Story submitted by James Temme, 11/24/2010
Last week I had the honor to visit with a wounded soldier who is a patient at the Veterans Medical Center in Minneapolis. His name is Neal Claar. Neal is a family friend from my home town of Petersburg, NE.
On Sept. 16, while on guard duty, Neal was severely wounded by a teenage suicide motorcyclist in Afghanistan. Neal suffered extensive injuries to the left side of his body, including loss of his left eye, a compound fracture of his femur, partial hearing loss in both ears, partial loss of two fingers and multiple shrapnel wounds. Neal will be in the hospital for many more weeks. He is looking at extensive physical therapy and rehabilitation. Despite everything that this 21-year-old Marine has endured the past two months, he has a positive attitude and is in good spirits.
Lance Corporal Neal Claar and James Temme
If you would like to send Neal a card or note to help keep his spirits up during the holidays and maybe speed his recovery his address is: Lance Corporal Neal Claar, MVAMC-4J, 1 Veterans Drive, Minneapolis, MN, 55417.