Iraq soldier

 November 30, 2006

This week, Old Town residents Lewis and Lianne Henderson received the kind of news that all parents of soldiers serving in a combat zone hope never to hear: their son, Army Staff Sergeant Lewis Henderson, Jr, had been seriously injured while on patrol with his unit in Iraq. Henderson, who began his second tour of Iraq last September, was riding in the backseat of a Humvee when it was hit with a roadside bond. Henderson’s father, Lewis Henderson, Sr, says that his son and another backseat passenger bore the brunt of the explosion.

“The two guys in the front of the Humvee got some cuts and bruises,” Henderson, Sr. said. “But they told us that Lewis and the other guy riding in the backseat got the brunt of it.”

Henderson, Jr. suffered first, second, and third degree burns on his right leg and hip and back. Doctors say that the burns on his back will require skin grafts.

“After the Humvee was hit, he was on fire and the others had to roll him out,” Henderson, Sr. said. “But he’s alive. We talked to one of his nurses in Germany last night and she told us, ‘Your son is tough. He’s a fighter. But right now he’s more concerned about his buddy who’s on life support.’”

Henderson, Sr. says that he and his wife are waiting for a call telling them that their son has been transferred from the hospital in Germany to one in San Antonio, Texas.

“They told us that as soon as he gets stateside, they’ll call us and we can go down there and see him,” he said.

Both of the elder Hendersons say that they believe something other than chance kept their son from being killed when his Humvee was hit. They’re convinced that God and a little bit of luck had something to do with it.

“Two years ago, when our son went to Iraq the first time, the plane he was on had to stop in Bangor for refueling,” Henderson, Sr. said. “So we went down to see him, and our daughter, Chelsey gave him a penny and told him, ‘Here’s a lucky penny for you.’ Well, when his wife called and told us (about his injury), she said that the only things that he had left after the explosion was that lucky penny and his ID (tags). He said to tell his sister that he still had his lucky penny.”

Even though, on Monday night, the Hendersons were still awaiting word on when they would be able to fly down to Texas to see their son, Lianne Henderson made it clear that, in spirit, she’s already there.

“They asked us how we wanted to fly when it was time to go,” she said, “and I told them I didn’t care. They can just put me in with the luggage. I don’t care how I get there. I just want to see him.”