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 Wounded warrior shares his experiences with Army Guard audience By Army Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy
                National Guard Bureau
 ARLINGTON, Va. - Education was the goal of Wounded Warrior Awareness Day held here at the Army National Guard Readiness Center yesterday. "What we want to do today is educate ourselves," so we can take action, said Brig. Gen. Leodis Jennings, special assistant to the director of the Army National Guard. "It doesn't have to be a real overt action. "It can be something as simple as sitting down and talking with them and asking if they need help and how you can assist," he said. During the event, which featured several speakers and information booths and was hosted by the ARNG's Soldier/Family Support Service Division, Capt. Adrian Perez of the Army National Guard's Manpower Analysis section, and his wife Sara, spoke about their experiences when Perez was wounded in 2006 while serving in Iraq with the 1st Armored Division's 16th Engineer Battalion. For the Perezes, the experience proved frustrating. Injured during a patrol by an Improvised Explosive Device that left him partially blind and with wounds to his shoulders and back, Perez was evacuated first to a hospital in Mosul, then to Landsthul, Germany, and finally ended up at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. Once at Walter Reed, that's "where it almost gets comical," said Perez, who said he had to find his own way to Walter Reed after flying into Washington with six other wounded Soldiers. At the hospital, he and his wife faced a bureaucratic backlog. "After about three or four weeks I got a primary care doctor," said Perez, who added that he and his wife had to navigate the healthcare system at Walter Reed essentially on their own. He said he waited a year after arriving at Walter Reed to undergo surgery for his injuries. The Perezes said they don't want to dwell on the negative aspects of their story, but want to help others who may be going through something similar. "If there is anything that the both of us walked away from this with, is knowing how we can help other families in the same situation," said Sara. They also said that a lot has changed at Walter Reed since Perez first arrived there in March 2006. "The experience is not what someone would go through there today," said Sara. "There are so many family assistance officers and liaison officers. It's a very different experience now." But they also hope that by sharing their story, continual improvements will be made to the system that oversees care for those wounded overseas. "This was two years ago and we're far from that now," said Perez. "Two years from now, we'll be even better than where we are now."
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