MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF DISABLED VETERANS

He suffered grave injuries in the line of duty. Now he helps other veterans who have disabilities.

- EMMA PATCH

Can you tell us about your own military service and how it has influenced your life? I was a young man when I joined the U.S. Army, and I deployed to Kosovo for a peacekeeping mission with the United Nations in 2001. While I was there, I was exposed to toxins in the dust of a dirt road, causing a chemical burn in my body. It attacked my lungs, and I suffered a brain injury from the lack of oxygen. I spent two months in a coma in a German medical facility and was at death’s door. They even mailed a burial flag to my mother.