In honor of Veteran’s Day, we would like to highlight one of our very own BAT Veterans, Chris!

Chris spent just under four years in the US Army as an MP (Military Police). After finishing Basic and AIT, he attended Airborne school at Fort Benning in GA before heading to his duty station at Fort Bragg, NC. He was quickly deployed to Iraq, where Chris spent just over a year in Mosul. After his return to the US, it was Army business as usual for about a year, and then he received orders to re-deploy back to Iraq.

After his transition period, Chris’ squad was about halfway through their first patrol when their convoy was hit by an IED (roadside bomb). Chris was the turret gunner for their Humvee and sustained substantial wounds from shrapnel/debris during the blast. Had it not been for the great training and leadership of his squad, he truly believes he would not be here today.

After the attack, Chris was medevacked to the local CASH (combat army support hospital) for his initial surgery and care. He was then transported to Landstuhl, Germany for a second procedure to include repair, cleaning and debridement. While Chris was in recovery at Landstuhl he was fortunate enough to meet the President and First Lady Bush as they made rounds visiting with injured servicemembers in the hospital. The following day he was on another flight back to Fort Bragg, NC where he had his third and final surgery, and then continued outpatient care for the next several months. At the conclusion of his outpatient care, Chris was medically separated from the Army.

Pictured here is Chris with his Purple Heart Medal and some of the shrapnel they pulled out during his surgery. All of us at BAT Logistics are so thankful for Chris’ service and are extremely grateful he survived the attack and is here to share his story with us.