September 22, 2024
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2 soldiers with ties to Maine injured in Iraq

A soldier from Maine who served in the 82nd Airborne Division is in rehabilitation in Florida after being paralyzed in a firefight in Baghdad, while a Green Beret with family in Maine remains hospitalized in Hawaii after being shot by a sniper.

Staff Sgt. Chad Staples, a Ranger with the 82nd Airborne, is considered paralyzed with a lower-back spinal cord injury, but doctors have said he has a 10 percent chance of recovery, said his father, Bob Staples of Dixfield.

Staples, who was injured on April 10, is undergoing rehabilitation at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital, Spinal Cord Injury Clinic, in Tampa, Fla.

Halfway around the world, Army Special Forces Soldier Kevin Johnson was being treated in a Hawaii military hospital after being shot in the shoulder on Mother’s Day in Iraq. Kevin’s parents are Les and Kay Johnson of Mechanic Falls.

The bullet missed arteries and there appeared to be no nerve damage, so he is expected to make a full recovery, said his brother, Brian Johnson of Auburn. Kevin Johnson was shipped to Hawaii after being treated at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.


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