Wounded Iraq Veteran Getting Dream Wedding Day

Community steps up for wounded warrior’s wedding
Tampa Bay Online
Tribune Staff Ronnie Blair
Published: September 12, 2014

Wounded veteran Jacob Leach and Brittany Polinsky will be married at Old McMicky’s Farm. Local businesses and individuals helped to grow their prize package. Wounded veteran Jacob Leach and Brittany Polinsky will be married at Old McMicky’s Farm. Local businesses and individuals helped to grow their prize package. Krista Rosado

ODESSA — The explosion happened as Jacob Leach drove a Humvee in the area of Ramadi, Iraq.

An improvised explosive device made from two 155mm shells had been planted along his route. The IED could be detonated remotely with the push of a button.

Someone pushed the button.

“It lifted the vehicle up and put us back down,” Leach said.

The concussion rattled his brain and left him with some loss of hearing, but he and the other two soldiers aboard the Humvee survived and walked away. The destroyed Humvee required a tow.

For Leach, a disabled veteran, it was just another day in Iraq, where he spent 15 months.

The folks at Old McMicky’s Farm, though, think his service is worth celebrating. They chose Leach and his fiancee, Brittany Polinsky, to receive the farm’s $40,000 “Mission I Do” prize package, which includes a wedding dress, rings, wedding cake, entertainment and reception.

The farm teamed up with Vincent Jackson, a wide receiver with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and several local businesses to provide the prize package, which originally was valued at $25,000 but grew as more businesses added their support.

“The fact the community came together for something like this is amazing,” Leach said. “They have done nothing but make our lives easy.”

The wedding will be at the farm Nov. 16.
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