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Disabled Iraq war vet charges back into life at home

Published 09/21/08

At first, it is easy to see what war has taken from Sgt. Luis Rosa-Valentin.

Joshua McKerrow — The Capital A bomb in Baghdad could not take away Sgt. Luis Rosa-Valentin’s sense of humor, as he displays a shirt declaring “I’m just in it for the parking.” Sgt. Rosa-Valentin, a Meade High School graduate, lost his left arm and both of his legs during his second tour of duty in Iraq.
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Both of his legs and his left arm are gone. The 25-year-old soldier needs a hearing aid for his left ear, and a cochlear implant soon will be placed in his right. He has no sense of smell.

Luis' right arm, his only remaining limb, also is a symbol of loss. A tattoo of the memorial soldiers make for their fallen comrades - an arrangement of the dead's empty boots, helmet and rifle - adorns the inside of his forearm, set against the American flag. It stands as a reminder of his closest buddy in the Army, Staff Sgt. Steve Butcher, Jr., who was...

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