Meet The Wounded Warriors For Saturday's Game
November 08, 2011 | Football
Texas Tech, The Wounded Warrior Project and Under Armour present the 2011 Believe In Heroes Game.
Nov. 8, 2011
TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY WOUNDED WARRIOR HONORARY CAPTAINS
LOUIS FLORES
U.S. ARMY (RET.)
Specialist (medic)
Louis Flores enlisted with the Army on April 1, 2003. He was inspired to join the military by his father and several uncles who previously served. Louis was deployed to Mosul, Iraq August 2005-July 2006 and was exposed to multiple improvised explosive devices during his tour. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder upon his return.
Born Sept. 5, 1983 in Lubbock, Texas and raised in Plainview, Texas, Louis is currently a junior at Texas Tech University majoring in exercise sports science. He hopes to attend physical therapist school and plans to get his masters degree in athletic training.
ANTHONY VILLAREAL
U.S. MARINE CORPS (RET)
Corporal
Alive Day: July 23, 2008
Anthony Villareal joined the US Marine Corps in September 2004. He served two tours of duty in Iraq from September 2005 to April 2006, and from July 2006 to March 2007. He was in Afghanistan on his third tour when he has injured by an improvised explosive device just three months in. He lost his right arm, multiple fingers on his left hand, and suffered burns on over 80 percent of his body. He endured a drug induced coma for three months and remained in the hospital for over six months.
CAPTAIN CHAD FLEMING
75TH RANGER REGIMENT
Born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama Chad decided to stay and graduate college in his hometown at the University of Alabama. While attending classes during the day, he worked the midnight shift at the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office as a Deputy Sheriff and did a short stint at the United States Secret Service office in Birmingham, AL. In the fall of 1999 he decided to enlist in the United States Army as an Airborne Ranger, after completing basic training and airborne school he arrived at the Ranger Regiment where he began a grueling month long selection process that has an attrition rate of 65%. His leadership skills and attitude earned him the honor graduate award for his class. He was then assigned to the elite 3rd Ranger battalion where he served with distinction.
In 2003 he made the decision to attend Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia where he graduated as the honor graduate and chose to take an assignment with the 4th Infantry Division in Fort Carson, Colorado. After serving for one year in the 4th Infantry Division he decided it was time to go back to the Special Operations Unit that had raised him in the Army. He once again attended another selection process within the Ranger Regiment. Upon successfully completing the Ranger Orientation Program he was selected to be a platoon leader with 3rd battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. He has served as an officer in the most demanding jobs the Ranger Regiment has to offer. During his five deployments overseas Captain Fleming has been wounded in combat on three separate occasions, most recently was in October of 2005. He has undergone 20+ surgeries which would later result in a trans-tibial amputation of his left leg.
While most would assume this type of injury would conclude ones military service, this is far from the path Captain Fleming has taken. He has deployed not once but twice since his injuries and both times he chose to go back to the same unstable area of Iraq that cost him his leg. He has even chosen to return as a Detachment Commander of a Special Operations Sniper/Reconnaissance unit and lead his men in combat missions in Iraq.
While receiving therapy and rehabilitation at the Center for the Intrepid in San Antonio, Texas he has competed in 5K runs, Triathlons and a 360 mile bike ride from San Antonio to Dallas Texas, all as an amputee. He rode his TREK bicycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles (480 miles) in October of 2008 and completed the New York City Marathon in 2009. His participation in these events supported the rangers of the 75th Ranger Regiment and their families that have been killed or wounded in action.
AWARDS AND DECORATIONS:
Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster (Two Bronze Stars)
Purple Heart with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters (Three Purple Hearts)
Meritorious Service Medal
Army Commendation Medal with "Valor" 5 Oak Leaf Clusters (6 ARCOMS)
Ranger Tab
Combat Infantryman's Badge
Parachutist Badge
Air Assault
MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT
Staff Sergeant Salvatore Augustine Giunta
B (Battle) Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, V Corps, Vicenza, Italy
Parents: Steven and Rosemary Giunta of Hiawatha, Iowa
Siblings: Younger brother Mario and younger sister Katie
Wife: Jennifer Lynn Giunta (nee Mueller)
Born: January 21, 1985, in Clinton, Iowa
Hometown: Grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he graduated from John F. Kennedy High School. Before enlisting in the Army in November 2003, he worked at a Subway Restaurant as a self-styled Sandwich Artist.
Assignments: Staff Sergeant Giunta enlisted in the U.S. Army in November 2003. He attended Infantry One Station Unit Training and the Basic Airborne Course at Fort Benning, Georgia, before being assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy, on May 24, 2004.
Staff Sergeant Giunta, who was promoted to his current rank in August 2009, has served in B (Battle) Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, V Corps, Vicenza, Italy, his entire time in the Army. He currently serves as the Rear Detachment Non-commissioned Officer-in-Charge (NCOIC) of Battle Company, responsible for the health, welfare, morale, training, and accountability of all assigned Sky Soldiers, and works side-by-side with other Rear Detachment Company NCOICs to ensure all unit family members are well taken care of while their Soldier spouse is deployed to Afghanistan during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM X.
Staff Sergeant Giunta's professionalism and proficiency is further demonstrated by his graduation from the NBC (Nuclear, Chemical, Biological) Defense Course, Unit Armorer's Course, Combat Lifesaver Course, Warrior Leader Course, and Rear Detachment Leaders Course, in addition to the Italian Airborne School.
Awards:
Medal of Honor (awarded November 16, 2010)
Bronze Star Medal
Purple Heart
Army Commendation Medal (with one bronze oak leaf cluster)
Army Achievement Medal
Army Good Conduct Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Afghanistan Campaign Medal (with one bronze service star)
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Army NCO Professional Development Ribbon
Army Service Ribbon
Army Overseas Service Ribbon
NATO Medal for ISAF (Afghanistan)
Combat Infantryman Badge
Basic Parachutist Badge
Expert Marksmanship Badge with Rifle Bar
Italian Parachutist Badge
German Parachutist Badge
British Parachutist Badge
Deployments: Staff Sergeant Giunta has participated in seven training deployments to Germany and two training deployments to the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, Hohenfels, Germany. He also participated in two combat deployments to Afghanistan. His first combat deployment was during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM VI, March 2005 to March 2006. His second combat deployment to Afghanistan was during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM VIII, May 2007 to July 2008. During this second deployment, on October 25, 2007, Staff Sergeant Giunta's platoon (in which he was then a specialist serving as a rifle team leader) was ambushed in the rugged Korengal Valley of eastern Afghanistan. For his extraordinary gallantry, unrivalled courage, and selfless leadership in action that day, Staff Sergeant Giunta was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama in a White House ceremony on November 16, 2010