Who is Jose Pequeno?

Answer 1

Jose Pequeno- American Hero

In 2006 Jose Pequeno, then 32, was deployed in Iraq with a group of 28 NH Army Guardsmen in support of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, from the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

On March 1st an insurgent lobbed a grenade into Pequeño's Humvee while he was calling in a series of explosions near his observation post. Pequeño lost nearly 50 percent of his brain mass or half of his cerebellum and cognitive cortex in the attack.

He is one of the most severely wounded American servicemen to return home from either of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

After being stabilized at a military hospital in Germany Jose returned to the United States. His recovery has been slow and is on-going. He suffers from TBI- Tramautic Brain Injury, a condition befalling more and more troops as the tactics of guerrilla warfare continues.

Jose has received numerous surgeries, procedures and therapies at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Bethesda Naval Medical Center, the Tampa Florida VA Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center and verteran's hospital in West Roxbury MA.

Prior to his service in Iraq, Jose spent much of his life in Northern New Hampshire. He became the youngest Police Chief in NH when he took the job of top peace keeper in the town of Sugar Hill in 2002. Prior to joining the NH National Guard in 1997 he also served as a Marine. He had enlisted as a senior at Berlin High School.

Jose was featured on the cover of The American Legion magazine in May 2009 (www.legion.org/magazine/2662/homecoming-josé-pequeño)

He was also featured on PBS May 24th (www.pbs.org/memorialdayconcert/features/families.HTML)

Our prayers go out to a Jose Pequeno, his family, and all the troops who put their life on line as noble servicemen and servicewomen in the US Military.