European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 15, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                July stars and stripes Page 3 i just wanted not to be people forget what a luxury it is just to walk Down the Street and not have anyone rediscovering the Sweet smell of life airman undergoes 40 hours of complicated surgery to reconstruct his lost regain identity by Lisa Burgess stars and stripes what would you endure not to lose the Savory smell of a plate of Barbe Cue or the powdery inno Cence of your baby neck for airman Michael regaining his sense of smell meant a yearlong medical Jour Ney after a humvee rollover that took his left Arm and most of his its meant a Long and difficult recovery at Walter and one of the most Complex nasal reconstruction surgeries Ever per formed at Johns Hopkins medi Cal Center in Fletcher is a Security specialist stationed with his Yolan at Andrews air Force base in Maryland with their two Michael and i he met Yolanda when they were stationed in and the couple married in june right before Fletcher was deployed to Camp with the 586th expeditionary Security forces on Fletcher was Manning the 240b machine gun on an Upa Mored humvee at the end of a Long patrol when the truck caught some Loose gravel in a hard i tried to pull myself Back in Fletcher but Gravity is a unable to climb Back Michael was crushed by the five ton As the truck land1 de upside Down on its first Rota the Edge of the Hatch immediately severed Michaels left Only the airmans Kevlar Hel met prevented his head from being although his Skull was his palate broken and his left Eye and helmets dont cover so when Convoy members rushed to the crumpled figure on the Road and rolled him All they saw where Fletcher nose should have been was a bloody Fletcher was still and not yet feeling the massive adrenaline is the Best thing in the world when youre in Fletcher rescuers were doing their Best to hide their Shock at his appear but i could Tell they were Fletcher Fletcher was losing massive amounts of and in danger of going into Shock and cardiac a keeping the wounded airman Calm and conscious As Long As pos sible was crucial to his this is when the saints came marching to keep Fletcher one of the first responders started talking to Fletcher about and that All it Fletcher because in a football and i live and breathe the new Orleans so when he started talking about football the whole i was thinking about Deuce Cal a running Back for the he broken and Fletcher began to think about a 62yard Mcallister run that set up a touchdown in the saints 3520 Victory Over the Green Bay packers on that was a big play in the because it helped us with a Courtesy photo with hit life in danger after a humvee Accident in airman Michael Fletcher thoughts turned to the new Orleans saints and specifically running Back Deuce the first responders continued to talk football with Fletcher in order to keep him touchdown we and it helped Seal the its so crazy How that one play was in my he Mcallister is travelling in the of season and was unavailable for the decision was made to put Fletcher in a truck and drive him Back to Camp where he would be airlifted directly to Kuwait for emergency bumping along in the Fletcher kept focusing relentlessly on his beloved it helped a because there was fear you Fletcher his voice you the i dont want to die Fletcher heart stopped twice in the helicopter from Bucca to on the in his body refused to accept the blood doctors were Franti Cally trying to give military officials sent Fletch ers Mother and wife a notice that they dont think id be Here surviving after 20 initial he from Fletcher took a trip familiar to thousands of wounded veterans to the army Hospital at then on to Walter he remembers nothing of when everything got when i initially went and when i went out for i this must be what death feels Fletcher and right after it was blink in up at Walter but tragedy was not finished with the Fletcher while sitting at her sons bed Side in watching him hover Between me and Fletcher Mother lost her new Orleans Home to Hurricane Katri she bought a House in the Washington so she could remain close to Fletcher through his with his Mother and wife by his Fletcher recuperated quickly at Walter he urgently Fletcher to get Home to his children the thought of his wife left All alone to Deal with the responsibility made me feel life at Home at Fletcher continues to work at mastering life with one which he said was never such a big Deal for if you think about he what do you really need two arms for i i i i diaper my i even Fletcher i taught it was scary As hell when i first Courtesy of Johns Hopkins  Juan puts finishing touches on a Model of airman Michael Fletcher new Garcia was one of a team of Doc tors at Johns Hopkins medical Center in Baltimore that reconstructed Fletcher nose Over the course of 40 hours of jumped in the but i might not have an but its More Torso to float you know but the facial injuries specifically the Hole in Fletcher face where his nose had been were an entirely different even for someone who is basically a really positive Fletcher there was the problem of people i was so tired of those Dou ble takes every time i went Fletcher i just wanted not to be people forget what a luxury it is just to walk Down the Street and not have anyone then there was the Issue of most people dont give it much Fletcher but the sense of smell is very much tied into the sense of losing your Fletcher is like having a really bad head cold All the except youre not All stuffed up every thing tastes the Chicken tastes like fish tastes like when youre new or losing your sense of and by association taste is the thing you dont want to he not having that was lolling the ordeal one of the military surgeons at Walter Ife had trained in facial plastic surgery at Johns Hopkins under Patrick an assistant professor in or head and neck at the Johns Hopkins University school of Medicine in Byrne has pioneered several nasal reconstruction techniques for cancer who some times lose their noses to who was treating Fletcher at the referred his patient to Byrne in january 2006 to see if there might be some Way to reconstruct the airmans Byrne assembled a team of sex who agreed they could give Fletcher a nose but at huge Byrne the rollover had left Fletcher with very Little underlying facial Structure Strong enough to sup port the new and since Fletcher is he is prone to or the process required Fletcher to endure at least six major opera each one requiring full Anes see nose on Page 4