Canzano: A Civil War story that hits home
An airman. A kidney. A second chance.
Remember our old friend Brandon Hill?
He grew up 15 miles outside of Eugene and was a die-hard Oregon Ducks football fan. The first lieutenant in the Air Force was stationed in Iraq in 2007 when he sent me an email, telling me he couldn’t wait for that year’s Civil War football game.
Hill attached a photo of himself and Darren Jee, a fellow airman, who rooted for Oregon State. They were in uniform, holding rifles, and standing beside a burned-out tank at the Baghdad International Airport. They’d draped the school flags over the tank — one for the Ducks and another for the Beavers.
They were far from home, but packed those flags, and used the rivalry football game as an excuse to focus on something besides the ugliness going on around them.
I heard from Hill once in a while over the years. He got married and had a son. He spent 18 years in the Oregon Air National Guard, became an Air Force medic, and served two combat tours. After Iraq, Hill signed up to go to Afghanistan, where he became an ICU nurse. He also served a four-year enlistment as an Air Force security officer.
Then, came some horrible news.
He needed a kidney transplant.
In May, I wrote a column about the fight Brandon Hill found himself in. He was sick. His energy was gone. He could barely walk six holes on a golf course or play catch with his 11-year-old son, Thomas. Brandon, 49, did his best to stay positive, but these were scary times for his family.
As his brother, Scott, told me in the spring: “We’re running very short on answers.”
One finally came last month.
A young person in Georgia died. The family wanted to donate organs. The kidney was a perfect match. That’s all Brandon knows. He plans to write a letter to the family and pass it through the donor organization. The gravity of their sacrifice, he told me on Friday, shouldn’t be understated.
“I would love to thank them for giving me a new life,” he said. “I’ll be able to watch my kid grow up.”
Life has a way of reminding us all what’s important. Brandon worked hard to help others over the years, serving his country as a medic and nurse, enlisting as a security officer, and pulling 12-hour shifts in the emergency room as a civilian. That he ended up in need made his story compelling to the rest of us.
Who helps the helpers?
I’ve wondered about that at times.
Brandon’s wife, Luann, started every school year by alerting their son’s teachers that they were waiting for a kidney transplant. She didn’t want the school confused if they pulled their son out of class, and rushed to the airport. Or worse yet, if Brandon’s deteriorating health took a bad turn. That somber conversation became an annual ritual on the first day of school.
Next fall, she won’t have to mention it.
Luann kept herself busy in recent months. She planned. She hoped. She focused on what she could control. She would never have admitted it at the time, but Luann will tell you now she never allowed herself to get emotional.
“You just go and get through it,” she said.
That’s how military families do it, folks.
That Civil War photo from Iraq remains my favorite picture involving the rivalry football game. The two airmen in the picture rooted for opposite teams, but used the football game as an escape. They planned a two-man viewing party in the middle of the night and invited others to join them.
Back then Hill worked as an emergency room nurse at Oregon Health & Science University in his civilian life. Jee, a technical sergeant, was employed at Emanuel Hospital in Portland. Those two guys have moved on now.
Jee is retired and living in Portland. Hill lives in Spokane and has a new kidney. He works for the VA — who else? — helping military members and their families. Friday was Hill’s first day back on the job.
A Civil War football game will be played on Saturday at Reser Stadium. It’s a special series. I’m glad the sides agreed to continue it. Brandon and Luann plan to wake up, watch their son play a morning flag football game, then, eat salmon for lunch, and settle in for the Ducks-Beavers game.
Said Brandon: “We’ll be watching.”
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