him if he wants to talk; he writes, “yes” on a piece of paper. She asks him why he doesn’t say anything; he writes, “I don’t know.” Still, Jarod is showing signs of physical
improvement. He is able to eat three meals a day, can stand with some assistance and can take off his shirt using his right arm.
Four months have passed since the bullet pierced his head, and Jarod still can’t speak. Marissa has had countless conversations with him, hoping he will talk, but he says nothing. Marissa asks Jarod what the time is: no response. She then asks Jarod where he would look to find out what time it is, and this time Jarod mouths the word “clock”.
Finally, on Sept. 8, Jarod begins to speak. His first word is whispered, and Marissa has to strain to hear it: “Maddy.” Jarod whispers his daughter’s name. As time passes, they engage in full conversations, and Jarod is able to tell Marissa what he remembers. He doesn’t remember being shot or most of the treatment he received, but he is thankful to be alive.
Jarod is transferred to Casa Colina Hospital in Pomona, Calif., to finish his rehab. He is able to move from his bed to his wheelchair using a cane, but his left leg is still weak. His conversations with his wife and daughter have given everyone hope that he will continue to make progress in his recovery. To everyone’s amazement, Jarod begins to walk on his own. Despite this encouraging news, trouble still lies ahead.
IT’S NOW Thanksgiving, and Jarod is able to spend the entire day with his family, having received his first eight-hour pass to leave the hospital since being admitted. Marissa enjoys seeing her husband sitting on the couch and spending time with his family and friends. However, the joy of the day later turns to sorrow as Jarod has a seizure. His heart rate rises, and his blood pressure falls. Nurses must rush him to the emergency room.
Jarod recovers, and on Nov. 30, 2005, he receives
a Purple Heart. The ceremony is a special moment for Jarod. He watches as the color guard members march and shoulder their weapons. Jarod is presented the American flag and is able to stand up and salute the sergeant major when he
receives the award. He holds back tears as the crowd cheers for him; he is recognized as an American hero. Jarod’s optimism has never wavered, and his response to anyone who asks him about his rehab is, “The miracle continues!”
It’s Jan. 18, 2006, and Jarod must have a cranioplasty, which will put acrylic plates in his head where portions of his skull are missing. While doctors consider the surgery a success, Marissa has trouble seeing her husband in so much pain. But Jarod regains movement on his left side, despite doctors’ fears that his left arm could have been permanently paralyzed.
Jarod endures his eighth surgery after the neurosurgeon finds fluid between his skin and the plates. Jarod will have to
have another shunt placed in his head to drain the fluid. Once the surgery is finished, Jarod is sent for more X-rays. Upon seeing them, his neurosurgeon doesn’t like the placement of the shunt. He decides to put Jarod through a ninth surgery. Despite another seizure that day, the surgery is a success.
Even with recurring seizures, Jarod continues to progress. Brushing his teeth, shaving, bathing and other small chores aren’t difficult for him anymore. Other actions that are more difficult, such as walking for long periods of time, are harder to achieve. The first few outings with his family require a wheelchair. Doctors believe Jarod will never be able to walk in a community environment again, but their prognosis doesn’t diminish his spirit.
Life isn’t exactly the same for the Behees. Jarod isn’t the same person he was before the injury. Marissa finds that he doesn’t like the same things he used to, such as certain foods or drinks. His personality has also changed. He often uses profanity in front of guests or their daughter. Although this is common for people with the type of injuries Jarod has sustained, it’s still an adjustment for Marissa. But she understands that she will have to adapt to the new person her husband has become.
Marissa has found herself in a new position in her family. She has stepped into the leadership role, caring not only for Madison, but also for Jarod. Even with the improvements, Jarod still gets confused and often makes bad decisions, and he doesn’t always use common sense. While Marissa is always there to help him, she hopes that Jarod can learn things on his own and be able to adjust.
This series of struggles has allowed Jarod to grow emotionally. He accepts his new life, and appreciates people more, especially his wife and daughter. It’s been hard for Marissa to watch Jarod and Madison together at times. Madison will often pull away from her father when he tries to give her a hug. Since the injury, Madison has had trouble showing emotions in front of Jarod. Slowly, she is beginning to adjust to her new life with her father. While she is dependent on her mother, going to her with her problems instead of Jarod, Marissa still believes that Madison sees her father as her best friend.
Jarod has persevered through his injuries and is
beginning to live a normal life. Although the doctors did not believe Jarod could walk for long periods of time, he has proven them wrong. He is able to enjoy outings with his family, such as going to the mall, Sea World, the beach and Disneyland. Although some things still pose a challenge for him, the progress he has made impresses people.
Marissa and Jarod started a nonprofit organization called Heroes With Head Injuries. With this organization they hope to let the public know about head injuries that soldiers receive and get them the best help possible.
Jarod continues to struggle with everyday activities, but it doesn’t dampen his will to learn and survive. He doesn’t regret the things that have happened to him or his decision to join the Army; “I love this country. I would give everything for it,” he says. “Including my life.”
If not for the nine surgeries and the love of his wife and family, he just might have.