Capt. James is one-legged. He was not born with it, but he lost one leg during the liberation struggle for independence. This is not the only injury he had sustained. He had sustained multiple injuries.
Before his leg was amputated, a PKM bullet had penetrated his abdomen, injuring small intestine. In the hospital, a portion of intestine was resected and he recovered fully. Because of his dedication to the course of the struggle, he picked his gun again and went to war. He fought it for years without any injury again.
In 1997 when there was a massive expulsion of Arabs from all the towns of the then Southern Sudan, James was fighting in Yirol. A colleague next to him in frontline was shot and when he drew near him to drag him behind, a bullet landed on his right knee.
James fell down the exact way a trained soldier falls down, and opened fire on the opponent. After 5 minutes of no gunshots, James crawled to check on his shot colleague, but unfortunately, he found him dead. He wept over him bitterly, but could not follow the Arabs for revenge. He picked up the deceased’s gun and crawled to where he deemed safer.
James almost bled to death had it not his faith in the liberation struggle. A group of armed civilians (this problem of civilians carrying guns started long time ago) moving in the path where Arabs were being driven accidentally met James lying down bleeding profusely. They carried him to where wounded soldiers were being transported to where they be offered medical attention.
In the hospital, the only treatment a surgeon suggested to James was amputation. So shocking! Assuming you were the one. You would cry until you cry no more. But James is a lion, he held his breathe, took courage and told the surgeon to prepare his surgical instruments. When somebody watching shed tears, James could ask a simple question, what if I was shot on the head? Would the surgeon amputate my head?
If I die, I would die a hero! I have fought enough and this fighting in which I was shot might be the last, James prophesied and it came true. James was taken to the theatre to undergo an above-knee amputation. 3 hours later, a pair of crutches was brought to James and one of his slippers (right) was thrown away. At this juncture, James adapted moving with crutches up to today. Remember all this happened to James and he wasn’t given any rank.
When the CPA was signed, James was still rankless and then was transferred to Wounded Heroes where he is serving now. James tried claiming his rank, but he could not make it until 2016 when he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant at once. Then he received another star in 2021, making him a captain; the rank he maintains to date.
James is unassigned and so, he waits for the mere salary and you very well know the abnormal months a salary takes to come. He has no power to cut down trees for charcoal just like other soldiers do for survival.
When the demands of his family grow, the only thing he affords is to sit down and cry bitterly, blaming himself for fighting like a lion in the liberation struggle that later pushed him to the periphery. He bites his lower lip and concludes, had I known, I would not have taken that brave decision to join the army, but rather I would have remained a peasant to put food on my family’s table.
The author is a medical student, University of Juba.