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Kisha Makerney: A soldier you should know

SFC Erik Wolf

Specialist Kisha Makerney is an inspiration and a surprise.  An unassuming woman with an amazing story of personal triumph against personal tragedy, Kisha’s life defines honor and courage.
Specialist Makerney was raised in the small southern town of Ft. Towson, Oklahoma to a large family full of life and laughter.  As a child, Kisha wanted to be in the Army and at age 17, the dream became a reality.
“My dad asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up. I told him I wanted to join the Army!  It was all I lived and breathed while I was growing up.”
“I was working at Sonic and I saw a recruiter so I told him I wanted to join.  Originally, my goal was to join the Army National Guard, go to college on the National Guard Tuition Assistance Program and become an officer.  I then planned to join the [Active Duty] Army.”

 

Over the past few years, Kisha’s plans have changed slightly.  She still plans to finish college and go full-time Army.  Only now, she plans to lead from the front.  “Now I want a career in the regular Army as a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO).”

“No One Is More Professional Than I” – The NCO Creed

This isn’t Kisha’s first time to Iraq.  She was here from February 2004 to March 2005 with the 120th Engineers out of Oklahoma.

Now she finds herself back in Baghdad.  This time she is serving as an instructor for the Iraqi Correctional Officer Academy.  She trains Iraqi citizens to become correctional officers in order to, one day, assume control of the detainee operations from the Americans.

“I help train the NCO course.  We teach them basic leadership principles and effective styles of leadership.  We train them to the same standard American soldiers are trained to.”  She continues, “They learn about human rights, effective communication skills and how to make sound decisions.  We teach them to lead the other Iraqi Correctional Officers.”  She adds, “I’m also a Combatives Instructor (the Army standard for hand-to-hand combat).”

Kisha notes the conditions here in Iraq have changed significantly since she was last here. “Last time [I was here] you never knew what was going to happen.  Compared to [what it was like] then, things are much better.” She adds, “I wish people back home knew that.”

Kisha is serving here at Camp Cropper with her younger brother, Tommy.  She also has a cousin, Keith, serving in southern Iraq at Camp Bucca.  A huge smile spreads across her face as she talks about her family, and rightly so.  They’ve all been through a lot together.

“I Love them and miss them.” She confides, “They believed in me and gave me tough love when I needed it. They helped make me who I am.”

I asked Kisha’s brother, Tommy, about his sister.  “She’s brave and she’s tough.” he said.  “She volunteered for this mission… I don’t think I could do the things she does.”

Things Changed Back Home …

Kisha returned from her first deployment and resumed the pursuit of her goals.  However, June 24th 2005 at 5:00 PM, things changed…

“I was going about 60 miles-per-hour on my motorcycle when the front tire blew out.”

At that speed there wasn’t much she could do.  She fought to maintain control but the motorcycle swerved and veered.  In a split-second she found herself hurled between two road signs.  The reinforced motorcycle jacket she wore absorbed the impact as her shoulder collided into the sign.  Her left leg struck the same sign and was instantly severed below the knee.  Her momentum continued her airborne travel off the road and down into a ditch as the motorcycle was hurtled further forward into heavily wooded foliage.  When everything slowed to a stop, Kisha found herself bruised and battered with a severed leg.  She was down in a ditch, completely obscured from the road.  No one would see her.  No one would hear her.  It was just her, her will to live, and the Hand of God.

Kisha found her inner strength and “Low-Crawled” out of the ditch and back towards the road.  Along the way she found her cell phone and paused to try and make a call – it was broken.  She continued to crawl to the roadside where she applied immediate first aid and treated herself for shock.  In the midst of this traumatic moment, she managed to wave down a passing car.

Fort Towson is a small town and word travels quickly.  Instantly, word had spread, and her family was notified.  Within minutes, they were by Kisha’s side at the accident scene waiting for ambulance to arrive.

The ambulance took Kisha to a nearby hospital where she was then Air evac’d to Dallas.  She went through extensive surgery, however, her leg could not be saved.

When she awoke from surgery, she found she was not alone.  Her family, close friends and comrades from the 120th Combat Engineers had dropped everything and made the 5-hour drive to the Dallas hospital to be by her side.

I Can Do All Things…

After the accident, Kisha was faced with a difficult road to recovery.  Additional surgeries, physical therapy coupled with the pain and emotional trauma associated with the loss of her leg.  She would have to adapt and, in time, learn how to walk again.  To add to her daunting task, Kisha added another obstacle—she wanted to remain in the Army.  She refused to let this event prevent her from achieving her dream.

“Physically, it was very hard but everybody was great!  They all believed in me.  Nobody ever doubted me.”  She explains, “I had to perform my job and meet Army Standards.”  She adds, “My battle buddies from the 120th Engineers were the best and my battle buddies from the 45th ROC are awesome!”

“If I could tell anybody anything, I want people to know that if they really believe, they can do anything they want to.”

She confides, “It’s all about God.  I would not be here without Him.  Without Him I would have given up back when I was laying in the hospital bed.”  She beams with enlightenment. “It really is all about Him.”

As we concluded our interview I found myself wrapped in amazement and wonder at her incredible testimony.  Surely if there was ever a living example of what “inspiration” means, Kisha is it.  Her life is a testimony to the passage of scripture found in Philippians 4:13 which says: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Yes, Kisha.  You Can.

 

About the Author:
SFC Erik Wolf reports from Camp Cropper, Iraq for Tulsa Today and on this story also served as photographer.

Google prusing wireless market

Business Report

According to a report by the Financial Times, Google is preparing enter the highspeed wireless market as a service provider in a move opposed by Steve Largent, former First District Congressman from Oklahoma now employed as head of the wireless industry trade group CTIA.

While the search company indicated it was prepared to bid at least $4.6bn, that bid would take place only if federal regulators adopted rules for the auction strongly opposed by existing wireless companies. That condition, and early signs of the Federal Communications Commission’s position on the issue, made it far less likely that Google would step forward to bid, according to analysts.  However, it is a market expansion few had forseen.

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Applekamp announces for OK Senate

David Arnett

With strong pledges for accountability and openness in government Jeff Applekamp announced his candidacy for the Oklahoma State Senate District 35 election in 2008.  It is clear he learned from the 2006 effort to capture the State Representative District 69 seat and is building on that momentum.
Applekamp said, “I learned the value of getting out early which is what I am doing today.  I have more people to meet in a district twice the size.”
“I am a Conservative on fiscal and social issues.  I believe this is the people’s government and the people’s money that government spends.  I will fight to make sure the senate keeps a tight reign on expenditures.  I do not believe there is such a thing as government funds – every penny of Oklahoma’s $7 billion dollar annual budget came from the pocket of the people,” Applekamp said.
At 19, Applekamp started a career with Public Service Company of Oklahoma as a meter reader.  Over the years he advanced through several customer service and management positions with the company and in 1985, at the age of 23, Applekamp became the youngest Area Manager in company history.  He has served in many volunteer and leadership roles with various Chambers of Commerce, Jaycees, Rotary, Lions, and other groups throughout the state.
Applekamp advanced his studies at Connors State College and completed his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and Masters Degree in Administrative Studies at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant. 

With his wife Laurie, two sons Josh and Tyler, and daughter Jennifer, the Applekamps have lived in the South Tulsa and Jenks area for over ten years.  Jennifer just graduated from the University of Oklahoma and plans to teach elementary education in Oklahoma.  Josh is a senior and Tyler is a sophomore in high school.

Laurie Applekamp is the area division director with the March of Dimes.  She has been active in the Jenks Public Schools (JTA) and was the President of the Jenks Public School Foundation Association, 2002 to 2004.  The family is Presbyterian.
Applekamp said, “As a state, we must set priorities.  For too long Oklahoma has tried to be everything to everybody, but we can not afford that type of governmental largess.  We must set priorities and stick to them – we must be good stewards of the peoples’ money.”
Tulsa Today:  “What are your priorities?”
“Infrastructure, public safety and education,” Applekamp said.
Tulsa Today:  “Gene Stipe, Steve Phipps, Mike Mass and other scum sucking soulless organisms stole taxpayer money in order to betray democracy and advance the political careers of Governor Brad Henry, US Representative Dan Boren, Oklahoma Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan, and others.  Will you fight the practice of unidentified legislative earmarks that made those crimes possible?”
Applekamp said, “There is a practice of logrolling where you put many different items in one bill so that much of the components are not identifiable.  My goal is to break apart and simplify each and every bill so the people can see exactly what is going on.  I strongly support Senate Bill #1 by Senator Randy Brogdon, District 31, to establish a state web site every Oklahoman may view to find where their dollars are going and how those dollars are being spent.  I want that information as open and as detailed as possible.”
More information may be found on Jeff Applekamp at his campaign website (click here) or at his blog (click here).