A special and important army unit aimed at helping our wounded warriors celebrated a milestone on Friday.
The Army's Warrior Transition Brigade started 10 years ago at the old Walter Reed campus in DC.
“A lot of times I think when you're a soldier and you're deployed and fighting you don't think about being injured,” Lt. Col. Bruce Gannaway said. “It's not something you let yourself think about.”
That was until what he did not think about happened.
“Suffered an amputation of my left leg and injures to my left arm as well,” Gannaway said.
Gannaway stepped on a bomb in Baghdad in 2007.
“I was in a lot of ways -- I knew I'd been injured but I was also-- once I figured out I survived the initial blast, I knew I was going to be taken care of,” Gannaway recalled.
He was flown to the old Walter Reed campus on Georgia Avenue where the Warrior Transition Brigade was just starting.
It is a program where army leaders, medical staff, and families work together to give wounded warriors the medical and support services they deserve.
“It's a big turning point in your life. You're now other-abled,” he said. “It is a life altering event and you have to decide what you're going to do and really decide that you want to get better.”
The unit helps brave men and women in their transition back into the army or into civilian life.
“One of the important things I think is that it gives you the time to try. It's a safe place while you are still in recovery to try something. Even if it doesn't work, that's ok. Stop back reassess and try again,” Gannaway said.
