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Stories |
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A
note from our MSCCN President, Deb Kloeppel:
The Carpenter's marriage exemplifies the military's values of duty,
honor, courage and commitment.
This military couple faced great challenges, remained dedicated
to military service and maintained
gainful employment, as they journeyed the hardships that life threw
at them. In the end, the
Carpenters prove that serving our country, serving our communities
and serving the corporations
that are willing to hire our military and caregivers, can be perfectly
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Meet the Carpenters:
Jody
Carpenter, a Reserve HM2, did not know the difficulties he
would face when he volunteered to fill a billet for an eight-month
deployment. HM2 Carpenter felt he was doing his job to support
a Marine unit in need of a medic. While he was preparing for the
deployment, his wife, Jennifer, was preparing to receive a kidney
transplant. This is their story.
Jennifer
had a sudden life-altering event when she began having
kidney problems at the age of seventeen. She was diagnosed
with Glomerulonephritis, a disease in which the kidneys' filters
become inflamed and cause rapid kidney function loss. She was
given strong medication and placed on the kidney transplant list.
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Jennifer
beat the odds by not only graduating high school but by becoming
a radiology technician.
Through her continuing struggle with her health, Jennifer maintained
employment as a Radiology
Tech Coordinator for nine years.
Jody and Jennifer, both natives of Missouri, were wed in 1999. Jody,
a Corpsman of seven years,
volunteered to activate in order to fill a billet with Weapons Company
3rd Battalion 24th Marine
Regiment in Springfield Missouri. In order for him to receive
the necessary certifications prior to
his deployment, Jody was sent to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force
out of Camp Pendleton, CA.
On July 6th of 2004, the night before Jody’s deployment and
nearly thirteen years after Jennifer had been diagnosed with a life
threatening disease, they received a call that a donor had been
located. If Jennifer wanted the transplant, she would need to undergo
surgery early the next
morning.
While Jody prepared for war, Jennifer prepared for a long recovery.
Yet both were unsure of how
to prepare for the unknown without each other.
Recovery for Jennifer was anything but easy. For the first half
of Jody’s deployment, Jennifer
was very ill. There was little time for her to think about how much
she missed her husband.
She suffered through the complications of gout and the pain of joint
inflammation. On top of
that, during the Christmas holiday Jennifer developed a blood clot
in her leg.
In January, Jennifer’s time of recuperation was made even
more busy when one their dogs had
pups. Jennifer’s parents, in-laws and nieces helped care for
her and kept her company during Jody’s absence.
As Jennifer began feeling better, she went back to her work at the
hospital as a Radiology Tech
Coordinator. Everything was going great. In March, she
received a nonspecific email from her
husband that he was fine. However, the vagueness of the message
worried her. A few days later
Jennifer received a call from a duty officer in of California that
confirmed Jennifer’s fear. Jody had
been injured.
Jody had been in the middle of a convoy rig patrol and his rig had
landed on an IED, Improvised
Explosive Device. Jody’s side of the vehicle was hit.
Jody was kept overnight in a field hospital
because he was knocked unconscious. His right arm was full
of shrapnel from the explosion.
According to Jennifer, the doctors felt that the shrapnel would
eventually work itself out, so
surgery was not performed.
Jody returned home with his unit as scheduled in March of 2005.
Jennifer stated that initially
Jody’s arm was having difficulty healing. He experienced numbness,
nerve pain and occasional
twitching. Fortunately, Jody currently does not complain of
pain or remnant damage from the
incident any longer.
Jody remains attached as an HM2 in the military and he is expected
to make a full recovery.
Both, he and Jennifer, enjoy and treasure the time they share together.
Their love and support
for each other has pulled them through the tough times that seemed
hopeless.
We owe our deepest gratitude to families like the Carpenters for
enduring these hardships in
order to ensure that we enjoy the freedoms to which we, as Americans,
are accustomed.
Jody and Jennifer, we thank you!
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