Double Amputee Afghanistan Veteran Reflects of "Good Fortune"

Next stop for wounded JBLM veteran: A new home built just for him
The News Tribune
Adam Ashton
January 9, 2016

“How do I express my gratitude? They welcomed me with open arms. Eatonville, I have this feeling that this is going to be the community where I live the rest of my life.” Sam Shockley

Double amputee Afghanistan veteran Sam Shockley wheels himself past the Patriot Guard to a Homes for our Troops groundbreaking and welcoming event Saturday in Eatonville to celebrate a new custom home that will be built for him and his wife, Emely. Dean J. Koepfler

Samuel Shockley can’t believe his good fortune.

He’s grateful for friends who have lifted him on their backs in the woods so he could hunt and fish like he used to do.

The woman he met on a wild night at a Tacoma piano bar stuck with him through two Army combat deployments and two years of recovery at Walter Reed Military Medical Center.

And fast-acting teammates from Joint Base Lewis-McChord got him off the battlefield in Afghanistan almost instantly when a mine blasted away both of his legs, allowing him to live another day.

“Without those guys, without what they did, I wouldn’t be able to be here today,” he said.
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