LEBANON, Oregon - May 31, 2010 - A former Oregon National Guard soldier and Purple Heart recipient is being billed for military-issued equipment he believes was lost in Iraq after he was shot and evacuated from the country.
"I remember grabbing hold of my leg and realizing I had blood on my hands," Gary Pfleider II said. "And from that point on, until I got loaded onto the Stryker, was just a big blur."
Pfleider said he feels disrespected by being charged for the missing items. After all, he said, he lost sight of the gear when he left Iraq and believes he should not be responsible for it now.
He doesn't remember much about getting shot in September 2007. He knows he was riding in a truck on patrol near Balad, Iraq. He knows he was taken to Landsthul Regional Medical Center in Germany and treated for a week at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., before arriving at what is now called Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington state. He knows he lost one-third of the muscle in his left leg and will have to wear a brace for the rest of his life.
