Paralyzed Veterans of America Blog

It’s a camaraderie that I can’t really explain and I hadn’t really found since the Air Force until I went to the PVA Women’s Retreat, even though I had been searching and searching.Growing up in a Marine Corps family, a military career always made sense to Air Force Veteran Tonya. After college, and shortly after […]

 “My life can serve as an example of being strong, positive, and never surrendering the fighting spirit.”Veterans in combat can come away with any number of illnesses and injuries, both mental and physical. While serving in Operation Desert Storm, Army Veteran Michael had many experiences that continue to impact him today. Throughout his career, Michael sought […]

Maria has always wanted to serve.  When she was in high school in the early 1970s, she wrote a letter to West Point to request an application. They told her they didn’t accept female applicants.   Women were also not yet allowed to participate in ROTC. Undeterred, she joined the Women’s Army Corps.  “I was […]

U.S. Navy Veteran Tony was diagnosed with MS in 2005, the same year he was expecting twin boys. Tony had been a lieutenant when he was on his first operational deployment to Bahrain. While there, he played soccer and worked out, but noticed he was having a lot of weakness and fatigue. He thought it […]

When he was just 22 years old, U.S. Coast Guard Veteran and PVA member Kaleb took a $100 bet that changed his life. Friends dared him to jump off a pier. He was young and he figured he’d do it – it’s $100, right?  Kaleb dove in headfirst, but hit the bottom, shattering several vertebrae. […]

When Marine Corps Veteran Todd Kemery was injured during a surfing accident at just 21 years old, he assumed things would go back to normal when he got out of the hospital.  “I didn’t realize the seriousness of my injury until my father walked through the door of my hospital room,” Todd said. “I couldn’t […]

The force of nature known as Ann Adair served in the U.S. Army for fourteen years. She was a reservist in a Civil Affairs Unit that served all over the world during emergencies and war situations. While on active duty, she fell numerous times, injuring her back and knees. She now relies on a cane, […]

U.S. Navy veteran and California PVA chapter member Darryl Lair has lived his life by one message: focus on what you can do, and not on what you can’t.   After a motorcycle accident that put him in a wheelchair 29 years ago, Darryl has consistently passed along that message to others – most specifically, kids with disabilities. […]

Army wife Bobbie Guinn remembers the heartbreak she felt when she told her children that their father would never walk again. “I remember driving down the road in the car with my children and my daughter asking how her daddy was going to walk her down the aisle someday,” Bobby says. I remember telling her, […]

Military service is a family affair, and one of the primary motivators for Bobby Fecteau to join the United States Army in 1999. Fecteau says, “I was motivated by a legacy of service in our family, primarily following in my father’s footsteps to serve my country.”  Fecteau served in the Army for eight years, before […]