A young woman who was injured in Iraq earlier this year struggles to regain her life after she lost an eye, hand, and leg in an enemy attack that gravely injured her and killed some of her fellow soldiers while they were on assignment. She is finally back home in her native Texas, and she just got out of the rehabilitation hospital.

My name is Maria Elena Melendez. If my name doesn't sound familiar, it's because I have been in the hospital for months, struggling to pick up the pieces of my shattered life.

I was in Iraq, as a part of "Operation: Enduring Freedom", trying to help my fellow American soldiers in combat, when one one fateful day, my life was changed forever, and now, because of it, I am a totally different person, and I will never go back to as I was prior to being injured. I was on assignment somewhere in Mozul, Iraq, trying to protect fellow soldiers from enemy fire, when somebody threw a grenade at the Humvee we were in; and the thing blew up. One minute, we were on this isolated piece of desert, and the next...there was a terrifying explosion, a deafening blast, and then nothing. When I awoke some time later, I was surprised to find myself in a hospital, in incredible pain, and my body broken and bleeding badly. The pain was, as I remember, intense, worse than any pain I had ever felt before in my life; and it was so bad I thought I was going to go out of my mind.

Well, it turned out that my injuries were life-threatening; and it turned out that I lost an eye, as well as my one hand and leg (both on the one side of my body). But as bad as my injuries were, and once the novelty and shock wore off, I found out that I fared better than my friends: they had been killed in the blast that had maimed me, and for a very long time, I was angry, bitter, and I couldn't believe that such a horrible thing would happen to me. But it did, and I spent months in the hospital, recovering from my injuries, and then receiving therapy once I was strong (and well) enough. I was in Iraq for about a month, before I was flown to Germany, where I spent an additional two months; and then I went to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC; and it was only during the summer when I was finally able to go back to my home in Texas. I have been in Texas ever since, but I have been in a rehabilitation hospital, undergoing yet more intensive therapies, learning how to use my prosthetic leg and hand, and also adjusting to life with one good eye. It has been a challenge and a very hard and long road, and I know I will have yet more trials and tribulations ahead of me as I continue to adjust to being disabled; but I have since learned to (sort of) forgive those people who intentionally meant to hurt me, and I am bound and determined to get my life back...maybe go to school, or even become a journalist or a writer. I have been doing a lot of writing lately in my journals as I lay recovering in the hospital, and it has given me a way to get rid of any bad feelings that I have held inside for a long period of time. I still have my good days, as well as my bad days, and I am often still wracked with severe, ongoing pain; but I am determined to overcome what has happened to me, and I want to be able to give hope and encouragement to others who have faced similar experiences as I have. No, it isn't easy by a long shot, but I have learned to appreciate all the things I still have left, and I am grateful that even though I came home, a different person from then when I went into the Marines, at least I CAME HOME! Many of my fellow soldiers HAVEN'T.

~To be continued.~