Feedback: Soldiers' Sacrifices

Wednesday, January 10, 2007, 2:11pm--During an address Wednesday night, President Bush asked for more sacrifice from Americans and, in particular, from the American military. The President called for thousands of additional troops to go into Iraq.

It's a message that hits home in the North Country with its military families and it raises the question--how much should a family have to sacrifice.

7 News Reporter Alana Greenfogel traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet two brothers, who happen to be Fort Drum soldiers.

Luke and Josh Shirley are both veterans of the Iraq war and are both assigned to the 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment.

Luke was badly injured in combat. And now, the family is fighting to keep the brothers together.

Luke Shirley is being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The Wednesday before Christmas, the 32 year old Florida native stepped on a roadside bomb during a patrol south of Baghdad.

He lost parts of both legs and both arms.

The medical staff at Walter Reed sent the Army a letter requesting that Luke's 28 year old brother stay in the United States while Luke recovers.

But the Army denied the request for a compassionate reassignment.

"I have no problems doing my job, but my mind isn't going to be on my job. It's going to be back here on my brother," said Josh.

Josh was waiting for the call Wednesday that would tell him to go back to Iraq to finish his second tour there.

The family wants the brothers to be together long enough for both of them to heal physically and emotionally.

They're asking for Josh to be reassigned stateside, or at the very least, let him stay a couple more weeks at home.

"It's not an outlandish request and without Joshua being there I think he (Luke) may not have made it," said the brothers' father Jimmy Shirley.

Josh and Luke's mom, Bonnie Whitehead, said this is pain no mother should ever go through.

"A lot of fear that he's (Josh) going to be hurt because his mind will not be on his duty and that I might not be as lucky the next time around and have him return like Luke has returned. That's a great fear," said Bonnie.

Josh's condition has been upgraded from critical to stable.

According to Fort Drum spokesman Ben Abel, commanders in Iraq say they need Josh to return to that country because he's a vital part of his unit.

He said it's unusual to have two brothers in the same unit and that the unit thought it was the right thing to do to send Josh home with his injured brother.

Abel said Josh has made several different requests to remain in the United States.

However, Josh's leave expired Wednesday.

Abel also said Luke's wife, who is also a soldier, was temporarily reassigned from Fort Drum to Washington, D.C. to help take care of him.

Luke Shirley and his wife have two children.

Abel said Josh and his unit are scheduled to return to Fort Drum no later than August.

7 News contacted the offices of North Country Congressman John McHugh, U.S. Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer and Army Public Affairs at the Pentagon for comment.

A McHugh staffer said Wednesday evening that Congressman McHugh is willing to offer the appropriate assistance to the family. A member of Senator Hillary Clinton's staff said Clinton is also prepared to assist, if the family makes contact.

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