By Gary J. Kunich
European Stars & Stripes
 

  SILOVO, Kosovo  -- A year and a half after a grenade attack robbed 6-year-old Sanja Kitanovic of her hearing, U.S. soldiers gave some of it back on Nov. 22.

After four months of trying, Army Capt. Mike Bramblett and physician Capt. Aaron Hoover did what previous rotations weren’t able to do and nongovernmental agencies weren’t willing to do -- they got hearing aids for the young Serbian girl, who lives only a few minutes from Camp Monteith.

"I had heard about her after we arrived and knew that others before us had tried to help her," Bramblett said. "We went to a number of NGOs, but they want to help large groups of people and wouldn’t help just one person."

They did, however, put the commander of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company for the 37th Armor Regiment in touch with a Swiss company that wishes to remain anonymous.

"They don’t want to be inundated with requests for help," explained Hoover, a general medical officer for the Army who reviewed Sanja’s medical report and conferred with colleagues in the United States. Sanja had lost more than 70 percent of her hearing after unknown assailants lobbed a grenade in a field where she was standing. Hoover and Gail Whitelaw, an audiologist from Ohio State University, determined the exact settings needed for the hearing aids.

Special Delivery

But getting the $800 devices remained an obstacle. The soldiers went from place to place, but didn’t know until last Saturday that they hit pay dirt with the Swiss company. "It’s been a lot of work," said Bramblett, who leaves Kosovo in a couple weeks. "It’s one thing I really wanted to get accomplished before leaving."

Early on Nov. 22, the commander and the doctor packed into Humvees with several soldiers in tow and rumbled out of Camp Monteith to the tiny Serbian village. Winding their way down a potholed road, they got out and walked down a dirt path, where they were met by Sanja’s parents, Lubisa and Stana. Dressed in worn clothes, they smiled tightly and nervously as translators interpreted for the soldiers. Sanja looked uneasily at the crowd and shied away.

After a few minutes, the soldiers were ushered through a green fence, past some chickens and into a tiny house, where Hoover sat down with the little girl and explained the care of the hearing aids.

The gift also included a year’s supply of batteries, battery testers, and devices to keep the aids clean. The soldiers have made arrangements for the family to meet with a doctor every month, and it’s believed Sanja eventually might regain her natural hearing.

Making Things Better for Everyone

"We are so very happy because of this," said Sanja’s father. "Before the captain came to our village, I did not think she would hear again. If Capt. Bramblett and the doctor weren’t here, she still wouldn’t."

Bramblett said getting the hearing aids would be a boon for relations between Serbs and peacekeepers. "I think this gives more validity to KFOR because this is seen as a hard-line town," he said. "When we can do something like this, that makes things better."

But beyond the politics and the peacekeeping, there was another reason. Bramblett will leave Kosovo soon and return to his family in Friedberg, Germany. But he’ll remember Sanja as one of the high points of his tour.

"We could easily not be involved," he said. "But this little girl is a victim. If one of my kids were involved, I’d want someone to help me."