Wounded Warrior Project | ABC30 Fresno | abc30.com

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By ABC30

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Fresno, CA -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Web Links
Wounded Warrior Project
Wounded Warrior Project MySpace
To donate to Wounded Warriors Challenge | CLICK HERE..

Contact: Norberto Lara, SFC, U.S.Army (Ret) – nlara@woundedwarriorproject.org
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He lost an arm and almost his life in Iraq. But this former soldier's life has once again become one of service, this time to fellow veterans.

In the summer of two-thousand-four Tulare County native Norberto Lara was an army sergeant serving in Iraq. On the 18th of June his decade long military career ended when a rocket propelled grenade pierced the Humvee he was riding in. It ripped away his right his right arm and nearly claimed his life.

Lara would spend the next two years at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C. in May of 2006 he opened the door to his rehab to Action News and to his plans to return to valley as a civilian.

We met again this week at Fresno's V.A. hospital where many returning veterans receive outpatient care. Lara is involved with another source of assistance for his generation of former soldiers. He told us, "The Wounded Warrior Project has been instrumental in my recovery; not just physically but mental as well."

His passion and commitment to soldiering has found a new outlet on the national Wounded Warrior Project, a non-profit dedicated to honoring and empowering veterans.

The group gave Lara first post injury outdoor experience while still hospitalized on a ski slope in New Hampshire. He is now the west coast coordinator of the Wounded Warrior Project.

Lara can help Vets with paperwork, filing for benefits, personal problems and provide an introduction to other wounded vets. His army skills have come in handy, "Your job there is to lead and train soldiers and always be around them and take care of them. Well, this provides me with the opportunity to do it again, but in another aspect."

Web Links
Wounded Warrior Project
Wounded Warrior Project MySpace
To donate to Wounded Warriors Challenge | CLICK HERE..

Contact: Norberto Lara, SFC, U.S.Army (Ret) – nlara@woundedwarriorproject.org