VISION RESTORATION: Child can now see, thanks to help from sergeant from Nenana.
MILWAUKEE -- When Army Sgt. John Kempen reunited Thursday with the 7-year-old Iraqi girl whose vision he helped restore, no one expected emotional tears from the grizzled soldier, or even from young Zahraa.
"In my line of work as an infantryman, it's not really popular to be touchy-feely," said Kempen, a 22-year military veteran who lives in Nenana.
"I'm just glad she's getting fixed up," Kempen said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press before the ceremony.
Zahraa, who was identified only by her first name to protect her family in Iraq, had one successful cornea transplant in August and is scheduled to have surgery on the other eye later this month.
The child also isn't prone to emotional displays, says Diane Wasniewski, 66, who is sponsoring the U.S. stay of Zahraa and her grandmother.
"She's a typical 7-year-old, shy and reserved," said Wasniewski, a grandmother of 14.
Kempen met Zahraa at a ceremony at Crandon Elementary School about 180 miles north of Milwaukee. The local Lions Club and Crandon schoolchildren were among those who worked to bring Zahraa to the U.S.
Kempen spoke briefly to nearly 500 students attending the assembly, stressing the importance of helping others.
But he had a particular message for the boys, asking them if they thought they were tough.
"He then said, 'Tough guys can help people,' " said Crandon Elementary principal Jim Engebretson.
The students greeted Zahraa and her grandmother in Iraqi, "which was a learning experience for all of us," Engebretson said.
Kempen first noticed the girl's vision trouble when he served in Iraq from August 2005 to December 2006.
The soldier watched as a boy brought sweets to Zahraa, who held her hands over her eyes. When Kempen asked what was wrong, someone told him she couldn't see.
She had swollen and blistered corneas, producing pain similar to having sand in her eyes and leading to foggy vision, like looking through a steamy window.
Kempen felt compelled to help.
"There are a lot of things you can't fix, but when you see something you might be able to fix and you don't, it's kind of like dereliction of duty," Kempen said.
So he turned to the Lions Clubs, known for their work to combat preventable blindness around the world. The group helped bring her to the U.S. where Dr. Kevin Flaherty performed her first corneal transplant.
"Zahraa is doing well," said Flaherty, a specialist in corneal external disease at the Eye Clinic of Wisconsin in Wausau. "The swelling in her cornea is diminishing and the blisters are gone. She is making good progress."
Although Zahraa speaks little English, Wasniewski said the girl's progress is evident.
"When she used to watch TV, she started out about 18 inches from it and now she's back to 45, 48 inches," she said.
Zahraa has become a fan of classic television fare such as "Leave it to Beaver," "Gunsmoke" and "Bonanza." But her favorite entertainment is "The Wizard of Oz" movie.
"She'll watch it at least once a day, sometimes two or three times a day," Wasniewski said. "I think she'll be taking the yellow brick road all the way home."
The soldier who made Zahraa's operation possible said he is "very surprised" at the crush of media attention he's received. Kempen squirms when given too much credit for his actions, saying he was just doing what the Army trained him to do.
"The soldiers over there, you know, people say things, but there's good people in the Army," he said. "Our Army is a very compassionate Army of good decent people."
