Koby Langley currently serves as the Senior Advisor for Wounded Warrior, Veteran and Military Family Initiatives at the Corporation for National and Community Service, which leads the President’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve. Langley previously served at the Department of Defense where he was appointed to the Senior Executive Service by Secretary Robert Gates in 2010, and worked as the Special Assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Wounded Warrior Care and Transition Assistance Policy.
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Lieutenant Colonel Justin Constantine joined the United States Marine Corps after completing his second year of law school. While on active duty, he served as a Judge Advocate specializing in criminal law and worked as a defense counsel and criminal prosecutor. After recovering from his injuries in 2007, Lieutenant Colonel Constantine worked with the U.S. Department of Justice, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, and the FBI. Not long ago, he began his own business as an inspirational speaker and started writing a book and webinar series about his experiences.
He was medically retired from the Marines Corps in 2013. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Wounded Warrior Project, Give An Hour, and SemperMax, and is involved with a number of other wounded warrior organizations.
Claude retired in December 2008. Today, he serves as a civilian pilot assigned to MEDEVAC missions for the Maryland State Police.
“My first priority is my family, but I make time to volunteer as a DAV driver for the DC VA Medical Center. It’s really fulfilling. I’m a fish back in the water and helping fellow veterans.”
Retired United States Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills of the 82nd Airborne is a wounded warrior, motivational speaker, actor, and an advocate for veterans and amputees. Despite losing portions of both arms and legs from an IED while on active duty in Afghanistan, Travis continues to overcome life’s challenges, breaking physical barriers and defying odds. Travis lives by his motto:
“Never give up. Never quit.”
Travis’s story has been featured on local and national news including Fox News’ Happening Now with Jenna Lee and The O’Reilly Factor with Bill O’Reilly.
Norbie Lara joined the US Army in 1995. His career has taken him from Military Police training at Fort McClellan, Alabama … to his first duty station at Camp Humphreys, South Korea … to an assignment with the 1st Cavalry Division in Fort Hood, Texas …and deployments to Kuwait and Bosnia. Norbie was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, GA, when he was deployed to Iraq. In June 2004, while on combat patrol in Iraq, a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) struck Norbie’s vehicle.
The RPG penetrated the firewall and severed his arm. Shrapnel from the explosion also ripped through Norbie’s body, lacerating his liver. Inhaling when the RPG exploded caused severe lung damage. Evacuated from the scene, Norbie slipped into unconsciousness and was later placed in a medically induced coma at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) in Washington, DC. He awoke in August, clinging to life, unaware that two months had passed. It took months of intense therapy at WRAMC before Norbie could even sit up in bed without being winded. Through hard work, he was finally able to breathe on his own, relearn how to walk, and even run. Norbie retired in September of 2006 and returned home to Visalia, California, where he lives with his wife, Priscilla, and their four children.
Staff Sergeant Shilo Harris’ Humvee hit an IED while on patrol in Iraq in February of 2007. In that blast he lost his ears, part of his nose, some fingers and over a third of the skin on his body. He also lost three of his best friends. What followed was an agonizing road to recovery, which began with nearly two months in a medically induced coma. During that time he experienced a version of hell so terrifying, the memories still haunt him today. Harris shares his inspiring story in his memoir, Steel Will: My Journey Through Hell to Become the Man I was Meant to Be (September 1, 2014; Baker Books).
