Morning Sentinel
Soldier goes home to heal
By MECHELE COOPER
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel Sunday, February 11, 2007

AUGUSTA -- It's been an emotional roller coaster for Laurie Gray since the wounding of her husband -- Staff Sgt. Harold Gray -- by a roadside bomb in Iraq the day after Christmas 2005.

There was shock when she learned of his serious head and back injuries, and the fear and anxiety she's suffered during his long recovery in veterans hospitals.

Then, finally on Saturday, Laurie Gray was able to begin the healing process and do something she's been praying for.

Bring her husband home.

Harold Gray, a combat engineer with the 133rd Engineer Battalion, has been a patient at the Togus Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Although their life will be difficult -- Gray cannot move by himself or talk, although he does show signs of responsiveness -- friends and family are excited to have him home in Penobscot.

Saturday afternoon, Gray, 37, was greeted by well-wishers as his wife wheeled him down the hospital ramp to her handicapped accessible Dodge Grand Caravan in the parking lot.

"I'm very excited," Laurie Gray said after she secured her husband's wheelchair in the back of the Caravan and climbed into the driver's seat. "I'm just overwhelmed."

Harold Gray's mother, Claudette Gray of Holden, said she was excited to have her son at home with the family. She said Laurie Gray has made trips to Togus from Penobscot every day to be with her husband.

Gray's family is ready to take on his full-time care. Laurie Gray had a 16-foot-by-27-foot addition built onto their home specifically to meet his needs, according to her 22-year-old son, Shawn Allen of Penobscot.

Allen said his mother married Gray, a carpenter by trade, in 2004, right before he left for Iraq and that they had six children between them.

He said his stepfather has been responding to his mother in the hospital, so they have hope. Allen sat in his Ford pickup truck with "We Love You" painted in red on his back passenger windows.

He said his stepfather was an awesome father who loved his children more than anything else.

"It's nice to be able to bring him home," Allen said. "It's been a long time, roughly a year and a half. He had been (in Iraq) a year or more, and his term was almost up when it happened."

Allen said his stepfather received the Purple Heart and was promoted to staff sergeant on his return to the United States.

Sgt. Daniel Trojecki of Bangor came down to see his dear friend on the last leg of his long trip home. Trojecki, 30, served with Gray in Iraq and said they were roommates. "We're all excited," Trojecki said standing in the parking lot. "This definitely is not a somber moment. He's made it this far, and now he's finally going home."

Along with family and friends who stood in the freezing cold to pay their respects, a military caravan waited in the wings to escort Gray home. As they drove past the medical center, a wall of flags to honor Gray lined the roadway, many of them in the fists of Patriot Guard Riders. The Patriot Guard is a group of veterans and motorcyclists who attend funerals and honor members of the U.S. armed forces at the invitation of their families.

Jim Doherty, staff assistant at the VA, said more than a dozen fire departments were to meet the Gray family at town lines to escort them from Togus to Penobscot. Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Pattle of Harrison, Gray's squad leader in Iraq, stood with his wife and children and watched the family drive away with their military escort home.

He said Gray was a hard worker and passionate about his military life.

"I'm very happy for his family," Pattle said. "He wanted to stay in (the National Guard) until they kicked him out. He wanted to do 30 years. It was a big part of his life."

Pattle's wife, Teresa, said "He needs to be with his family around him now. That's the best thing."

Mechele Cooper -- 623-3811, Ext. 408

mcooper@centralmaine.com


Reader comments

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sam of Gorham, ME
Feb 11, 2007 8:07 PM
Blessings and prayers for Staff Sgt. Harold Gray and his family. Thank you all for his service and your sacrifices. I hope his recovery continues. His loving family is the best medicine in the world.report abuse

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