Wounded Soldier Helps War Veterans Reintegrate

Wounded War Veteran Gives Back to Soldiers Transitioning Back Home
By Rudabeh Shahbazi  

HERMISTON– As soldiers trickle back to eastern Oregon from Iraq, they are finding comfort in a local man who lost his leg in battle.

Sgt. Luke Wilson has discovered his calling back here at home, helping other vets transition to back to their old lives.

The next Oregon deployment to Iraq will be the largest since World War Two, and it will make the state the most deployed in the nation.

Wilson is the first to say that when soldiers come home, things aren’t the same, and neither are they…

"I joined the military before I even graduated high school," said Wilson. "That’s all I wanted to do, ever since I was, like, three."

But Wilson’s dream was cut short when he was ambushed in Iraq.

"I was conscious the whole time," he said. "I remember it all. Sometimes I wish I didn’t."

After the fire fight, he realized his leg was gone.

"After the explosion, I just leaned back and took my K-pod off and stared up at the stars," he said. "I just thought about how I wasn’t going to have a chance to tell my daughters goodbye."

His daughters felt the same way.

"I thought he was going to die and never have a chance to see us again," said six-year-old Mackenzie.

Wilson’s road to recovery was a long one. He spent almost a year at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

"My own daughter was afraid to touch me for a while," he said. "That really hurt."

Family problems are not the only obstacles these vets face when they get home. Many of them don’t have a college degree, and the wounded are physically unable to perform the manual jobs they did before they left.

Then there are the invisible wounds– post traumatic stress and emotional trauma.

"They’re not the same person," said Wilson, speaking for himself and the vets he works with. "They may be close, but they’re different than when they deployed."

Since he’s been back, Wilson has devoted his life to helping other vets readjust when they return from Iraq. He helps them find jobs, enroll in college and get the health care they need.

He’s even gone before the Oregon legislature to explain to politicians how difficult it is for vets on the eastern side of the state to find work.

He is also featured in the documentary, "This is War," a film of collected footage soldiers took during their deployment in Iraq. He’s been invited all over the country by celebrities and politicians, where he is helping get the word out.

He says his only regret is that he had to leave his fellow soldiers in Iraq. But his inspiration lives on at home.

"Some people see it as, he’s got a disability, he can’t do that," he said. "Other people try to put limits on me, and that’s really irritating, because I set my own limits."

 

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