A group of South Jersey veterans has planned a benefit Sept. 29 at American Legion Post 133 in Woodbury. The veterans have already sold more than $5,000 in raffle tickets.
Hennagir's sister Mia English works in the finance department of The Inquirer, and the newspaper's publisher has called Jim and promised to help.
The family is overwhelmed by such generosity, but Jim English knows Hennagir must also have meaningful work. To be a man, to feel like a man, he said, you have to provide for your family, to feel useful.
"I want him to have to get a job and take care of himself. I think the generosity is good, but he needs to become a full man again, even without his legs and his hand."
Hennagir said he couldn't agree more.
Resolute on war
Hennagir's favorite tattoo was on his calf. It was a map of Iraq with the words
Operation Iraqi Freedom running through it.
Hennagir supported this war and still does: "The terrorists need to be stopped."
Jim also supports the war, and believes there has been progress. He believes that the Iraqis are rejecting the insurgents, and that there's hope for victory. "I do believe, given time, the armed forces can succeed," he said.
He also said: "I think the war was fought wrong. The politicians, the government, did not do their best job running that war. There were a lot of things screwed up, but that doesn't say you're done."
What upsets him now is the idea that America's leaders might try to "back out gracefully, ease our way out."
"My son left his legs over there," Jim said. "It would tick me off if the last three months they're looking for a way out and just offering these young men as sacrificial lambs as a way to do that."
"If that's what we have in mind," Jim added, "pack up and bring them home. Don't waste one more drop of American blood."
