Cpl. Dominic Davila, USMC
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"On July 23, 2009 our truck ran over a 100lb I.E.D. killing the driver Lcpl. Jeremy Lasher instantly and later also taking the life of our vehicle commander Cpl. Nick Xiarhos. Our Corpsman HM2 Trevor Parr and myself were ejected from the Humvee. From the blast I over went a right foot below the knee amputation along with at talus fracture to my left ankle..."
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Cpl. Michael Fox, USMC
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"I received orders to return back to Camp Pendleton, CA to 2ND Battalion 4TH Marines in San Mateo. Three months into our deployment to Afghanistan, during a local patrol I tripped an IED while clearing out a compound. The blast threw me into the air into a somersault. I ended up not being able to move from the shock. Your whole life flashes before your eyes. When you look around, all you can hear is the sound of your heart beat. When my Marines started to render medical aid to me I had asked my Buddy to remove my boots as my feet felt like they were on fire. I remember he looked at me and told me they were already off..."
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Sgt. Corey Garmon, US Army
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"The next thing I knew, I was on the ground with dirt in my eyes and dust all around me yelling "I’m hit, I’m hit". I could hear AK-47 rounds going off and that's when I returned fire along with the light machine gunner to my left. He was laying down a massive amount of rounds, but the AK shots continued. That's when I looked at my rifle and noticed my barrel in the shape of a banana. My flashlight, laser, and vertical grip were gone. Luckily my M-4 had shielded the blast and protected my right arm, as I was trying to rub all the dust and debris from my eyes..."
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Sgt. Brent Hernandez, US Army
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"The best I can describe the incident, was in April 2010, while on a combat mission in Qalat, southern Afghanistan, the pilot chose to land with the wind to get us on the ground faster, but we had a 17mph tail wind. We picked up speed and lost altitude faster than expected and hit the ground at 128 knots, which is around 140mph..."
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Sgt. Kevin Hoffman, USMC
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"On March 29 while conducting a resupply mission to the Battalions COP, Sgt.l Hoffman’s vehicle struck a 300lb IED. The blast threw him from the turret on the roof of his vehicle back in to the road. He was medically evacuated to Landsthul, Germany where he underwent multiple surgeries to repair damage to his spine and spinal cord, as well as his jaw...."
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Cpl. Paul Kocina, USMC
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"While in Iraq we were apart of the largest cache of home made explosives found at the time in Iraq. In the start of the new year we were still moving around a lot. The benefit of being apart of LAR is we didn't sit in one area very long. I liked going around and seeing all parts of the country no matter where we were it was an adventure to me. Now that we were edging near the end of the deployment we were all anxious to get going home soon...."
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SSgt. Daniel Neild, US Air Force
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"In 2007, Sergeant Neild was deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was assigned to the 16th Military Police Brigade, Airborne, as a tactical vehicle driver for Area Security Operations. During this time, Sergeant Neild conducted over 110 combat missions and 11 combat sorties in support of Joint Task Force 134. On 17 October 2007, while conducting a route sweep on Main Supply Route (MSR) Sioux Falls, the lead vehicle that Sgt. Neild was driving was stuck by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED)..."
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Cpl. Joshua Sust, USMC
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"On a day he will never forget which has come to be known as many others a his alive day. Nov 12, 2011 at around 0830 Cpl Sust was on a mounted patrol when his Vic hit an IED causing his door to be blown off and ejected. His injuries are: shattered tib/fib left foot and open fractures to both bones in his left arm. After years of therapy and 9 surgeries later Cpl Sust was medically retired from the Marine Corps in Aug 2013..."
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SSgt. Jarrod Wayman, USMC
LCpl. Erik Galvan, USMC
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"On June 15th 2011 while on patrol i stepped on an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) and as a result i lost my left leg above the knee, my right leg below the knee, and my right hand. From there i was put into a drug induced a comma to keep me alive after I've flat lined 4 times. I spent a few days in Afghanistan because of sand storms..."
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SPC. Bradly Hanawalt, US Army
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SPC. Bradly Hanawalt, joined the Army Sept 3 2009 and graduated basic training in Fort Benning,GA Dec 2009.
He then deployed to Afghanistan April 2010 with the 101 st Airborne Division with the MOS 11Bravo. Purple Heart Awarded from Us Army General David Petraeus for accident with a road side bomb in Kunar Province while on a Patrol on Feb 4 2011 while serving in OEF. I was air lifted to Bagram Air Field from the accident I suffered a broken jaw, traumatic brain injury, severe back injury. |
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"15sept2009, is the day I left for basic. I wanted to join since I was a little kid playing with sticks as rifles. Everyone who knew me saw it in my eyes that I wanted to be that 1% that fights the good fight, the grunt, the beating heart of this country. I joined up my senior year of high school and got waved from my parents I was only 17 when I graduated. I was soo proud swearing in I couldn't shake the feeling of pride my ego of joining the army was eternal. I wasn't cocky about it I just wanted to be a warrior for the day my son looks up at me and sees me as this countries hero..."
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SPC. Michael Kramptiz, US Army
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SPC Jason Probst, US Army
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PV1 Steven Barnett, US Army
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SPC Fidel Bobadilla, US Army
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