In 2004 we followed the excellent Minneapolis Star Tribune series on Army Staff Sergeant Jessica Clements by medical reporter Maura Lerner. In the series Lerner wrote in detail, with great humanity, about the devastating brain injury suffered by Clements in Iraq, and her near-miraculous recovery-in-progress. The series also inclulded remarkable photographs by Star Tribune photographer Jim Gehrz.

We noted the articles in the series and posted a few representative photos from it here as the series appeared in the Star Tribune beginning in August 2004. We noted Lerner's articles in "A purple heart for Jessica" (covering Jessica's injury by a roadside bomb and her initial life-saving treatment); "Putting Jessica back together" (reporting on Jessica's August 2004 surgery and on the physicians who performed seemingly miraculous feats); and "In which Jessica keeps her promise." The third and final (so far) installment of Lerner's series was "There's no place like home," published in October 2004. Here it is:

From her hospital bed, Jessica Clements made her grandfather a promise in June.

"I will be at your birthday party," she said.

At the time, it seemed unlikely. Jessica, an Army Reserve staff sergeant from Ohio, had awakened from a coma only a few weeks before.

She could barely sit up in her bed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. She had a devastating head injury and a tornup hip from a roadside bombing in Iraq in May. A long stretch of rehab lay ahead. Her grandfather's 79th birthday was only three months away.

Yet on the day before the party, Jessica clutched her cane and climbed into her fiancé's pickup for the drive back to Ohio.

Right on schedule, they pulled up to her mother's home in the Akron suburb of Coventry Township Sept. 12, and after a few quick hugs, hurried in before the other guests arrived.

Jessica hid just out of sight as her grandpa, Harry Palmer, arrived. She waited until he reached the back porch. And then she stepped out in front of him, flashing her luminous smile.

That, Jessica says, is a moment she'll always remember --the look of joy on her grandfather's face.

But he wasn't surprised, he told her. After all, she had made him a promise.

Making it back

Jessica Clements was one of the casualties of war who was never expected to make it back.

But here she was, after three months in military hospitals and five weeks at the Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center.

Here she was, greeting old friends, giggling with her sisters and flipping through bridal magazines at her mom's house. "Everything still seems very unreal to me," she said.

It was her first trip home since Christmas, since leaving for Iraq with her Army Reserve unit, since the roadside bomb transformed her life.

This was only a temporary reprieve -- in a month, she would return to the hospital in Washington for more therapy. But for now, it would have to do.

Her mother, Kim Wyatt, invited Jessica into the den. Now that she was home, there was something she wanted to show her.

A videotape had unexpectedly [arrived] by mail.

It was an ABC News report from a few months back, about the war wounded.

As Wyatt popped the tape into the VCR, Jessica and her fiancé, Greg Ramos, settled on the couch to watch.

In one of the first scenes, an American soldier is in critical condition at a military hospital in Germany. A blur hides the soldier's face, as doctors and nurses rush frantically around the intensive care unit.

A little later, the camera zooms in on the soldier's feet. The toenails are painted hot pink.

Jessica's toes

The footage was shot in May, while she was still in a coma at a military hospital, shortly after she was evacuated from Iraq.

Although the story was broadcast, Jessica wasn't identified by name. Until recently, no one in the family knew about it. But a producer sent the tape after reading about her recovery.

Jessica watched in stunned silence as her story unfolded onscreen.

"For this young sergeant ... the battle is on to save her life," narrates the reporter, Mike Lee. He calls her a 27-year-old woman "with a catastrophic head injury." A CAT scan shows the shrapnel in her brain. An Army doctor says if she doesn't improve soon, "it's going to be a very grim prognosis."

A few other soldiers are interviewed about their wounds. And then the report returns to "the young brain-damaged sergeant."

"In a way, her life hangs in the balance, doesn't it?" the reporter asks. "Absolutely," replies the doctor.

As the report ended, Wyatt was in tears. She has watched it countless times. The moment she saw the pink toenails, she said, "I knew that was my daughter."

For Jessica, it was like an out-of-body experience. "My mom had told me about it. But watching it and hearing them talk about this female 27-year-old soldier, it was kind of weird. ...

"I don't know," she said later, "if I was ready to watch that."

The TV cameras, of course, weren't there to capture her dramatic recovery - coming out of the coma, spending five weeks in a brain-injury program at the Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center. Undergoing surgery in August to repair her skull. Pushing herself to get stronger each day.

Jessica doesn't like to talk about how close she came to dying.

But back home, no one can forget.

"Everyone says that to me, 'I bet you're just happy to be alive,'" she said. "I don't even really think about it, that I did almost die. I've just always been focused on getting better."

The reminders, though, are all around her.

They're in the yellow ribbons up and down the block.

They're in the sign in her mother's yard that reads: "Pray for SSG Jessica Clements."

They're in the faces of friends and strangers she meets at a ceremony dedicating a garden in her honor.

And two days later, at the funeral of a young soldier.

Pvt. Devin Grella of nearby Medina, Ohio, was a member of her Army Reserve unit. Jessica had never met him. But like her, he had gone to Iraq to drive fuel trucks. Like her, he had been injured by a roadside bomb.

When Jessica learned that he had died of his wounds the week before, she told her fiancé that she wanted to go to Grella's funeral.

She wore her dress uniform, and stood on the sidelines, thinking about how young he was -- only 21 -- and how he had died. "That more than anything made me wonder," she said later. "My gosh, how come ... his life was taken, and I lived."

She watched his parents and friends. "It was very humbling for me. Here I am, I made it through a blast. And I made it through a severe injury. And they were all there to say goodbye."

Jessica returned to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington. She's been told she'll need another six months of rehabilitation. Healing, she has learned, is slow business.

Back in Ohio, the sign -- with a photo of Jessica smiling in desert camouflage -- remains in her mother's yard, as it has since May. The words still call on passersby to pray for her.

"I'm going to leave it up," says her mother, "until after Jess comes home for good."

Lerner's series memorably told the story of a patriotic young lady who had sacrificed greatly for her country, and whose recovery showed an utterly indomitable spirit. I admired Lerner for letting the story tell itself with a self-effacing art that kept her own views out of the picture.

Jim Gehrz achieved substantial recognition for the photos that accompanied Lerner's series. He was one of three finalists in the 2005 Pulitzer feature photography category for the photos. His portfolio also won the 2004 Scripps Howard Foundation Award for Photojournalism and the 2005 National Press Photographer Association's designation as the Newspaper Photographer of the Year. (Gehrz coincidentally has a son who was serving as a medic in Iraq at the time the series was published.)

Last year I sought Lerner out to ask if the Star Tribune had submitted her articles for consideration in the Pulitzer competition. (It had -- for beat reporting.) She told me she had just spoken with Jessica, who has now been discharged from the Army, and that she sounded great. Lerner said she anticipated that she would bring her series up to date with a final installment no later than Jessica's wedding, which at that time was scheduled to occur this year.

When we expressed our disappointment that Lerner's series had been passed over by the Pulitzer Prize committee in April 2005, Sergeant First Class Robert Thomas contacted us to let us know that Jessica had been awarded the Bronze Star on February 26, 2005 (Jessica had somehow omitted to mention it in her recent conversation with Lerner!):

Good morning! I am the Retention NCO at the unit where SSG Jessica Clements was assigned. I just wanted to give you an update on how she is doing. I last saw her at the unit banquet we held on 26 February 2005, where she was awarded the Bronze Star. I was the one who read aloud the award citation as it was presented to her, and my voice choked up a bit. It was truly difficult to express into words what she had gone through on that fateful day. After the presentation, she received a standing ovation. Jessica looked absolutely gorgeous and was in really good spirits at the banquet. We are all so grateful and amazed at how well she has recovered, and she will be sorely missed here by everyone. She was an excellent Soldier and an example of strength to us all.

I'd like to thank you for all the kind articles you post about Jessica on Power Line, as well as your positive coverage on events in Iraq. It's really refreshing to hear about the positive things that have happened in the Iraqi war, because the MSM won't cover it. Thanks for all that you and your partners do at Power Line! I don't think you guys know how much you are truly appreciated out here in the "blogosphere." Thanks again.

Reader Pat Martin also wrote from the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) with an important point:

I was most interested to read [your] take on the recent Pulitzer awards. Of particular interest were the articles about Army Staff SGT Jessica Clements and the links to her story and progress.

I write to mention that her injury might not have happened, had she not been concerned for the safety of others. Sandbags are packed on the floor or Army trucks to protect the soldiers from roadside bombs. The side benches prevent the sandbags from being stacked all the way to the edge of the truck bed.

SGT Clements always rode on top of the sandbags - in the center of the truck bed - for protection. Russ Contractor is the "grey haired" man mentioned in your blog story. He is a co-worker of mine at AAFES.

On that day, the motor pool assigned him to that truck in order to complete a travel commitment. SGT Clements gave up her sandbag seat to Russ. She sternly cautioned him to not move around, but just sit on the bags. She took the unprotected bench on one side so he would be safe. Russ suffered no physical injury, save a few scratches and some temporary hearing loss. Russ is currently assigned as the Facilities Manger for AAFES in Korea.

Yesterday Sergeant Thomas wrote to forward Jessica's recent message to friends regarding this Sunday's 60 Minutes broadcast. Jessica writes:

Hi Everyone,

I know it's been a while since I've talked to some of you. I just wanted to let you know that I'll be on 60 Minutes this Sunday, Feb. 12th...

I'm doing well these days. I'm in school, and it's going ok so far. It was definitely the right move for me. I'm starting with the basic math, becasue I couldn't remember how to do simple problems, but I don't mind. My brain needed a refresher anyway! I'm also taking Government and Politics. I'm studying hard, and hopefully I'll make a good social worker/counselor someday. I hope to work with other Veterans, or people with disabilities like myself.

Headaches are still a constant (almost daily) and I'm working with my doctors to find a medicine that will work for me. So far, the only one that takes away the pain is morphine, and I'm trying to get off of it due to its strength.

Anyway, I hope all is well with everyone. Thank you for your continuing support and encouragement.

Enjoy the show,
Jessica

Live today-
Yesterday is gone,
Tomorrow may never come!!

Jessica's spirit seems to radiate from the photo above, one of the prize-winning 2004 Star Tribune photos by Jim Gehrz that accompanied Lerner's series. The Star Tribune caption reads: "Staff Sgt. Jessica Clements, 27, faces many more months of rehabilitation work and additional medical procedures to recover from serious injuries she suffered while on duty in Iraq. Clements is being treated at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center and will eventually transfer back to Walter Reed Army Medical Center for continued treatment. One of Clements' goals is to walk down the aisle at her own wedding without the aid of a cane."