Mojito In The Sun,

Althea Appleby

My Bio
My name is SGT Howard Appleby, served 7 years in the U.S. Army as a Combat Engineer, conducting Route Reconnaissance Clearance and Security Operation. My primary duty and responsibilities were to support any maneuver task force by clearing Improvise Explosives Device. With all that, I had two deployments to Iraq in 2003 and 2007, and during those times, I had to supervise and examined blast areas to determine the amounts of explosive charges needed to complete the task. I also had to conduct recon missions by using a different communication monitoring system to investigate suspicious persons and situations of any illegal activities.
During my deployments, I

got hurt twice while conducting a routine patrol. An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) first hit my squad vehicle on August 13, 2004, where I suffered from headache and back injured. I was also hurt during my second deployment 2007 while investigating a possible IED. My vehicle (Husky) was blown up; however, I was strong enough to stay alive. I did not lose any limb, but I thank God every day of my life that I was able to stay focused after hitting my head and loosing conscious for a couple of minutes. I try not to remember those days, but it was a part of my job to prevent and control crime against innocent citizens and to protect our nation from terrorism.
As of today, I can decently say; I did my duty and served with honor with my

brothers and sisters in arms. During my recovery process, the Army assigned me to the Wounded Transition Unit (WTU) in Fort Hood, TX, where I got enough medical treatment for PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury, Cognitive Disorder, and Headache Syndrome.
God is good, and Iʼm happy to be alive today. Thank you, everyone.