I joined the U.S Army when I was 18 and decided to leave after 10 years of service because of deployments and to start a new life with my wife Kimberly in Louisiana even though the Army made me who I am. I was out of the Army for 1 year when the terrorist attacks on September 11 2001 happened. I grew up in New York and my sister and brother-in -law lived in Manhattan. I missed the Army and felt that I had a lot to give the Military so I decided to join the Louisiana Army National Guard in December 2001. Four months later I was called to deploy to Afghanistan. This was very hard for my family but this was my job that I trained for since I was 18. My unit needed a Mine clearing team so I volunteered. I worked in Bagram Afghanistan for Seven months as the Non Commissioned Officer In charge of Mine clearing. I was very proud of my soldiers and I did every thing I could to keep them safe. They destroyed 47 anti-tank mines and 1500 anti-personnel mines. On January 9 2003 I was in an area that I was told to be cleared of mines because my soldiers where to expand this area. As I was close to walking out of the area I stepped on a anti-personnel mine. I have seen children and adults step on mines and I knew it could happen to me. I lost my right leg above the knee, I lost two fingers and had two reconstructed on my right hand and Have a large piece of my left calve gone. I did not want to leave my soldiers, they counted on me. I was transported to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in D.C. My wife was waiting for me there. I had 12 surgeries because of my injuries. At that time I was worried about my family and soldiers and not myself. Three weeks after my injury I broke down going to physical therapy. I guess I finally realized what happened to me. I cried for three hours. This is what I was going to be for the rest of my life. After that day I never looked back. I decided that will go along with my life. I had children and a wife that counted on me. I never gave up on anything and I was not about to now I got a lot of support from family and friends. I worked very hard to not only walk but to run again. I wanted people to know just because I lost my leg that I could do what I did before. I actually do more now. I believe that I'm a better person. I have done multiple races including a marathon. I danced with my Four year old daughter at her Father-daughter recital and I travel a lot to see people like myself to do mobility and running clinics. I work for Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in Louisiana full time. I was involved with Hurricane Rita and Katrina as a resource manager. I try and Motivate people like myself because I know how it feels to loose a part of yourself. Even though I'm retired from the Military I still try and lead by example. I believe it's not about me but the people I can help.