Injured soldier, Daniel Perry, and family struggle with
emotions, finances
By Betsy Avelar Staff Writer
Palo Alto – The explosion that injured Spc. Daniel Perry was just the beginning of his family’s financial and emotional struggles, and to his parents it brought home the true cost of freedom: their son’s life.
Daniel Perry could not remember the incident after he awoke at the Palo Alto VA Medical Facility. He had already undergone numerous surgeries in a hospital in Germany, and to this day deals with permanent hearing, vision and memory loss, and brain trauma that limits his ability to recall events.
“Tomorrow I wont remember this,” said the 2004 Gilroy High School graduate referring to a recent interview.
Daniel Perry and two other soldiers were on duty in a wooden bunker directly atop two railroad lines in Ramadi, Iraq when they came under fire from someone in a car coming up a nearby road. The attack was a diversion used to draw attention away from the railroad tracks where a cart filled with explosive devices was coming from.
One of the soldiers was injured from the shots that came from the car, and while the two other men attended to him, the railroad cart from behind slammed into the bunker and exploded. The explosion sprayed the soldiers with shrapnel, and the bunker collapsed on all three, including Daniel Perry, burying them with sandbags and leaving them trapped under flames.
Perry’s arm was spotted underneath the sand bags after help came; he was unconscious.
“There wasn’t anything that could be done for Dan … I just sat on top of the hill holding Dan’s head up so he could breath until the medics arrived,” wrote Army Spc. Jeremy Flynt in an e-mail to Perry’s parents Tim and Linda Perry.
The explosion rattled and twisted his brain causing his memory loss, he said. His mother worried that Dan would not remember her.
“One day he opened his eyes and he said ‘Mom,’ and he pulled me to him and he kissed me,” said Linda Perry. Everyday she waited anxiously to see how much more of her son she would get back. “If I don’t have Dan, I don’t want anything.”
But she does have Dan, as well as numerous household bills, insurance and travel expenses.
“We were going to lose our house,” said Linda Perry as a result of staying with her son through recovery.
While at the Palo Alto VA Medical Facility, Linda and Tim Perry stayed at a nearby hotel while their son received medical attention. The $118 stipend they received from the army was not enough to pay for their hotel room each night.
“Our credit card has been absorbed with that bill,” said Linda Perry.
Now, Linda Perry stays at the Fisher House, a home for families of veterans and service members that cannot stay in the hospital or afford to pay for hotel expenses while their loved ones go through rehabilitation programs or surgery. Tim Perry had to return to their Connecticut home because he could not afford to stay in Palo Alto. Tim and Linda Perry moved to Connecticut in May 2005, six months before their son was sent to Iraq. Their older son Jason Perry, 27, also lives in Connecticut.
“I really need to get back to work, we’ve exhausted all of our money and our insurance runs out the end of July,” said Tim Perry who would prefer to be with his wife and son in Palo Alto. The situation has been hard for the family emotionally as well. While Tim stays at home away from his recovering son and lonely wife, he is in search of a job and does yard work at his home to keep his mind off of the situation. Perry receives calls from his son everyday, and three times a day from his wife.
“Last week I was suffering and my husband was depressed,” explained Linda Perry as a result of the distance between herself and her husband. “In a way this tears apart the whole family. I’m torn right now.”
In the future, the Perry’s do not want families to be embarrassed when asking for assistance in time of need.
“This has been such a humbling experience,” said Linda Perry when she realized that she had to ask for financial help. Perry hopes that the government will financially aid the families of those veteran’s injured for this country.
“I hope that in the very near future a system can be developed, possibly by the government, for the families of injured military men and women, so that they can stay by their injured military member’s side throughout their entire recovery, without having to worry about their own personal finances.”Â
Through the struggles, the family has received financial help and spiritual growth.
“If I ever didn’t believe in God before, I do now. I wondered ‘Why God’? But when you hear the story of how Dan got injured, and how he survived – God was there.”
Tim Perry refers to Dan’s survival as a miracle.
“He was so close to not making it. It’s a miracle that he’s here. It’s made me realize that there’s a lot more to life than making money and having things. Your family is always going to be the number one in life.”
The family has requested some financial help, and organizations that have helped out were familyfund.org., Saint Mary’s church, the Fisher House, the Coalition to Salute American Heroes, and Impact Player Partners.
“Without this financial help, we would have been unable to pay our bills at home, and bills that we have incurred on this road of recovery with Dan,” said Linda Perry.
Local organizations such as the Gilroy Police Officer’s Association, and the Gilroy Police Reserve Officer’s Association have also stepped up to the plate.
“We need to remember those that have made significant sacrifices, and this young man almost lost his life supporting our country and the freedoms that we all enjoy today. I think this is the least we can do to help one of our community members who has given so much for our freedoms,” said Police Sgt. John Sheedy. “Giving his family a little financial assistance during this rough period in their life is a very Gilroy kind of thing.”
There will be a purple heart ceremony for Daniel Perry Sunday, July 23 at Saint Mary’s Church in Gilroy with a reception to follow.
If you wish to lessen the burden for the family, donate to the Perry family trust fund and go to the Web site www.heromiles.org or donate through the St. Mary’s church in Gilroy. You may also contact Linda Perry at pe*********@***oo.com.
Betsy Avelar is an intern who attends Gavilan College. Reach her at 847-7216 or ba*****@************ch.com.
