The email below was sent to us by a friend.
I am asking for your help. My son-in-law Gunnery Sergeant Samuel Deeds, was nominated and to have the Indianapolis Brickyard 400 Nascar event this year named in his honor. See http://yourherosnamehere.nascar.com/ – you can vote once per day.
Sam is a medically retired, highly decorated 15 year Marine veteran, and has seen combat in Panama Canal, Grenada, Haiti, Iran, Afghanistan, and many other conflicts. He survived two IED’s in Iraq. In the last explosion, Sam spotted what looked to him like a possible roadside bomb. He drove his Humvee between the bomb and his troops to shield them from the blast. In the process, Sam was blown from the front of the Humvee to the back, losing 4 inches of the bone above his right ankle and massive shrapnel metal all over his body. He right leg is now held together by a titanium rod. It was later discovered that he also had internal issues, and during surgery, the doctor mistakenly cut out the bile ducts from his liver. He now lives with chronic infections and frequent surgeries, due to these internal issues, not to mention the leg injury.
Shortly after one of many surgeries to his abdomen, Sam was on vacation in the Carolinas, when swimmers were caught in a riptide. Sam risked his life and healing incision to swim out to the victims, a father and his small children. He dove down into the surf and pull them onto a raft, holding them until help could arrive – saving this man’s life. Sam later found out the man was from Cincinnati, Ohio.
These are just of few of Sam’s selfless deeds, for which Sam has received awards and medals. Sadly, Sam’s injuries prevent him from working as he is regular hospitalized and will have many more surgeries in the future to deal with his war injuries. When Crown Royal heard Sam’s story they choose him to be one of the 5 finalist for their Your Hero’s Name Here Brickyard 400 contest.
If you feel so moved, please vote for Samuel Deeds of Independence, KY at the link below. You can vote once per day. A video of each of the contest finalists will be posted next week at the site.
http://yourherosnamehere.nascar.com/
Sam and I would appreciate it if you can spread the word (and vote as often as possible).
Thank you for your help.
My name is Samuel Deeds, I am a retired Gunnery Sergeant from the Marine Corps. A lot of the info in this post is wrong and I would like to correct it for you. First I am not old enough to have seen combat in the Panama Canal or Grenada. I have not been to either Iran or Afghanistan. I did however see combat in Haiti and Iraq. I was severely wounded by an IED but most of the shrapnel was to my left side. It took a half inch of bone not four inches. Lastly pertaining to the ocean rescue I pulled one man onto the raft and directed a rescue team to the other two. The man is from NC not Cincinnati. Thank you for your time