11/09/07 Veteran for Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day is this Sunday; I'll be right back to tell you about veteran Jake Lowery. Jake Lowery was nearly killed in Fallujah, Iraq over six months ago and is now at an Anchorage, Alaska Army base recuperating from a shrapnel wound that destroyed his right eye and punctured his skull. But Jake isn't just sitting around to heal; he's back sitting in a saddle roping steers in rodeo competition. Jake grew up in a rodeo family in New Mexico and actually started competing at age six. By the time Jake was a young man he was a top rodeo competitor, but he enlisted in the Army in 2005 and was later shipped to Alaska to train for a tour in Iraq. While in Alaska he met Charlie and Nancy Willis who have a roping arena near Anchorage. The Willis and Jake became good friends and when Jake was returned to Alaska the Willis were there to provide that special help, horses and a roping arena to aid in Jake's recovery. With eyesight in only one eye and a problem with depth perception, Jake has retrained himself to rope. Retraining really doesn't describe how much Jake has accomplished. He has won the all-around title in the Kenai Peninsula's Cowboy Roundup Rodeo series and is in the national top ten of the Professional Armed Forces Rodeo Association. Jake, I thank you for your service. I'm grateful that friends, horses, and rodeo were there to help you with your physical and emotional recovery and you should know that every American rancher is proud of you and all our veterans. I'm Jeff Keane. America's Horse November 2007