FIGHTING TO SERVE OTHERS DAV’s Outstanding Disabled Veteran of the Year honored for overcoming incredible odds and serving as an inspiration for others By Matt Saintsing dam Greathouse enlisted in the Army in 1999 and, for him, the military proved to be more than a job. It provided a worthy career and lifestyle that meshed well with his personality. Being part of a team, working to accomplish a mission, and excelling at physical fitness contributed to the fulfillment he couldn’t find as a civilian. “I was built for it,” he said. “As soon as I joined, I knew I was a lifer.” But fate had other plans. According to Greathouse, when he deployed to Kosovo in 2001, he suffered a chemical burn that ate holes in his lungs. The toxins, which he suspects were left from the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, mixed with the sand and dust, forming billowing clouds that engulfed the tank Greathouse was riding in, filling the air— and his lungs—with a deadly substance. His symptoms began with tightness in his chest. Next came hallucinations and labored breathing. Within hours, Greathouse woke up in his barracks room, unable to stand. A medic rushed Greathouse to the Camp Bondsteel medical tent, where his breathing stopped entirely. He Adam Greathouse poses with an M-16 during a field was flown to Germany. His last memory of that time exercise at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, was of a nurse instructing him to count back from 10 Calif. He fell in love with military life before being as anesthesia took hold. exposed to toxins while deployed to Kosovo in 2001. A
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FIGHTING TO SERVE OTHERS
Matt Saintsing
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