It may not be too interesting, but I ll give it a go as it pertains to me.

April 08 - Placeds on light duty for knee problems.

May 08 - Incurred major trauma to right knee. Unable to bear weight on right knee. BAS issues crutches to assist with walking. Sets up appointment with resident Ortho at hospital.

May 21st 08 - Resident Ortho skips all limited duty and sends me straight to PEBLO from his office to begin PEB. Based on his findings, I will never be fit to continue with USMC. Sustained injuries directly to knee cardilage. Ortho wont even scope my knees out for extent of injuries because he says I wont recover from it. His goal now is to arrest any further injury. Limited duty will not help. Pain is chronic and possibly life long. Injury is irreversable and condition is inoperable.

July 30th 08 - PEB package is sent off to Washington after waiting 3+ additional weeks on my chain of command to complete Non Med. A little long, I know. During the time of preparing my board, I was fitted with a cane to assist in walking because my knee wasnt recovering well enough to walk without support, but the crutches were the wrong kind of support (I should note that I as I write this, months later, I am still walking with said cane).

August 08 - Findings come back FIT based on incomplete evidence. I requested reconsideration with a formal hearing. I went back to the resident Ortho to see if he had anything additional to add. He did not and reminded me again that my condition is inoperable and there is nothing he can do for me. In the end, I drafted my own statement of rebuttle challenging my Non Medical assesment which was innacuarlty drafted and several weeks late. I submitted my statements and waited a short time for a response.

Current Status: I was granted formal PEB and the date was set for Nov 25th 08. I am currently making all the preparations and have just been appointed my JAG officer to represent me before the board. To this day I still have great pain in my knees, I cant walk more than 3 feet without the cane I use and I show no signs of recovering to a point anywhere near that I would need to in order to deploy with my unit. I am unable to do 90% of my job and even small things like getting out of bed in the morning have become a chore. I hope whatever I may be able to bring before the board will be proof enough that I am no longer fit to be a Marine and that these afflictions will most likely haunt me the rest of my life. On a funny side note, I have been gifted with the nickname "Grandpa" from my fellow marines. Not meant to be harsh, but a small joke we run around the shop. They look at me and see a person who gave his all and was the victim of unfortuante circumstance. I suppose at times these things are meant to happen. I just wish my unit would quit giving me the run-around and finally close this matter so I can go in peace and get on with the rest of my life.