SSG Jason Letterman

Hinesville, GA

Army SSG Jason L. Letterman lost both of his legs, suffered Traumatic Brain Injuries and fractured his shoulder and pelvis from an IED explosion in Farasiyah, Iraq in May 2008. SSG Letterman was part of the 4th BCT, 3rd ID, conducting a mounted patrol that was initially told by local town leaders that there were no "bad people" or weapons in the village. Upon interviewing local residents, the patrol was led to an area in question. Finding a cache of weapons, ammunition, bombs, and materials for homemade explosives, they waited for more than four hours for the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team to arrive and destroy the cache.

SSG Letterman was injured when the gun truck in which he was riding in rolled over a pressure wire while returning to his base, causing an explosion that threw the vehicle 20 feet into the air. All of the soldiers inside the vehicle received serious injuries; the driver dying as a result of his mortal wounds. Airlifted to Landstuhl, Germany, SSG Letterman eventually arrived at Walter Reed Army Medical Center where he remains today, undergoing therapies and treatments for his injuries.

SSG Letterman and his wife, Elena, have three sons and are looking forward to the day they can live together as a family again. Jason enjoys hand-cycling, hunting and fishing. He would like to further his education by going to college and eventually would like to work for the Veterans Affairs Office. SSG Letterman’s primary goal is to continue to learn to walk with his prosthetics and focus his energies on being the best husband and father he can be. Jason and his family are looking forward to the freedoms and the barrier-free environment a specially adapted home will afford him so that they will be able to focus on family and recovery as they all look to the future.

Thank you to everyone who donated supplies, labor, and money to this project. Without people like you, none of this would've been possible!