Email from Mat 8-7-09

Combat Volleyball
So there we were, playing volleyball today. We had been playing for a bout 30 minutes and everyone was having a good time razzing each other, when Wes pops the ball up high, and Tommy Dickenson goes charging after it. From where I was at, all I remember seeing was a streak then a cloud of dust, I thought oh crap... We all run over and he is laying on the ground (I expected t see more blood because he could have had a head on collision with the AC condenser that was right in his flight path), and trying to hold his elbow. So we give him 1st aid and send someone for a medic, she arrives, checks his arm, then we help him to an awaiting vehicle so he can go to the hospital, and two of my guys go with him.Game over, no one wants to play anymore. What happened was he ran for the ball and tripped over the 18" sandbag wall that surrounds the court. Normally if the ball is that close we just let it go, but he doesn't even know why he went after it, it happened so fast.We didn't think it was too bad, but after a couple of hours go by and he's still not back -- I have to go to the hospital and see what's going on. I walk into the room where he's at, and my jaw hits the floor, he's in casts, both arms bent at right angles. He tells me that he is headed to Germany for the next two months because our hospital doesn't have the equipment to fix his broken arms. And to think it was just a game. Nope, he doesn't get any purple hearts for these wounds. We discussed what he's going to tell other soldiers when he's in Germany, Soldiers that have combat injuries...he's going to tell them "Combat Volleyball."