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Letter to the editor

He brought his three hearts home for the holidays

But two came with a very heavy price attached to them.

By LORRI HELFAND, Times Staff Writer
Published December 23, 2007

Marine Cpl. Nathan Handville holds two Purple Hearts and a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. A bomb shattered his wrist, broke his fingers, sliced his face and neck, fractured his skull and damaged his hearing.
	[Joseph Garnett, Jr. | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Special to the Times] Marine Cpl. Nathan Handville, right, who was awarded his second Purple Heart a few months ago, is home for the holidays. He and friend Cpl. Garrett Jones are pictured recovering in a Navy hospital in Bethesda, Md. The Purple Heart with the star was given to Handville after he was injured in July of this year. [Joseph Garnett, Jr. | Times]

It isn't painful for Nathan Handville to relive that day in Iraq five months ago when an explosion shattered his right hand, sliced his face and neck, fractured his skull and perforated his eardrums.

The memory is a badge of honor for Handville, 22.

"Want to see the video of me getting blown up?" Handville asked, sitting a few feet from the Christmas tree in his family home last week.

Grabbing his laptop, he logs onto his MySpace page and clicks "play."

A small figure on the screen is trudging through thick grass.

"That's me," he says.

Walking next to him is his buddy Garrett Jones, now a Marine corporal.

Suddenly, the ground explodes, gray smoke engulfs the troops.

"You look closely you can see my body flying over the fence," Handville says. "It's pretty cool, huh?"

The insurgents who attacked Handville's squad videotaped the assault, Handville said. A father of one of Handville's friends found the video on the Internet.

Handville is positive the scene shows the day - July 23 - when he was injured.

During what was to be a routine patrol in Karmah, Iraq, Handville and his squad were hit by an improvised explosive device or IED. Jones, patrolling a few feet away from Handville, lost his left leg.

Both Marines were awarded the Purple Heart. For Handville, it was his second. He was awarded his first Purple Heart in fall 2005, when he was temporarily blinded after a Humvee he was driving in Iraq was hit by an IED. His corneas were lacerated, but he returned to duty about 10 days later.

His current injuries are much more challenging. He spent a couple of months this summer at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Now, he receives treatment at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego. He requested a transfer there because several of his Marine buddies are stationed at Twentynine Palms, Calif.

Handville's friend, Jones, who also is in therapy in San Diego, is doing well, he said.

Handville came home for visits in August and October. Last weekend, he returned to spend the holidays with his family.

***

He knows that if circumstances were different he might not be here.

"A couple inches to the left, the piece of shrapnel that went in my neck would have taken my head off," Handville said.

Most of Handville's injuries are barely visible to the casual observer. Nearly faded now are the scars between his eyes and down the side of his nose. A deep scar outlines his left jawbone and his right hand is covered by a web of scars.

Handville has a long road to recovery. And he's not sure he will make a full one.

He has short term memory problems. He struggles to remember names, numbers or appointment times.

He has permanent ringing in his ears and is awaiting hearing aids.

His vision is blurred. He is awaiting surgery on his eye because his retina was scarred.

Handville, who is right-handed, lacks sensation in that hand. He can bend his fingers, but can't grasp anything.

He does physical therapy three times a week and wears a brace on his hand two hours a day.

He's not sure what the future will hold for him. He thought about becoming a cop or a firefighter if he leaves the service. But "that's pretty much out the window," he said.

An infantry squad leader in Iraq, Handville wants to go back to that role. But he's not sure he will heal enough to do that.

"More than likely you're not going to be deployed," his mother, Barbara Handville, 52, said.

"Mom," Handville teased her. "Let me leave the nest."

Two brushes with death is pushing his luck, she said.

"That little guardian angel might not be there next time," she said.

***

Handville doesn't have major plans for his monthlong stay at home.

He just wants to spend time with family, play pool and some poker, watch football and hang out with friends.

The family planned to open gifts Saturday because his brother Brian, 24, who serves in the Army Honor Guard in Arlington, Va., is heading back today.

His sister, Jennifer, 20, who is studying to be a nurse, lives here. His oldest brother, Nick, 31, came in from New York on Friday.

"It's good to have them all home," said Handville's father, Ray, 53.

Growing up, Handville was a daredevil. He's still a clown, cracking jokes every chance he gets.

Handville enlisted during his senior year at Largo High and entered boot camp two months after graduating in 2003.

"I think I've grown up a lot," Handville said. "I think I've mellowed up a lot."

His father, Ray, a Largo letter carrier, said his son has mellowed "a little."

"I knew things were back to normal when Nathan borrowed his mother's car and it wasn't back in time for her to get to work," said Ray Handville, recalling his son's last visit home.

This holiday season, the family may have something to celebrate other than being together. Handville expects to find out this weekend if he will be promoted to sergeant.

And on Jan. 10, Handville turns 23. It will be the first time he celebrates his birthday at home in five years.

Lorri Helfand can be reached at lorri@sptimes.com or 445-4155.

FAST FACTs

Cpl. Nathan Handville

Marine Corps Cpl. Nathan Handville served in Iraq in Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines. He enlisted in 2003.

His honors

In addition to two Purple Hearts, he has been awarded these medals and honors:

The Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with a Combat V, the Iraqi Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Joint Meritorious Unit Citation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.

[Last modified December 22, 2007, 21:23:10]