Current Sentinels Photo Gallery

Sgt. Joey Bozik

Joey Bozik was riding in the passenger seat of a Hummer in Iraq when the front tire ran over a bomb planted by insurgents. Joey lost both legs and one arm, and now uses a wheelchair or prosthetic legs to get around. But that hasn t stopped him from becoming the Sentinels of Freedom Ambassador, or kept him off the golf course.






Spc. Jake Brown

Army veteran Jake Brown accepted the first Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship in 2004. Crushed by a tank while on a night training mission in Germany, he was in a coma for 10 days, and wasn t expected to live. But now, he is back in his hometown, and he is thriving.






Sgt. Ben Crowley

Ben Crowley was injured while on combat patrol in Afghanistan when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off. The blast shattered both his legs, and his right leg had to be amputated.









Jonathan Chase Gean

Jonathan Chase Gean - known to his family and friends as Chase - was serving in Afghanistan when his unit was ambushed. The Americans were with a squad of Afghanistan soldiers near the Pakistan border when the Afghans left them near a village. Sniper fire rang out soon after.








Joe Fowler

Staff Sergeant Joseph Fowler went to Iraq as a dog handler. It was his job to look for explosives and to assist with door to door searches in city neighborhoods. He was assigned to the 148th Police Detachment at Fort Carson, and attached to the 10th Mountain Division. Joe was injured in December of 2005 in Bagdad when he and his police dog were on their way to a nearby warehouse to screen election ballot boxes.









Ian Newland

Ian Newland was injured in December 2006 while his unit was patrolling an area in Adhamiyah - in northeast Bagdad. An insurgent threw a hand grenade into the Humvee that Ian and four other soldiers were riding in. 19 year old Ross McGinnis, the gunner on board, first tried to deflect the grenade, but it fell inside the vehicle. When he saw no one was going to be able to get out in time, McGinnis used his body to shield the others from the deadly blast. He was killed instantly. The others survived.







Sgt. Manuel Valencia

Known to his family and friends as Manny, Manuel Mendoza-Valencia was presented a Purple Heart after he lost both legs while serving in Iraq. An Army Combat Engineer, Valencia was on board an armored personal carrier when an n Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off.