OPERATION DENALI
By: Marc Hoffmeister
Team Leader, Operation Denali

I was wounded in April 2007 in a roadside bomb attack in Al Hillah, Iraq while serving with the 4 th Brigade 25 th ID (Airborne) from Fort Richardson, AK .  I sustained severe damage to my left arm, side and head.  As a result, I have mild TBI, acute stress disorder, and the titanium in my body now brings me one step closer to the bionic man but, unfortunately, without the benefits. I have extensive nerve damage and limited use of my hand and arm.  No worries though, it is manageable and I'm still around to grow old with my loving wife and family.  I work hard to keep my injuries hidden from the casual observer.  As an avid outdoorsman and endurance athlete, my wounds have redefined many things in my life, but they haven't changed who I am or what I dream to achieve. 

The reason I write this essay today is not for sympathy or in pursuit of any acknowledgement of sacrifice.  The reason is actually the complete opposite. People are severely injured every day…disabled in accidents, on the job, on the highway, you name it.  But combat wounded Soldiers, unlike the general population, receive honors, medals and the thanks of our Nation.  Everyone else is simply expected to move on and deal with it.  I have been personally overwhelmed by the recognition I've received from this community for something that, to me, is a normal and acceptable job risk. I don't think anyone joins my line of work or goes into combat actually thinking it's a safe occupation.  Through my efforts, I hope to inspire others with the story of the men in the online video ( http://www.theveteranscoalition.org/operation_denali/ ), our recovery, and our goals for the future.  I hope our aspirations will motivate others with similar obstacles, combat wounded or otherwise, to aggressively pursue their dreams.

The mission of Operation Denali is to enable four warriors wounded in the Global War on Terror to overcome our devastating combat injuries and successfully summit 20,320 ft Denali, the highest mountain in North America .  The climb symbolizes the strength of our Nation and those who defend it. 

We are a very goal oriented society.  We in the military tend to be even more so.  Most successful Soldiers are all Type A, task driven, and measure our progress through very defined metrics.  When I speak with people about Operation Denali, everyone immediately defines success as all of us achieving the summit.  While the summit is our objective (yes, I am goal oriented…), our mission is truly about the journey.  This journey will focus us, define us, and drive us to go beyond what we believe we are capable of.  This is what recovery is about and it is what I envisioned when I began Operation Denali.  When I began recruiting team members, I wasn't looking for hardened mountaineers.  I was looking for warriors in need of a mission of rediscovery.  Soldiers who had a desire to push themselves further than others expectations but no avenue by which to achieve it.  I not only found them among the ranks of our wounded service members, I was overwhelmed by the volunteers, all with impressive stories of heroism and a fire inside them yearning to be let out.  Selecting the final team was not an easy process.  I'd like to take a moment to tell you a little about each of the Warriors I will climb with next year.

This is Specialist Dave Shebib and by all rights, he should not be alive today.  He was assigned to the 1 st of the 40 th Cavalry from Fort Richardson, AK and had been in Iraq for only two months when an improvised explosive device detonated beneath him during a foot patrol in December 2006. He suffered a severed carotid artery and a mile long list of other injuries. During medevac, he survived a stroke which should have paralyzed the left side of his body. Instead, he'll be climbing Denali with me in June 2009 . Pins hold his knee together and he has to hide the scars of his face from exposure to sunlight, but Dave still considers himself lucky.  Two of his friends in the lower right picture didn't make it home at all. 

Jon Kuniholm, a former Captain in the USMC , lost his right arm in an ambush in Iraq on New Year's Day, 2005.  Before his injuries, he was an engineer, spending his free time with family, long distance running, and piloting an airplane. Following the loss of his arm, the most basic of things became a challenge: writing his name, putting on a pair of pants in the morning, tying his shoes, cutting a steak. After putting up a ceiling fan that Spring with his 5 year old son, Sam, he realized that as long as he was patient enough, he could do whatever he wanted. Realizing the deficiencies in arm prostheses, he now works as an engineer on the DARPA Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 program, and has started a non-profit called The Shared Design Alliance Open Prosthetics Project to address the lack of innovation in arm prosthetics.  That's why anytime the team has to figure out something technical….Jon gets the job.  During the video, you saw a clip of Jon and some of the team working on his prosthetic. Just like a good Marine, Jon managed to break his prosthetic several times during the time we've spent training up around Denali .  With a little ingenuity, we rebuilt it every time.  Climbing Denali should be an excellent proving ground for his own prosthetics. Jon says that the climb won't make getting dressed, eating, or anything else any easier, but it's his hope that it will make any challenge seem possible, and less of a chore to undertake.

This is Matt Nyman. Matt is a consummate warrior, currently assigned to Special Operations Command. In 2005, he was on a little bird helicopter in Iraq when it crashed.  He was tossed into the rotor, cutting off his right leg below the knee, crushing his left foot, and causing a compound femur fracture, and collapsed lungs. Matt says that it has always been his dream to climb a big mountain. Since he got hurt, it just made him want to do it even more to prove to himself that he could overcome anything. We bring Matt along becomes if someone falls in a crevasse and we have to make an expedient snow anchor, we can always just bury his leg… okay, so that was a bit of dark humor, but trust me, he suggested it!  Matt is as tough as they come.  All his training and experience in Special Operations translates pretty easily to the rigors of the mountain.  I've watched him climb things on a prosthetic leg that most people won't even attempt with four limbs.

Oh yeah, and that's me.  I'm the guy on the blame line for this whole Denali plan.  After months of hospitalization, surgeries, and the constant pain of therapy, I admit, I allowed my wounds to convince me, for a brief moment, that my dreams were gone, but not anymore.  I will climb Denali to remember who I am and for the Wounded Warrior's like me, to shrug off the limits of perception formed within the scars of our wounds.  If my fight can be an inspiration to another Warrior, then I don't want it to be a secret. And when I summit, I will have these likeminded Warriors at my side because I know that I am not alone in this desire.

Operation Denali is supported by http://www.theveteranscoalition.org/home.htm