A Soldier Named Lucky

In the wake of allegations of long wait times and secret waiting lists at Veterans Affairs hospitals, national legislation has been proposed that could help service members in the Cape Girardeau area. If passed, the bill would authorize the VA to lease 26 new walk-in health facilities in 18 states and spend $500 million to hire more doctors and nurses. One of those proposed facilities could be in Cape Girardeau...

If legislation filed last week by a U.S. House representative from Missouri passes, the Department of Veterans Affairs could create a registry of veterans who may have been exposed to burn pits during wars of the past decade. A name likely on that list will be that of Lucky Sands, a Cape Girardeau soldier who died at the age of 45 in 2009...

Charles Phillip Jestus worked, ate and slept in the stench and horror of war, somewhere between Khe Sanh and hell. The Vietnam vet spent 13 months in 1968 and 1969 supplying helicopters and troops at a landing strip in the valley village of Ca Lu. He would see things -- death, dying, suffering, fear, degradations and debasements -- unimaginable to all but those who have lived in the carnage of war...

More than a year later, the paperwork is beginning to arrive. Late last week, Cynthia Herath, mother of deceased soldier and longtime Cape Girardeau resident Lucky Sands, received a letter from the VA informing her that after "careful and compassionate consideration a decision has been reached on your claim."...

When the blistering begins, Chris Amacker says, it feels like his whole body is on fire. The first time, he panicked. "I remember throwing my wife out of bed -- I thought the bed was on fire," said Amacker, 35. Amacker served a dozen years in the Army Reserve and Missouri National Guard in Cape Girardeau and elsewhere, including a tour of duty as a gun truck commander in Iraq in 2004. ...

These memories break her. Cynthia gets up from the love seat and grabs a box of tissues from the kitchen. Those last days are back in focus. Lucky grinned. It was weak but contained the traces of that brilliant smile. Moments before, Lucky had said her last goodbye to Ceylon, hugging her daughter for the last time...

2005-2008 She wasn't the same Lucky. The war ate at her mind. Like so many soldiers she served with. "You don't come back the same person, that's for sure," said Larry Smith, Lucky's former mess sergeant. "I'm not the same person. You change."...

The National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 extends the period of eligibility for health care for veterans who served in a theater of combat operations after Nov. 11, 1998. Under the "Combat Veteran" authority, the Department of Veterans Affairs provides cost-free health care services for qualifying veterans whose military service resulted in injury or other medical conditions...

November 2009 Lucky came home to Cape Girardeau alone, bearing the weight of that massive oxygen tank. It was 1:30 a.m., Nov. 14. Cynthia and Lal waited up for her, expecting to find a medical traveling companion with her. The only one there to help was the BART Transportation driver, who carried Lucky's bags to the front door. ...

The snow wouldn't stop. Washington, D.C., was in the throes of a crippling blizzard that would dump nearly three feet of heavy, wet mess on much of the region, shutting down the city and the nation's political business. The national press billed it "snowpocalypse."...

*Timeline compiled from family and soldier recollections of events. The Department of Defense has not sent requested information on Sgt. Lucky Sands' military record. Aug. 2, 1964 Born in Colombo, the industrial hub of Sri Lanka. 1971-1985 ...