By Lori EhdeMarine Pfc. Kevin Miller is recovering in a military hospital just 10 miles away from Falluja where he was injured by Iraqi enemy fire.In a Saturday ambush, a bullet went through his arm, and a grenade bloodied his legs when it exploded at close range.Kevin called his parents, Steve and Kari Schultz, Sunday to say he’d been injured but is safe. "Right now I feel relief," Steve said Tuesday.For the first time in nearly a month, Kevin’s family back home in Luverne can exhale."Last night was the first time we slept well in a long time," Kari said. "I know for a fact that he’s safe and well-cared for. … For the first time we’re certain of something."Miller is a member of Bravo Company of the First Battalion, Eighth Marines, which has seen some of the worst infantry fighting so far in the war.He was injured in a follow-up mission after more than a week of heavy combat in the streets of Falluja.After no correspondence in more than a month, Kevin called his parents on Nov. 22 at 5:15 a.m. Minnesota time (2:15 p.m. Falluja time)."The call only lasted about two or three minutes," Steve said. "He was in the streets of Falluja. He told us they were still going door to door looking for insurgents and weapons caches, and he didn’t know when they would return to their base camp."The next call, Steve said, was on the cell phone Sunday, when Kevin called from the hospital at Camp Falluja.Like something from the movies …This call lasted several minutes, but it packed enough information to fill a Hollywood movie script.On Saturday Kevin was the lead Marine in his unit, kicking in doors one house at a time in the war-torn city. In one of the houses, Kevin’s group was ambushed. When he kicked in a door he found himself face-to-face with an enemy AK-47 which started spraying ammunition.Kevin’s 100-pound flak jacket absorbed most of the hits, but one bullet found his arm and he dropped his weapon and fell to the floor.His friend, Lance Cpl. Joshua Lucero, lay dead in the middle of the room while Kevin was pinned down by insurgent fire. Incidentally, he and Lucero had survived a close call in an ambush the day before. "After that close call, Lucero told Kevin that he was going to start going to church often," Steve said. "The next day, Lucero is dead."Lying there on the floor, Kevin then heard the distinctive "tick, tick, tick" of a nearby grenade that exploded just three feet away from him.When the shooting stopped, he was covered with blood — especially his legs, which were chewed from hip to toe by grenade shrapnel.But he was alive.And his injuries meant he’d spend the rest of his tour — until mid January — recuperating out of combat."Well, I got my Purple Heart," Kevin told his dad on the phone Sunday.‘I’m not afraid anymore’His parents were less concerned about the medal."I’m just so elated, I can’t even describe it," Kari said Tuesday. Since Kevin left in June, his role in Iraq has been hard on the Schultz family — Steve, Kari and their other children, Brandon and Stephanie — at home in Luverne.November was particularly difficult for Steve and Kari, because in Kevin’s last correspondence, sent Oct. 17, they detected an eerie tone."hey guys, its been awhile. not much i can say over the computer. pray for me tonight. thats what i need. i miss all you guys. im half way finished. i live in a new place. its not very nice. dirty and beat up. i havent had a shower since i talked to you last. i havnt been getting much sleep. so i havnt had time to write you a letter. sorry.i cant wait to get home.God has made me at peace and im not afraid anymore. i love you all very much and i hope to see you in a few months. love kevin."To Steve and Kari, that message sounded like good-bye."It’s like he was telling us he’s ready to die, and that he was OK with that," Kari said.Meanwhile, Steve and Kari knew just enough about the war in Iraq to be very afraid for Kevin’s life.Through the Web site, www.marineparents.com, they could plug into their son’s specific unit and battalion and stay in touch with other parents of marines in combat.If they heard useful information from their children, they’d pass it along to other parents.And when bad news struck, that also found its way to the Web site.Kevin’s parents knew, for example, that both of his Camp Lejuene roommates (three Marines share a room in the barracks) were killed during that first week of operations at Falluja.From the front lines …They also became avid readers of the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and New York Times, as they all had reporters imbedded with Bravo Company."The 150 marines with whom I traveled, Bravo Company of the First Battalion, Eighth Marines, had it as tough as any unit in the fight," wrote New York Times reporter Dexter Filkins in a story published Nov. 21. "They moved through the city almost entirely on foot, into the heart of the resistance, rarely protected by tanks or troop carriers, working their way through Falluja's narrow streets with 75-pound packs on their backs."In eight days of fighting, Kevin’s unit had 36 casualties, including six dead, meaning he had a one-in-four chance of being wounded or killed in little more than a week."So went eight days of combat for this Iraqi city," Filkins wrote, "the most sustained period of street-to-street fighting that Americans have encountered since the Vietnam War. The proximity gave the fighting a hellish intensity, with soldiers often close enough to look their enemies in the eyes."Reading this made waiting for word — and hearing nothing — agonizing for families at home. "It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my whole life," Kari said. She describes herself as an otherwise happy person but admitted she may have suffered from depression."Sometimes I was paralyzed with fear. I’d sit here with a robe on all day. I couldn’t do dishes, I couldn’t do all these things that needed doing. … I’d go to work and put my smile on all day, and then I’d get home at night and just let it all out."Steve said the whole family was on pins and needles, startling at the sound of the phone or doorbell, for fear of bad news.That’s why the joy of hearing Kevin’s voice in Sunday’s phone call was equally hard to describe."I’m just praising God, because I feel like he was protected — that’s the reason he’s coming home to us," Kari said. "One thing that really helped me was my faith. I read my Bible; I’d page through it and somehow I’d always find something that would help."Despite the recent good news, Kari said she hurts for the families whose loved ones died. "While I’m happy, I’m still aching inside for them," she said.A remarkable kidAfter talking to him Monday, Kari said questions came to mind she wished she’d asked Kevin."… but I guess I was just enjoying hearing his voice and letting him talk," she said. "I was thinking, ‘That’s my boy.’ He really is a remarkable kid."Miller grew up in Luverne and graduated from Luverne High School in 2001. He was a baby when his mother married Steve, and he was known as Kevin Schultz while growing up in Luverne.He was 17 when he signed up for the Marines the summer before his senior year in high school.He graduated from basic training Sept. 14, 2001, three days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America."I had a sick feeling in my gut," Kari said about that day. "I knew my boy was in it for the long haul. He was committed, and he was going to be part of what’s happening. I knew because he’s infantry, he’d be called to duty."… but he wanted that, to be part of history."This is Kevin’s second tour in Iraq. His first one was from March to August 2003. He was home in May, for 10 days, and his current tour started June 22.Bravo Company is expected to return to Camp Lejeune in mid-January.
