GyBill
07-26-2005, 03:17
Wounded Marine appreciates support
By KEVIN KOELLING
Managing Editor
LEOPOLD - The Perry County Marine wounded in a car-bomb explosion in Iraq last month is recovering at home in Leopold and is grateful for the support she's felt from the Perry County community.
"I really appreciate what they've done for me," Cpl. Sally J. Saalman said Thursday. "Every little prayer, every get-well card; it has been great. I don't even know half of them. I do appreciate the Perry County people taking care of me."
While she said she's limited in what she can discuss with the media, Saalman explained her recovery is going well. She sustained second-degree burns on her back, third-degree burns on her hands and other minor injuries when she was thrown by the force of the explosion from a truck she and other Marines were riding in. The June 23 attack killed two Marines immediately and three others died of their injuries later.
"The doctoring in Texas was very good," she said of treatment she received at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. "They took very good care of me."
She's still on pain medication, she said, and wasn't sure how much longer she'd be on convalescent leave, but was upbeat as she spoke to The News by phone.
The 2002 Perry Central Community School graduate said while she's learned a lot since joining the Marines, "I'm pretty much the same person I was when I left." She still has "a year and some change" on her current enlistment, she said, and hasn't yet decided whether she'll re-enlist.
By KEVIN KOELLING
Managing Editor
LEOPOLD - The Perry County Marine wounded in a car-bomb explosion in Iraq last month is recovering at home in Leopold and is grateful for the support she's felt from the Perry County community.
"I really appreciate what they've done for me," Cpl. Sally J. Saalman said Thursday. "Every little prayer, every get-well card; it has been great. I don't even know half of them. I do appreciate the Perry County people taking care of me."
While she said she's limited in what she can discuss with the media, Saalman explained her recovery is going well. She sustained second-degree burns on her back, third-degree burns on her hands and other minor injuries when she was thrown by the force of the explosion from a truck she and other Marines were riding in. The June 23 attack killed two Marines immediately and three others died of their injuries later.
"The doctoring in Texas was very good," she said of treatment she received at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. "They took very good care of me."
She's still on pain medication, she said, and wasn't sure how much longer she'd be on convalescent leave, but was upbeat as she spoke to The News by phone.
The 2002 Perry Central Community School graduate said while she's learned a lot since joining the Marines, "I'm pretty much the same person I was when I left." She still has "a year and some change" on her current enlistment, she said, and hasn't yet decided whether she'll re-enlist.