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Rina Jimenez-David-Philippine Daily Inquirer: April 2008: The most severely wounded and disabled US soldier to return home from Iraq is a Filipino-American by the name of Joseph “Jay” Briseno Jr. Shot in 2003 in the back of the neck at pointblank range that severed his spinal cord. and left him quadriplegic and blind, Jay now lives with his parents and siblings in Virginia and requires full-time, around-the-clock care.
In an article by news editor Edmund Silvestre published in the Filipino Reporter, Jay’s father Joseph Sr., a retired US Army sergeant, describes the extent of his son’s injuries and needs: “Aside from spinal cord and brain injuries, Jay also suffered two cardiac arrests and has been attached to a life support… doctors told us that he would die, that it’s impossible for him to survive his injuries and that it’s best for all of us if he were to die.”
Paralyzed from his chin down, Jay cannot eat, move, speak or breathe on his own, Silvestre writes. “Although conscious, his ability to communicate is severely limited.”
Jay’s dad adds, though, that they still manage to communicate with Jay. “He can only blink, smile or grimace in response to questions like ‘Are you hungry?’” Briseno confides. “If his answer is yes, he’ll blink once. If no, twice.” Then he adds: “We miss him so much. I miss playing basketball with him, even those ‘Hi Dad, Hi Mom’ greetings when he comes home from school.”
Jay was 20 and an army reservist studying at George Mason University when he went to Iraq to work as a civil affairs specialist in the rebuilding effort in Iraq. He was helping assess security in the market area in Baghdad when he was shot. He received the Bronze Medal, Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal and Combat Army Badge. But in many ways, his family, too, deserves recognition for their heroism in caring for Jay, and in never losing hope that someday, somehow, the son and brother they know will return to them.