Stryker Brigade News

"He wants to stay in, he loves the Army," said the senior Oreskovic. "He's a true American, a soldier, a patriot and a warrior, and I'm proud of him."

His son will likely stay at Walter Reed, the Army's main hospital for soldier amputees, for 10 to 12 months, Oreskovic said. His son will receive a prosthesis to replace his lower left arm, which was blown away from just above his elbow. His son is right-handed, he said.

"As a father, if I had to choose an injury for a child to endure, my son's left arm would probably have been my first choice," he said. "He's got his right hand, and he's eating, sleeping, walking, talking. He's alive."

Oreskovic, a quality assurance worker at Lunar Logic, a Eugene computer software company, said he doesn't know how long he and his wife, Georganna, will be able to stay at their son's bedside.

Their finances are limited, and Lunar Logic has established a support fund at Oregon Community Credit Union to help the family with medical, travel and other expenses. Oreskovic was hired at Lunar Logic in March after being out of work for a year following layoffs at Symantec and Monaco Coach, and his wife suffers from several chronic medical ailments. They also have a 21-year-old daughter, Andrea.

His son sent some of his Army pay back to Eugene to help cover Georganna Oreskovic's prescription costs, the senior Oreskovic said. He said he and his wife paid for their own airfare to Washington, D.C., because the Army doesn't cover such expenses for families whose children suffer their son's level of injury.

Cpl. Oreskovic took part in missions involving the search for insurgents in and around Mosul. Often, the most dangerous time came when the soldiers returned to their base on routes vulnerable to ambush.

That's what happened Oct. 5 when his son's brigade was attacked and Cpl. Oreskovic took shrapnel in his left arm and both thighs. "He told me his flak jacket saved his life then," Oreskovic said.

A similar attack happened Oct. 11 when Cpl. Oreskovic and others returned on what was to be their final mission. He was in the turret of a Stryker armored vehicle when a suicide bomber detonated a pickup truck - full of explosives but covered by fruits and vegetables, so as to resemble a vehicle bound for market.

His son and others managed to fire on the pickup but were unable to stop it, Oreskovic said. "It was the biggest explosion the cavalry had seen there in a year," he said. Two sergeants were killed in the blast, and eight others were injured.

The 3rd Brigade deployed roughly 4,000 to Iraq almost a year ago, with many of them due to return in early November, after first training their replacements, another Stryker unit from Fort Lewis, the Tacoma News Tribune reported last week. About 250 soldiers from the 3rd Brigade have received Purple Hearts, the medal awarded to those wounded in action, the newspaper said.

Cpl. Oreskovic attended Gilham Elementary, Cal Young Middle and Sheldon High schools, his father said. He dropped out of school after suffering a soccer-related knee injury, then earned his high school equivalency degree from Lane Community College.

Oreskovic called his son a "video game-playing couch potato" who had few ideas about his future until 1993 when he saw television footage of U.S. Rangers' bodies being dragged in the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia.

"It lit a fire under him like the hand of God coming down," said Oreskovic. "His attitude was, `This is something we are not going to stand for anymore.' "

His son began conditioning and running. "I'd take him to the Coburg Hills, drop him off on one side, and wait for him to come out the other end," he said. His son would practice tearing down and rebuilding weapons while blindfolded. He went to the recruiters' office on his own, enrolled in Airborne School, fulfilled his dream of becoming a paratrooper, honed a reputation as an expert marksman.

His military buddies "called him John J." - the first name and middle initial of Sylvester Stallone's movie character Rambo - "because he was such a high-speed guy."

He said his son feels the reasons for being in Iraq are justified and that he now aspires to a career in military intelligence. Today's surgery should be the last prior to the fitting of a prosthesis for his son.

Oreskovic, a former Navy man, said he's impressed by the caliber of medical staff at Walter Reed, but dismayed by the military's limited support for injured soldiers and their families. "I may become an advocate for family rights," he said. "It's amazing how many things they don't help with because of budget constraints."

Ame Arden, co-owner at Lunar Logic, called Oreskovic "a gentleman's gentleman" who doesn't like to talk about his personal woes but is clearly proud of his son - judging from the pictures at his work desk.

Lance Jacobs, a friend, got to know Oreskovic when they both worked at Symantec, and more recently on hunting trips and target shooting excursions. "He talks about his son so often and so proudly," he said. "It's just been heartbreaking to hear about this."

MICHAEL ORESKOVIC FUND

Support sought to help soldier, family, with medical costs

Donations: Mail to Oregon Community Credit Union, Michael Oreskovic Fund, 488 E. 11th Ave., Eugene, OR 97401. Or visit any OCCU branch.