A Hero and His Daughter

This column was originally published at Townhall.com on October 9, 2020.

Dulles, Virginia – It was 15 years ago today, and the hour was nearing 8:00pm. Sixteen-year-old Maria James stood at her father’s bedside at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and said goodbye to her dad for the last time. After difficult discussions, a lot of prayer, and consultation with the doctors, the life support that was keeping Maria’s father from his eternal rest would be discontinued. The injuries inflicted on Leon James were too grave, and the promise of God’s Kingdom was too close, to continue the fight.

LTC Leon James had been in Iraq with the 3^rd Battalion, 314^th Field Artillery Regiment out of Fort Drum. It was September 26, 2005, and he and his team were driving south on a stretch of road known as Route Pluto. Leon was in the passenger’s seat when his Humvee was hit on the driver’s side by an IED. The damage was devastating, instantly claiming the lives of the driver, SFC Casey Howe, and gunner, MSGT Tulsa Tuliau.

Leon took a great deal of shrapnel, lost a lot blood, and his head was badly injured. But he managed to pull himself from the wreckage to the side of the road. Once help arrived, he was taken to a local hospital for surgery to repair his severed carotid artery. From there, he was taken to Germany and a few days later flown to Walter Reed where his family could see him.

As her father was being flown back to the United States, Maria left her friends at Sackets Harbor Central School in New York, where she was an excellent and active student, to make her way to the nation’s capital with her family. At the hospital, she was reunited with a father who was badly wounded, unconscious, and fighting to hang on.

It’s not what she was used to seeing. Maria’s father had a big personality and was full of life. He was smart and funny. He was an elder at his church and the person from whom the other congregants wanted to hear. Leon James loved the outdoors, trucks, and fishing. Maria told me her father tried to interest his three daughters in the activities he loved, but at times it proved challenging. “When dad took me fishing,” Maria joked, “my line spent as much time tangled in the tree as it did in the water.”

It didn’t matter. Leon was patient and loving. Time with his family was precious. He loved his wife Sylvia, and he adored each of his three girls, Maria, Rachael, and Kathryn. Maria explained that while he was fun-loving, he was also a disciplinarian who wanted the best for his daughters. He admonished when needed and imparted lessons that would help them get ahead in a competitive world.

But LTC James also had a deep and abiding sense of patriotism which called him to serve his country. He had the opportunity to retire from the military, having served 23 years. He had put in his time. But his country was at war; he was a soldier, and he was needed. Though he didn’t expect to, Leon James was willing to give his life for the country he loved.

Before he left for Iraq, Leon promised he would return home. He did, though not in the way his family had hoped. Before he was wounded, Leon penned a letter to Maria apologizing that he would not be home for her 16^th birthday celebration explaining, “The world was just not cooperating.”