April 16, 2007 - 12:00AM
Gunny turns difficulties into way to help others
CHRISSY VICK / DAILY NEWS STAFF
DAILY NEWS STAFF
It should have been just a routine run for Gunnery Sgt. Ken Barnes.
But a convoy in November 2004 in northern Iraq left him as one of many war-wounded.
Though he saw his fair share of struggles with a severe hand injury that left him unable to go back to his job, Barnes was never one to give up. He took a difficult situation and found a way to serve others.
Along with Lt. Col. Tim Maxwell, also injured in 2004, the two decided to form the Wounded Warrior Barracks to fill a void Barnes and others would experience as injured single Marines.
The barracks now provides the camaraderie needed to help heal the wounded and unite them.
Barnes, 37, who has served for 19 years in the Marine Corps, is now the staff non-commissioned officer in charge. He helps oversee the 60-plus Marines and sailors that live there and does so with an empathy few others could share.
But it wasn't a place that was easy to get to.
On Nov. 2, 2004, Barnes and his Marines were headed north in Iraq to a place they hadn't "seen action" in for a month. Barnes was located in the center humvee of five as the convoy drove past an old truck.
"I turned around to see if there were any wires, anything laying next to it when it blew up in my face," said Barnes, who was riding in the turret.
He was the only Marine injured and suffered shrapnel to the face, right arm and left wrist.
"I felt like I was punched in the face," Barnes said. "My hand was numb and felt like it was asleep. When I looked down, I had this huge hole in my wrist."
He shoved his thumb in the hole to pinch off the artery that had been severed. It took three tourniquets to get the bleeding in his wrist to stop. He then noticed his upper lip was hanging down.
He was medically evacuated to Baghdad before enduring a number of surgeries there as well as in Germany before being flown to Bethesda, Md.
"That's where I found out about how bad my hand was damaged," Barnes said. "The artery was gone, the wrist bone shattered, the tendons severed in my fingers."
He would undergo seven surgeries in 14 days, a time when he says he learned a lot about wounded warriors. As the senior enlisted injured Marine in the hospital, he soon found his role - and realized the struggles an injured service member faces.
It would pave the way for his service at the Wounded Warrior Barracks.
"I found out really fast that I absolutely did not want to be alone," he said. "They put me in my own room as a gunny, when I really wanted to talk to other Marines."
He wandered the hospital, greeting Marines and encouraging them along the way.
"It was a good feeling to be able to visit with them - just make sure they got everything they needed," Barnes said. "Their attitude was so positive. They just wanted to get back to the fight."
Barnes was no different.
Once back at CampLejeune, he wanted nothing more than to return to work. But the severity of his hand injury wouldn't allow it.
"I can't point or move my fingers independently," he said. "My range of motion is limited."
Barnes had to teach himself to pick up paper and bottles and how to tie his shoes with just his pinky finger - the only one he has feeling in. He can now button shirts and cut meat, but it was something he had to learn over months of practice.
"You have to adapt," he said. "You don't know how much your left hand does until you lose it. It gets really frustrating because you can't gauge your recovery in days."
Recovery must be gauged in months, he reminds Marines and sailors.
Though Barnes has now reunited with his wife Melissa and lives with her and their two children Dean and Megan in Hubert, at the time it was a struggle living alone.
"That's when I closed down a lot," Barnes said. "You kind of start to close yourself off and feel sorry for yourself."
That's when he realized a great need.
After a lot of work, Barnes and Maxwell got their wish. On any given day, both can be found at the Wounded Warrior Barracks serving the injured.
It's a job Barnes doesn't need full use of his hand for.
"Now I've got a role," Barnes said. "I'm part of something again. Now I can do something for the Marine Corps."