Spotlight: Jeremy Haynes

At the end of last week, we observed Veterans Day in the United States. On October 30, Army Maj. Jeremy Haynes was the guest speaker at a National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) event sponsored by the Multicultural Committee at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) in Bethesda, Maryland. He became paralyzed from the waist down after being shot four times while serving as an assistant to Army Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene, who died in the attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 5, 2014. (Maj. Gen. Greene is the highest ranking American officer to die in combat in the Global War on Terrorism.) Beating the odds, Maj. Haynes was able to stand again three months later and now can walk a few steps with a cane, thanks to medical professionals at WRNMMC to which he was transferred after initial treatment at a medical center in Germany. Regarding NDEAM, he told his audience that people with disabilities want an opportunity to show their capabilities. For more details on this story, go to http://www.dcmilitary.com/journal/features/walter-reed-bethesda-celebrates-disability-inclusion/article_905d1427-b68e-5899-8ff4-9fc2389dc9da.html.