SGT KNOSPLER

Wounded Nov 12th 2004 Battle of Fallujah Iraq

Jacob knospler from East Stroudsburg Pa was wounded during the battle of Fallujah Iraq. Cpl Knospler and his team entered a building at approx 2AM. Knospler led his team up a set of stairs to the second floor. Knospler entered to clear a room, a hand grenade detonated in his face. While Knospler was on the floor, the terrorists threw another grenade down the stair well wounding at least three other men. Knospler was recovered by his platoon. With the help of his men he was evacuated to the field hospital for treatment. Moved to Landstuhl Germany and arrived at Bethesda Naval Hospital Maryland on November 16th. He remained heavily sedated until the 29th of November. He then spent the month of December in a hospital room. He was discharged to convalescent leave on the 1st of January 2005 and has been commuting back to Bethesda for his evaluations. He has also been making trips to Good Shepard Hospital in Allentown Pa for his therapy sessions.

His wounds consist of shrapnel to his face and legs. The most sever being an entrance wound on his left cheek traversing his upper jaw and exiting at the right corner of his mouth. He lost all of his upper jaw with the exception of three teeth in the front of his mouth. Some of his hard pallet remains and soft pallet. He is also partially blind in his right eye with some peripheral vision only. His left eye is 20/20 as of his last examination. He has had a craniotomy some damage to the right lobe of his brain. He is experiencing numbness in his right foot, some deftness in his left ear and pain in his lower back, this second only to the pain he is suffering in the area of the initial wound.

Three day's before Knospler was wounded he and his company while in the early stages of battle ran through automatic fire to the far side of 40th Street on the north side of Fallujah Iraq. Several men from Third Platoon was cut down, five men lay bleeding in the street. Jacob and others exposing themselves to gun fire ran back out into the center of the street to save their fallen brothers. It was too late for Sgt. Lonny D. Wells, who bled to death on the side of the road. Cpl Knospler along with Cpl. Nathan R. Anderson braved gunfire to pull in Sgt Wells and Sgt Shane. Nathan Anderson died three days later in an ambush.

Marines, spotting the red and white tape, waved, the terrorist's in Iraqi uniforms opened fire. Corporal Anderson, died instantly. One of the wounded men, Pfc. Andrew Russell, lay in the road, screaming from a nearly severed leg.