Sometimes when Samantha Birzer asks her husband, Andrew, to do things for her, he forgets about part of her requests.
The Fort Dodge man's forgetfulness isn't the typical husband's absent-minded response to the dreaded ''honey do'' list.
Spc. Andrew Birzer's memory was damaged when an explosion rocked his vehicle during a military mission in Afghanistan about three years ago. The Iowa Army National Guard soldier is struggling with a traumatic brain injury, and military leaders are trying to decide if he should be given a medical discharge.
''We, as a family, are hoping for a medical discharge,'' Samantha Birzer said.
Andrew Birzer is now at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., undergoing tests that will determine if he gets the medical discharge. He couldn't be reached for comment.
He grew up in Fort Dodge and worked for Electrolux in Webster City. He enlisted in the Iowa Army National Guard 15 years ago.
He served as a medic in Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 194th Field Artillery, which is based in Fort Dodge.
In the space of five years, Andrew Birzer and his fellow soldiers were put on active duty three times.
The first time, they stayed in the United States. In September 2002, the entire battalion was activated for a homeland security mission. Andrew Birzer spent an uneventful 10 months on duty at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan.
In May 2004, the battalion was dispatched to Afghanistan for about a year of duty. The blast that changed his life happened there.
Samantha Birzer said her husband was riding in a convoy when the vehicle he was in drove over an improvised explosive device.
The traumatic brain injury he suffered in that blast damaged his short-term memory and impaired his speech, according to his wife.
Another, more subtle malady began to hit Andrew Birzer while he was in Afghanistan. The pressures of his daily medical duties - including caring for small children who lost arms and legs in explosions - exacted a toll. As a result, he now has post traumatic stress disorder, Samantha Birzer said.
Birzer returned to the United States and was home for a few months before military duty called again. In October 2005, he was deployed to Iraq. He was only there six months before the damage inflicted in Afghanistan began to affect him.
''People started noticing problems that he was having,'' Samantha Birzer said.
He spent several months in Walter Reed Army Medical Center near Washington, D.C., before coming back to Fort Dodge in October 2006.
Back home, he apparently slipped through the cracks of military bureaucracy. Samantha Birzer said different military commands all thought some other command was looking after her husband. As the months passed, his memory loss and speech impairment got worse.
''It was hard to communicate at all with him,'' she said. ''It was like talking to a brick wall. It put a lot of strain on our marriage.''
In July 2007, he went to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minn.
The staff there was ''a tremendous help'' Samantha Birzer said.
But, in general, she hasn't been impressed with how the government has handled his case. ''Disappointed,'' ''frustrated," and ''upset'' are words she uses frequently when discussing the situation.
Andrew Birzer reported to Fort Leonard Wood on Jan. 8. His family doesn't know when he'll be back for good.
''When he comes home and is finally home it's going to be a process of getting to know each other because we've gone through so much without each other,'' Samantha Birzer said.
Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net
