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Veterans Deserve More
Victories At Home
After the Sept. 11 attacks, Bobby Body enlisted in the Army. He was deployed to Habbaniyah, Iraq, where he joined a 12-man team that would travel from Ramadi to Fallujah. Their mission was to draw insurgents into the open and detain them. In broad daylight, in hostile cities, hunting down the enemy day after day, Body’s team routinely encountered dangerous confrontations.
Less than a year into his deployment, Body’s Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb, severely injuring his left arm and leg. He was transported back to the United States, where he endured several surgeries. Eventually, his left leg was amputated. Diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, Body was thrust into a new reality.
Bobby Body
Body’s story is not that uncommon for America’s veterans. Postservice challenges, visible and invisible scars from war, can be devastating and overwhelming. For many, they last a lifetime. In Body’s case, he sought support and turned to competitive weightlifting as a positive outlet to help cope with PTSD and the realities of living as an amputee. With the support of family and friends plus help from DAV (Disabled American Veterans), Body went on to compete in a World Weightlifting Championship representing the United States, competing against able-bodied weightlifters. Body’s victory was becoming a weightlifting champion.
CeCe Mazyck
While training for combat service, a parachute jump left Army Veteran CeCe Mazyck, a former member of the famed 82nd Airborne Division, paralyzed from the waist down. She figured her dream of earning a college degree in fashion was grounded. Mazyck’s victory was finding the strength and support to finish her education.
Bobby Barrera and his wife
Bobby Barrera’s career as a Marine ended abruptly at age 21. While in Vietnam, on his first mission, a land mine explosion took his right hand at the wrist and left arm at the shoulder and left him with severe burns over 40 percent of his body and face. For more than 40 years, he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). His wife pushed him to seek help, and he believes that gave him yet another chance at life. Barrera’s victory was never giving up hope.
Support Network Important
When you ask veterans like these what enables them to move past the loss, anger, frustration or fears that accompany the kind of trauma they’ve endured, the answer is a network of support. “I constantly tell fellow veterans that you don’t have to try to do it all on your own,” says Body. “Organizations like DAV will help you every step of the way with any type of disability you may have, whether physical or psychological.”
DAV (Disabled American Veterans) is a nonprofit that provides a lifetime of support for veterans of all generations and their families, helping nearly 1 million veterans in positive, life-changing ways each year.
Learn More
To see more veterans’ victories and find out about how you can help support America’s veterans, go to www.victoriesforveterans.org
