Brandon Update

AP - Thu Nov 8, 7:10 PM ET
President Bush greets Army. Sgt. Brendan Adam, Sandpoint, Idaho, who lost both his legs while serving in Baghdad in May 2007, as he visits a physical therapy lab for wounded soldiers at the Center For The Intrepid at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Marianne Love wrote:

Army Sgt. Brandon Adam of Sandpoint met President Bush a couple of hours ago in San Antonio. . The President shook Adam's hand and asked how he was doing and if he was getting what he needs to recover from losing both legs above the knee in a roadside attack last May 5 in Baghdad.

Adam said that yesterday his therapist at the Center for the Intrepid in San Antonio (a state-of-the-art rehab center for amputees and burn victims) told him to be sure to show up for therapy today---and to stay a while.

"All the sudden there were Secret Service everywhere," Adam said in a telephone conversation with Marianne Love. "They came flying in and shut the place down. We were just doing therapy, and there was press all over the place.

"The President came up behind me while I was bouncing on an ab ball," Adam added. "He said hi, shook hands, and we had our pictures taken. They're going to send those to us."

Adam said he really liked the President.

"He had a sense of energy that showed he cares a lot," Adam said. "I got that much from him; he was kind and happy to see that we were doing well . . . just checking on his soldiers."

Approximately 20 wounded soldiers were going through therapy during President Bush's visit, and cameras from news agencies were rolling throughout the room.

"While I was doing push-ups, I had at least 90 pictures taken," Adam said. "It was crazy and pretty cool." He says it's possible that footage of the President's visit to the rehab facility may appear on CNN News tonight.

Adam plans to continue his therapy until he's completely adjusted to his prostheses and can run two miles on a track. He estimates that to be March, if not sooner. The soldier graduated from Sandpoint High School in 2003. He signed up for the Army after being emotionally moved by the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.

He suffered his injury on his second tour of duty to Iraq. He is the son of Doug and Karen Adam of Post Falls.

Marianne LoveAuthor/Freelance Writer
website: www.mariannelove.com
blog: http://slightdetour.blogspot.com