Wounded Soldier Guides Other Wounded As He Continues To Serve (NAPSA)—Staff Sgt. Giovanni Pascascio will always remember July 8, 2007. “You kinda remember the day you got blown up.” During his second deployment to Iraq, a truck full of explosives detonated near his squad’s convoy. Pascascio sustained second- and third-degree burns over 30 percent of his body, shrapnel woundsto his head and face, and inhalation injuries from thefire. After nearly surgeries and rehabilitation, he After significant injuries in Iraq, Staff Sgt. Giovanni Pascascio discovered how much more he can still offer the Army while recovering at a WTU. Transition Battalion (WTB). on Active Duty (COAD) status, a oped a personalized Comprehen- ing certain criteria to continue a month and a half, he woke up at Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas. After was discharged to its Warrior At the WTB, Pascascio devel- program that allows soldiers meet- spiritual, emotional, family and serving. He was assigned to the 7th Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy in Grafenwoehr, Germany to develop plans for accommodating wounded,ill and injured soldiers at the academy. He mentored manyof them, relying heavily on his own recovery experience. who was also a wounded vet. He accomplish a lot,” Pascascio said. chological wounds.” Pascascio Army’s most severely wounded, ill sive Transition Plan with short- and long-term goals across six domains oflife: physical, social, career. He participated in adaptive reconditioning programs, including archery, which helped him recover mentally and physically. “Archery was good becauseit's “I know what they’ve been about patience. You need to take through, and I was ableto say I've your time, be smooth and steady,” been there. I've done that. These Pascascio explained. “We had a guys may not be able to do everyreally great coach, Skip Dawson, thing physically, but they can knew how hard it was trying to Pascascio currently serves at recover from being hurt, and how the Army Wounded Warrior Proto deal with emotional and psy- gram (AW2), supporting the competed in regional and state archery competitions, winning gold in the 2009 Endeavor Games. These accomplishments helped Pascascio understand that he had more to offer the Army. After a Physical Evaluation Board found him physically “unfit” for duty, Paseascio applied for Continuation andinjured soldiers, veterans and their families. To learn more about the Army's 29 Warrior Transition Units (WTU) and nine CommunityBased WTUs and how they support wounded,ill and injured sol- diers and their families, visit www.WTC.army.mil.
