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Asset
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Dallas
Posts: 39
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Disabled Iraq War Vet Becomes Florida Officer
This guy makes me proud to be a LEO.
http://www.officer.com/web/online/Top-News-Stories/Disabled-Iraq-War-Vet-Becomes-Florida-Officer/1$45732
Jason Recio stood in the gunner position, partially exposed in the Humvee when the ambush started and the bomb went off.
The explosion rocked the men and tore through Recio's legs to the bone. He collapsed as the unit's medic, also wounded, tried to help him.
It was about midnight on July 5, 2003, and the men of Charlie Company were under attack on the dark street in Ramadi, Iraq.
Recio, of Miami, would spend the next three years in the hospital undergoing countless surgeries. Doctors told him he might never walk or run.
On Friday, a world removed from Iraq and his dire diagnosis, Recio, 27, stood in his crisp navy blue uniform, raised his right hand and was sworn in as a Coral Gables police officer. He is believed to be the first fully disabled Iraqi vet to become a police officer.
His wife, Patricia, pinned on his badge while 15-month-old daughter Isabella watched from the front row. He was joined by family, officers who had mentored him, soldiers who fought with him and the prosthetic lab technician who worked with him.
"I never thought I could get to this point," he said after the ceremony. "It's been a hard struggle."
GOING TO IRAQ
Recio, a 1999 graduate of Christopher Columbus High School, enlisted in 2000. He was part of Charlie Company of the First Battalion of the 124th Infantry Regiment of the Florida National Guard, based in North Miami.
The company was activated on Jan. 16, 2003, and arrived in Baghdad in April. From there, they went to Ramadi.
"Essentially when we got there, it was like the wild, wild west," said Lt. Ben Baar, who was injured that night. "There were gunfights every day."
On July 5, five soldiers were working a traffic control checkpoint. Within seconds, they were hit.
"I didn't realize my hand got hurt," said Ramiro Mayorga, the unit's medic. "I went to grab my M-16. I looked over to Recio. He tried to stay up. He held out as long as he could. He collapsed."
Recio, who received a Purple Heart, doesn't remember much from the night or the days that followed as he was taken to hospitals in Kuwait and Germany, and then to Walter Reed Army Medical Center outside Washington, D.C.
"He lost his right calf, he was shot through the right knee," said his wife, Patricia. "He's had muscle grafts, skin grafts, he wears braces on both his legs."
He's had more than 20 surgeries.
"I never thought he'd come as far as he has, but at the same time, I knew he would because of his perseverance," she said.
Before serving in Iraq, Recio thought he wanted to be a firefighter or a paramedic when he returned. Then he realized he really wanted to be a cop.
"It seemed more natural to rush in and protect people," he said. "I had my fill of hospitals."
RETURN TO MIAMI
When he came back to Miami, Recio went to a couple of activities with Operation Support our Wounded Warriors and soon discovered a mentor -- Miami-Dade police Maj. Greg Terp.
"He showed interest in being a police officer, but we didn't know if he'd be able to do it," Terp recalled.
Recio applied at a couple of local departments. Coral Gables accepted him first.
"As a police officer, he brings an understanding toward fellow citizens," Terp said. "He'll understand people going through tough times. He can go in there and say you're going through tough times, here's what you need to do."
He was hired last summer and passed all of the physical requirements for an officer.
On Friday, Coral Gables Interim Police Chief Richard J. Naue Jr. swore in Recio along with three fellow classmates -- communications operator Jeidy Fragoso and Officers Eric Plescow and Geisy Farinas.
Miami-Dade Police Department Assistant Director James Loftus presented him with a refurbished M-1 rifle, a World War II-era weapon.
"While this rifle is really one of endless possibilities, the future of this rifle is absolutely certain. From today forward it will reside with one of our most cherished members of the next greatest generation who embodies all the things we hope for in our youth," said Loftus, president of the Police Officer Assistance Trust. "Courage, commitment, pride, integrity and maybe most of all an absolute inability to take no for an answer."
Said Recio: "There are 4,500 vets who have been wounded, who have come back who are more deserving of this award. The war is still going on. Every veteran should be given the chance to pursue their dreams like I have been given my chance."
McClatchy-Tribune Information Service
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