01/29/06 Army mom's intuition:

My son will walk again

Wharton soldier's condition improving BY LAURA BRUNO DAILY RECORD WHARTON --

Today, Abby curls into a ball on Margaret "Missy"Benoit's crossed legs and closes her eyes. The white and tabby shorthair first gave Missy the cold shoulder when the Wharton mother arrived home. After a four-month absence, Abby was wary. After two days, the cat was reconciled, making up for lost time. She didn't leave Missy's side for three hours last Sunday. The cat had to get her fill of attention in just five days, as Missy must leave again, returning to her son's bedside at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. During those four months away, Missy's 23-year-old son, Army Spc. James "Jimmy"Benoit, fought to stay alive. He underwent a startling 73 operations over 136 days to repair wounds he suffered during a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad. Jimmy was driving a 9,000-pound armored Humvee when it was struck on Sept. 8, 2005. The Humvee was reduced to rubble; Jimmy suffered wounds that will leave him permanently disabled. Hours after the attack, Missy got the call. The news left her numb, but determined. A fighter On Sept. 11, Missy flew 250 miles to Washington, D.C. She saw her son that evening and held his hand. Doctors told her he wouldn't pull through, the wounds were too severe. Missy said her son was a fighter and so was she. "They didn't think he would make it, they talked about amputating him at the trunk,"Missy said from her Wharton home last weekend. "I told them, "There is nothing wrong with his legs ...you fix him.'" Missy was told the injuries were ones no soldier had survived before. Today, Jimmy's wounds have been sealed and this month he began physical therapy. He has come far, but he still has a long way to go. Doctors still don't expect him to walk again, but his mother thinks they'll be wrong about that, too. "We will walk out the (hospital) door," Missy said. The attack blasted across Jimmy's backside. In order to save him, doctors had to cut him open from the front, leaving him with both his backside and front exposed and susceptible to infection. Before Jimmy got to Walter Reed, he had already undergone five surgeries. Once in Washington, he underwent surgeries on four consecutive days. As progress was visible, the surgeries were every other day. Must relearn everything Several months later, doctors have closed his chest and his backside. They have taken muscle from his thigh to cover his backside -- something doctors said they had never done before. He has to relearn everything from standing up and sitting to eating and putting on a shirt. "He gets stronger and better every week," Missy said, showing off photos of her son in his hospital bed. In the photos, Jimmy is stoic, exhibiting few signs of emotion. In just two snapshots there are hints of a smile. Missy nearly lost her son five times, but he keeps battling. "He's a miracle," Missy said. The family is buoyed by his small victories, such as recently when Jimmy managed to put on a shirt. It was no small feat, considering he couldn't raise his shoulders much and could only lift his head a few inches. Their spirits are also lifted by the many phone calls and visits from old and new friends. There is the daily reminder on Missy's wrist -- a camouflaged-colored plastic bracelet inscribed with the word "courage." The bracelet was a gift from Linda Odierno, the wife of Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno. The couple visited the Benoits at Walter Reed. Odierno, a Rockaway native, was in charge of the men who captured Saddam Hussein. Other military commanders, including ones stationed at Picatinny Arsenal, have visited. Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-Harding, checks in on the family. Frelinghuysen is in touch regularly, Missy said, helping with well-placed phone calls when they face roadblocks. Orders changed Frelinghuysen first got involved when Missy's oldest son, Army Pfc. David Benoit, 25, was scheduled to return to Iraq for a second tour of duty in late September. After repeated interventions from people such as Frelinghuysen and Odierno, David Benoit's orders were changed. In late November, he was reassigned to Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., allowing him to visit his brother often. The support at home has been equally gratifying for the family. Several fundraisers have been held, including events at her sons' former high school, Morris Hills High School; her church, St. John's United Methodist Church; and the Wharton Fire Department. Her youngest son, Marc Benoit, 18, who is living at home and attending college, has received offers for free meals from area restaurants. "'Thank you' seems like a simple word, but I don't know what else to say to all the people who have helped." Missy said. "We are just so appreciative." Soldiers in Jimmy's unit also call regularly, telling his mother stories about his bravery and his antics in Iraq. Jimmy had just five months left on his second tour of duty in Iraq when he was wounded. While in Iraq, he worked to train Iraqi police. Missy is not consumed by anger. Instead, she concentrates on helping her son recover. A single mother, she has taken a leave from her job to oversee Jimmy's recovery. Though she hopes the people who did this to her son "rot in hell," she still supports the war in Iraq. Unit successful Her son's unit was successful, she said. The Iraqis they trained are standing up for themselves and doing their jobs as police officers, she said. "It would be good to start downsizing the troops and let the Iraqis take over more,"Missy said. "You can't pull out all at once." Jimmy's unit is scheduled to come home this week. It is unclear when Jimmy will be able to go home. He won't be able to return to their Wharton apartment on the second and third floors of a house. They'll need handicapped accessible housing to accommodate his specialized wheelchair. The housing also will have to be pet-friendly. Missy promised her son he can have a Labrador retriever when he leaves the hospital. For now, he makes do with a small stuffed animal she bought him when he first arrived at Walter Reed. Named Spud, the little brown and white dog is a constant on his bed. If she knew, Abby would be jealous. Laura Bruno can be reached at (973) 428-6626 or lbruno2@gannett.com .