Patriot story

Fox News:

Returning to her camp near Baghdad, Sgt. 1st Class Juanita Wilson's last supply run turned out very differently than the other missions in her seven-month tour in Iraq.

"We got everything we needed and [were] on our way back … about an hour from our camp … that's when something happened to our vehicle," recounted Wilson, a full-time member of the Army Reserve whose unit deployed to Iraq in March of 2004.

That 'something' was an improvised explosive device (IED) that wounded her and several members of her convoy in August of 2004. The explosion cost Wilson her left hand and some of her arm.

"My driver kept saying, 'Something's wrong with my leg, something's wrong with my leg!' … I didn't know anything was wrong with me. I was trying to figure out what was wrong with him," she explained.

Wilson knew they had been attacked and told the driver to get them out of the "kill zone" — the area where attackers expect to kill many of the enemy. Once the vehicle was in a safer position, she started to realize something else was wrong.

"I started to feel this tingling in my hand … I looked down and that was when I realized OK, I don't have a hand here,'" Wilson said. A combat medic rushed over and began patching her up but the attack wasn't over. The U.S. convoy then got hit with small-arms fire. Other soldiers with Wilson began returning fire and radioed for helicopter gunship support.

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While recuperating at Walter Reed, one option Wilson would not consider was leaving the Army, despite the long road to recovery that lay ahead of her.

"From Day One, my decision was, 'I'm not getting out,'" Wilson said, adding that she still has things she wants to accomplish in the military. "My support channel has been there for me and I'd like to give that back to the soldiers of the future."

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Now, nearly two years after the IED attack in Iraq and after therapy, numerous operations and a new prosthetic hand, Wilson made good on her decision to stay in the Army. She and 37 others re-enlisted in a ceremony held on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on April 6. Wilson wasn't the only veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom who re-enlisted, nor was she the only wounded soldier among them.

Wilson understands the circumstances that have drawn media attention to her, but doesn’t consider herself to be that special.

"I hope to represent every soldier in the Army Reserve — and my daughter — in a positive way. If you put your feet in Iraq or Afghanistan, your service is just as meaningful and just as appreciated," Wilson said.

We should all be glad for people like Sgt. Wilson.