Feb. 15, 2024
Wounded Warriors Family Support awarded a $30,000 vehicle grant for the purchase of 2023 Jeep Gladiator to U.S. Army Corporal Joshua Ben.
U.S. Army Corporal Joshua Ben from Clark, MO was 20 years old when his unit was ambushed in Jalrez Valley, Afghanistan, in 2007.
Specialist Joshua Lee Ben, a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, was one of 12 soldiers assigned to the 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment patrolling a village southwest of Kabul when the unit came under fire. An estimated 50 to 75 Taliban insurgents, armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, ambushed the paratroopers. Most of them were walking alongside their armored Humvee.
Joshua was initially evacuated to Bagram Airfield in Bahrain where they patched him up as best they could before flying him to an Army hospital in Germany. After surgery there he was transported to Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Joshua remained unconscious and did not know the extent of his injuries until he awoke days later. Joshua had suffered from multiple gunshot wounds and the loss of his right leg.
Wounded Warriors Family Support is an independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide support to the families of those who have been wounded, injured, or killed during combat operations. This organization is run by combat veterans for combat veterans. Rated a four-star nonprofit by Charity Navigator, Wounded Warriors Family Support aids veterans and their families in healing the wounds that medicine cannot.