Forgotten Warriors
![A year after the explosion, Linda Skoug, 47, helps her husband, Russell, 48, get his shoes and socks on.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6ed6788/2147483647/strip/true/crop/586x391+0+0/resize/586x391!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F44%2Ffd%2F8369f81d5ebe24d8d2c2ba7780a9%2Flat-contractor-ki7yy9nc.jpg)
A year after the explosion, Linda Skoug, 47, helps her husband, Russell, 48, get his shoes and socks on. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
![Russell Skoug](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1d43385/2147483647/strip/true/crop/586x417+0+0/resize/586x417!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F27%2F42%2F19daf30d255071f1fa6b4454342e%2Flat-contractor-ki7w6cnc.jpg)
Skoug takes a moment to himself outside the Houston courthouse where he testified in a case against his former employer, Wolfpack Security and Logistics. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
![Russell Skoug](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d431154/2147483647/strip/true/crop/586x440+0+0/resize/586x440!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F04%2F26%2F9358a6d475100f22338500da5800%2Flat-contractor-ki7yyfnc.jpg)
Skoug holds a small angel coin his wife had given him before he went to Iraq. He had it in his pocket the day he was injured; the explosion bent the coin. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
![Russell Skoug](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/4ff95b9/2147483647/strip/true/crop/586x391+0+0/resize/586x391!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff1%2F36%2Fc340ce943869828821c598c397d3%2Flat-contractor-ki7yzbnc.jpg)
Russell and Linda Skoug pick up the mail at their home in Diboll, Texas. His former employer paid some of Russell Skoug’s medical bills after losing a court battle. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)