Outside of Baghdad on September 12, 2004, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive near the convoy carrying National Guard Lieutenant Chris Justice. He sustained massive injuries to one of his arms and had to be flown to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC for extensive skin grafts.
His wife, Tina, and their two children flew from Wisconsin to the hospital to be by his side. Although a huge boost to Justice’s morale, it was an expense the family could ill afford. The wounded soldier would have had it no other way. “I figured I had the rest of my life to make up this financial burden,” he remarked. “How I was going to do it, I had no idea.”
While searching avenues for financial assistance, he learned of Unmet Needs and applied. He had seen so many of his comrades in the hospital who were much worse off and resigned himself to having his application denied.
Not only was the application accepted, Dave Behrend, the Unmet Needs administrator for Wisconsin, personally delivered a check for $2,500 shortly before the holidays.
“It’s a fabulous Christmas present,” Justice said, elated. “This has helped take some of the financial burden from the debt that my family and I accrued from this deployment. Unmet Needs has helped a lot.”