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Wes Hixon gets pushed into his new retrofitted van by his sister-in-law, Rachael Guberlet, on Sunday. The 24-year-old Iraq war veteran was presented with an early Christmas gift by the Wheels for Warriors organization recently.
Christmas shopping just got a lot easier for Wes Hixon.
On Dec. 5, the 24-year-old disabled veteran received a retrofitted Chevy Uplander courtesy of Wheels for Warriors. Since 2005, this national program, an offshoot of Operation Support Our Troops, has given 17 vans to veterans who’ve been wounded while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.However, Dec. 5 marked the first time a recipient has been from the West Coast.
Program chairman Steve Middleton said the modified vans give paralyzed vets the freedom to do simple things, like go to the grocery store. He was part of the crowd that gathered at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center to present the vehicle to Hixon. “It was very emotional,” Middleton said. Cindy Hval, SR. Full Story.
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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.
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Stickman on December 24 at 4:55 p.m.
Yes, many.
Stickman on December 25 at 2:48 p.m.
It’s very nice to see a Vet honored in this way. Hopefully it makes his life that much easier.