From the intro to a feature in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution January 11:In the family room of the Ingram residence in LaGrange, a framed piece of paper with a second-grader’s handwriting says this:
“I think Richard is very courageous for being in the war in Iraq. His mother works at my school. He lost his arm in an explosion. He went to a hospital in the United States. He had to have an artificial arm and use it. I want to be like him when I grow up.”
Since that July day in 2005 when he lost his arm in a roadside bombing, Richard Ingram’s (pictured) only goal has been to chase a lifelong dream of being the finest warrior he can be.
Last month, Ingram became the first severely wounded soldier from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to go on to become an officer. The freshly minted lieutenant, once an enlisted scout in the National Guard, leaves for Fort Benning on Jan. 11 for training that will prepare him to lead soldiers in battle — possibly in Afghanistan.
“I might have to try a little bit harder than everyone else, but I get the same results,” he said. “I’m in better shape now than when I had two arms.”
In breaking new ground, Ingram, 25, serves as a role model not only for that 7-year-old boy who wrote an essay on courage at LaGrange Academy but for all the nation’s disabled veterans, especially amputees.
But don’t try to talk about inspiration with Ingram. He despises the spotlight and remains unfazed by his influence on others.
“All I want to do is lead soldiers,” he said.
The Army’s Human Resources Command said 3,722 men and women belong to the Wounded Warrior Program, soldiers classified as severely wounded with at least a 30 percent disability. They include those who have lost a limb, suffer from traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, paralysis, permanent disfigurement, severe burns or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Spokesman Lt. Col. Richard McNorton says 113 soldiers in the Wounded Warrior Program continued in the military, either as active duty or reserve. A majority opt for medical retirement, as Ingram did. But he was the first to restart a career as an officer.
Col. Michael Pyott, a military science professor at North Georgia College & State University, where Ingram studied finance and completed the ROTC program, said Ingram was a trailblazer. “We’d never seen such a case before. Everyone recognized it was special.”
Pyott said it took a lot of legal wrangling to figure out how to let a disabled Army specialist earn his commission.
But, Pyott said, if anyone was worth the red tape, it was Ingram.
Ingram proved to the Army that he is physically able to lead a platoon.
With the help of a suction-cup attachment on his high-tech prosthetic arm, Ingram can do 70 push-ups in two minutes, 30 more than required in the Army’s basic physical fitness test. He can compete in obstacle courses and races with the Army’s fittest. His weakness surfaces only in tests that require both arms to pull the body upward, like rope climbing.
Ingram likens his life to a long, grueling infantry road march. You carry a heavy load, your feet ache, your hands swell up — and all you think about is the next step.
“There’s no point in living if you’re not living your life,” he said. “I’m just glad to be alive.”
Those were the same words Ingram uttered to Staff Sgt. Joe Brown while the two shared a room in a Baghdad hospital more than three years ago.
Brown was on patrol with Ingram in Yusufiyah, a restive town south of Baghdad, when their Humvee hit a hidden bomb. The heavily armored vehicle lifted 10 feet in the air, rolled over and smashed Ingram’s left arm. Brown suffered a broken jaw, broken ribs, bruises and lacerations.Brown cried when he learned Ingram had lost his arm. But when he heard Ingram say he was just thankful to be alive, Brown knew he would be fine.
“I haven’t worried about him since,” Brown said.
