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Freedom’s Price: Wounded veteran says she’d ‘do it again’ to defend America
U.S. Army Sgt. Kendra Coleman always knew she wanted to join the military, a decision that was further emphasized by Sept. 11, 2001.
And after everything that Coleman sacrificed for the U.S., the 25-year-old Cinco Ranch resident said she wouldn’t do anything differently.
“The No. 1 question I get is if I knew today what was going to happen, would I do it again?” Coleman said. “It’s important for people to know that I’d do it again to keep America safe from terrorists.”
Coleman lost her left leg, suffered two traumatic brain injuries as well as internal injuries during her service as a military police paratrooper in Afghanistan.
An American hero from Jackson, Ga., Coleman was awarded several medals, including two Purple Hearts, an Army Achievement Medal and a Combat Action Badge.
Coleman is grateful for the Katy and Fort Bend County communities. Helping A Hero, a non-profit organization that builds homes for severely wounded military personnel, built Coleman a home in Cinco Ranch.
“(My husband, Anthony Garza) and I really enjoy the area,” Coleman said. “The community is awesome. Whenever I got home, they did a big welcoming home ceremony. I really want to thank all of the people for welcoming me and Anthony with open arms.”
Coleman was recently elected to the Helping A Hero board. On July 5, she threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Sugar Land Skeeters professional baseball game at Constellation Field in Sugar Land.
“That was awesome,” Coleman said. “It was really an honor to be out there and throw the first pitch. Fort Bend County is an awesome community.”
During the game, the Skeeters raised $6,165 for Helping A Hero through a silent jersey auction.
“Helping A Hero came in my life and changed it,” Coleman said. “They built (the house) fully handicapped accessible (and a local furniture company) donated all furniture to the house. Everything in my house is top of the line. They donated beautiful furniture to the house.”
Coleman is an area manager for Arbonne, and she’s working on a communications degree at University of the Houston and Jones International University.
Her ultimate goal is a Master’s degree in prosthetics.
“I think I have a lot to offer to soldiers who are injured over there,” Coleman said.
Coleman joined the Army in 2007 and attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. That’s where she knew she wanted to be a paratrooper.
She attended Airborne School at Fort Benning, Ga., and was stationed in Bamberg, Germany, before being deployed to Charkh, Afghanistan, in November 2009.
On April 4, 2010, a vehicle in which Coleman and fellow soldiers were traveling was blown up by an improvised explosive device (IED). She suffered a traumatic brain injury, hearing loss as well as cuts and bruises.
Due to those injuries, Coleman had an opportunity to return to the base in Germany or stateside.
“I didn’t want to leave,” Coleman said. “(Your fellow soldiers are) like your family. You’d rather tough it out and stay there with them. I could have left, but didn’t. I wanted to stay there. If my brothers and sisters were going to be at war, I wanted to be there with them.”
On May 11, 2010, Coleman was on a foot patrol in Charkh where she was on assignment to secure a known IED site, based on a tip the Army had received from local Afghan police.
“We were clearing the village,” Coleman said. “As I was clearing the village, I saw a wooden cart. I got a weird feeling and walked up to the sidewalk to the right of me.”
She went over to the wall, and the IED was activated. She suffered another traumatic brain injury, had shrapnel in her body as well as internal damages and an injured bladder.
“Whenever I heard the bomb go off, I thought it was one of my battle buddies,” Coleman said. “Everything went into slow motion. My first thought was one of my battle buddies was dead. It was me. (I said) ‘I’m not dying today’. I was covered in blood and pieces of my own flesh. I applied pressure to the artery with my hands.
“I stayed really calm and didn’t freak out. The medic that saved me, he’s having PTSD issues. He said I was one of the most calm casualties he’s ever treated. I thought ‘Oh my God, what if I don’t make it out of here?’ I couldn’t let myself continue to think about it or I’d go into a state of panic.”
Coleman was airlifted to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, then Germany, and by May 14, to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Coleman then transferred to an Army hospital in San Antonio, near where her husband is from.
She’s dealt with a great deal of health challenges, including “really bad nightmares” from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She attends physical therapy and occupational therapy classes.
Coleman said she appreciates the great support she’s received not only locally, but nationally, too.
One of those people is an individual she considers a “mentor”, Texas businessman and former U.S. presidential candidate, H. Ross Perot.
“From day one, I remember waking up to a phone call in Washington D.C. and it was Mr. Perot calling me,” Coleman said. “He has taken me under his wing and has been an awesome mentor in my life.”
She’s also met First Lady Michelle Obama and former First Lady Laura Bush, both of whom she described as “really nice.”
