One local family had dinner with Vice President Dick Cheney and
his wife, Lynne, recently; one small thank you from our leaders to
those veterans injured while serving in support of Operation Iraqi
Freedom.

Randy Himes of Marvindale -ðfather of U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt.
Jamie Himes Dana, who was seriously injured in a bomb explosion in
Kirkuk, Iraq, in June -ðsaid Monday night that Cheney was the main
organizer for the dinner Friday in Washington, D.C.

“It appears Mrs. Cheney organized (the event) and sent written
invitations to the patients at the hospital,” Himes said, referring
to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. He said the
dinner was initially set up outside the Naval Observatory on the
same grounds as the vice president’s residence.

The dinner was then moved inside the observatory due to the
rain.

“It was amazing,” Himes said. Himes, his wife, Janice Himes;
their son, Brody Himes; Jamie Dana; and her husband, Mike Dana,
along with other veterans and their families boarded a bus outside
the Malone House at Walter Reed before being escorted by the Secret
Service and vice president’s aids to the grounds.

“They had tents set up there at the entrance way (of the
observatory) and there were Secret Service people holding umbrellas
over the patients,” Himes said. “They really treated us like
kings.”

Himes said they were greeted at the door by Mrs. Cheney and Mrs.
Lynne Pace, the wife of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Gen. Peter Pace.

Himes said after being greeted at the door and exchanging
introductions, they all had a great dinner. He said every branch of
the military was represented with his daughter being the only
airman as far as Himes knew, he said.

“When we got done eating, Mrs. Cheney and Mrs. Pace came around
and talked to everyone, asked how and where they got hurt, how
they’re doing. They were very friendly and we had a good visit,”
Himes said. After dinner and dessert, he said the group moved into
what looked like a huge library, where they were treated to a
performance by country music star Shelly Wright.

Himes said the vice president did not arrive immediately, but he
found out from one of the staff on hand that Cheney would arrive
shortly after 6 p.m. “And he did,” Himes said, adding Cheney came
in, sat down and listened to the music.

“He really seemed to enjoy the music,” Himes said of the vice
president. “I saw his toe tapping a few times.”

Cheney spoke briefly, Himes said, and afterward he was able to
present the vice president with a special gift from Bradford.

Himes explained that American Refining Group, where he works, in
conjunction with W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co., arranged to have
a Case knife made especially for this event. The stag handle
hunting knife had ARG’s name and logo etched into the blade and was
stored in a glass-front case.

Himes said he told Cheney he heard he was a hunter and asked him
if he had heard of Case. The vice president said he had heard of
Case, but did not know where Bradford was. Himes said it was near
Olean, N.Y., since he knew Cheney has visited a Dresser-Rand
operation there once.

Himes said his daughter, who suffered critical injuries after
being in a vehicle that traveled over a roadside bomb, had been
allowed outside the hospital for a couple weeks and has been living
in the Fisher House on the hospital campus with her husband.

“She does physical therapy every day, sometimes in the pool,”
Himes said. “She’s weak, she’s skinny and she’s sore,” he said,
adding she walks with a cane for short distances or periods of
time.

“She’s working on it,” Himes said. “We don’t have to worry any
more whether she will live or die, so now we’re looking to the
future. I keep thinking ‘For 26 years old, she’s pretty crippled
up,’ but she’s fortunate to have all her limbs,” he said. Himes
said Dana has a good deal of metal (rods, pins and screws) in her
pelvis and spine. She is done with surgery for now, he said, but
may have to have follow-up procedures to adjust or remove the metal
components in her body.

Himes said his daughter has had many “celebrity visitors” during
her stay at Walter Reed, including the president of Iraq, Jalal
Talabani. After telling Talabani where and how she was injured, he
offered Dana his thanks.

“Thank you for your help liberating a nation,” he said.
“Twenty-seven million Iraqis thank you,” he told Dana.

Dana has also been visited by many executive and military heads,
NASCAR celebrities, musicians like Stevie Nicks and Chris Isaac,
and famous athletes like Shaquille O’Neal and John Elway. Las Vegas
show headliner Wayne Newton has seemingly taken a special interest
in Dana, her father said, pledging to help her adopt her K-9
partner, Rex, get into veterinary school and even giving her a
pure-blooded Arabian horse from his own herd at his Las Vegas
ranch.