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Latest Word from Paul Franklin, aka ptepaul
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Posted 3/23/2012 2:58 PM
DUTCH
Administrator Doppelgänger




Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: US, GA, Atlanta
Vehicle(s): 2015 Audi Q7 3.0 TDI,2018 Sprinter
Posts: 9965
5000
Latest Word from Paul Franklin, aka ptepaul

Older members will remember Paul Franklin, aka ptepaul, of the Canadian Forces, who lost his legs when a VBIED hit his Gwagen in Afghanistan a few years ago. Before he was injured, he used to post here and on BW.

He just sent me an article which details what he is up to now. He is one helluva guy and a true hero!

http://www.canada.com/mobile/iphone/story.html?id=6213225





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#201933
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Posted 3/23/2012 5:06 PM
hipine



Date registered: Jul 2006
Location: US, CO, Bailey
Vehicle(s): 460 1980 280GE w. 617A
5000
RE: Latest Word from Paul Franklin, aka ptepaul

Wow. Thanks for sharing Dutch.

Okay, this is going to sound weird. But this thought occurred to me while reading that article.

"THIS is a guy wining the war on terror."

How's that for a "butterfly effect" scenario. A bunch of whackos fly a plane into the world trade center and rehabilitive care for Canadian amputees is improved many-fold. I'm sure there are lots of similar positive stories out there.

Mr Franklin has turned a series of horrible and deplorable actions into the betterment of many many lives. It's absolutely amazing to me that after being literally "blasted" out of his attempt to serve the betterment of mankind, when he returned to earth again, he worked himself into a position that had even more important and more direct benefits to even more people.

I wish I knew the right word for what Mr Franklin is. Hero doesn't nearly do it for me. A hero fights for those who can't fight for themselves. He did that for sure, but that was only the begining for him. In my reconing, he's something far beyond that now.

Looking at a life like that sure puts a lot of things in perspective.

-Dave G.
#201937 - in reply to #201933
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Posted 3/23/2012 5:20 PM
DUTCH
Administrator Doppelgänger




Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: US, GA, Atlanta
Vehicle(s): 2015 Audi Q7 3.0 TDI,2018 Sprinter
Posts: 9965
5000
RE: Latest Word from Paul Franklin, aka ptepaul

If you'd like to read more about his recovery, a book has been written about him titled: "The Long Walk Home: Paul Franklin's Journey From Afghanistan". It's available from Amazon. See here:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Long-Walk-Home-Afghanistan/dp/1897142250/...

Attached are photos of his G after the attack. He was the driver. The Canadian politician sitting in the right rear passenger seat - where the suicide vehicle hit (see the 2nd attached photo) was killed outright. The other two Canadian Forces personnel, sitting front passenger and behind the driver, both received traumatic brain injuries.

When he was in Atlanta, Paul showed me some non-publishable photos of his G which showed where it was hit and more detailed extent of the damage. Both MB and the Canadian Forces did not want them published, since they showed the vulnerability of the G.

The 3rd photo is what was left of the suicide vehicle.



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#201938 - in reply to #201937
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Posted 3/23/2012 10:39 PM
hipine



Date registered: Jul 2006
Location: US, CO, Bailey
Vehicle(s): 460 1980 280GE w. 617A
5000
RE: Latest Word from Paul Franklin, aka ptepaul

Not a fan of re-hashing gristly details. Google has it all for those interested. Can't abide Amazon getting a cut of the book money either, but in the effort to find another source, did come across something else worth sharing. Mr. Franklin's blog site.
http://mcplpaulfranklin.blogspot.com/

-Dave G.
#201948 - in reply to #201938
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Posted 8/17/2022 2:09 AM
Otiswesty
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Date registered: Jun 2007
Location: Portland, Oregon
Vehicle(s): 463.241, 461.213
Posts: 3018
2000
RE: Latest Word from Paul Franklin, aka ptepaul

I came across this recent story on Paul (2017)
I was interested to read that they got all the guys responsible for the hit on his Canadian Army unit.

https://legionmagazine.com/en/2017/05/you-cant-regret-life/
#243750 - in reply to #201933
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Posted 8/17/2022 11:25 PM
hipine



Date registered: Jul 2006
Location: US, CO, Bailey
Vehicle(s): 460 1980 280GE w. 617A
5000
RE: Latest Word from Paul Franklin, aka ptepaul

Thanks for sharing that Eric. Paul continues to be an inspiration to us all. Even all these many years on.

-Dave G.
#243752 - in reply to #243750
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Posted 8/19/2022 7:20 AM
DUTCH
Administrator Doppelgänger




Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: US, GA, Atlanta
Vehicle(s): 2015 Audi Q7 3.0 TDI,2018 Sprinter
Posts: 9965
5000
RE: Latest Word from Paul Franklin, aka ptepaul

Here's a book about him and what happened.

https://amazon.com/Long-Walk-Home-Franklins-Afghanistan-ebook/dp/B00...

I met and had dinner with him in Atlanta several years ago, and he showed me unpublished photos of his G after the blast. They were unpublished because they indicated the structural areas that were most subject to failure in an attack; and MB and the Canadian Forces didn't want that information to get into the hands of the bad guys.

Unfortunately, my pictures of our meeting were lost when a hard drive went south; but one was posted in the original message in this thread.
#243754 - in reply to #243752
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