Daniel Acosta

My name is Daniel Acosta and I was born on 18 June 1984, in Joliet, IL. I resided in Joliet, IL for eighteen years and attended Joliet Central High School. Post graduation I joined the U.S. Air Force on 10 December 2002. In October of 2003 I graduated from Naval Explosive Ordinance Disposal School, which is one of the toughest schools in the military. Upon graduation I was stationed at Hill AFB, UT. There I spent the next 3 years working and training for combat. On June 17, 2004 I got married to Sandra Sanchez and became stepfather of daughter Alexis. On March 7, 2004 my wife gave birth to our daughter Sophia.

On September of 2005 I deployed to Baghdad, Iraq. My job on a daily basis was to go on missions throughout Baghdad to render safe IED's (improvised explosive devices) by disarming, countercharging, or neutralizing by other means. On a routine mission to render safe a roadside IED, my teammate and I disarmed two IED's and were getting ready to leave but I had a gut feeling that there was another IED at that scene. I told my teammate that we cannot leave without at least searching the area, "I don't feel like dying today".

For us time on scene was critical because it allows time for insurgents to counter-attack us. As I was sweeping the area with the mine detector I looked back at my security team member and told him to get back on the road because he was too close to me, if something happens you don't need to get hurt. That was the last thing I remember, the date was December 7, 2005.

An IED meant for a vehicle went off 20 ft. to my left side. The IED was two 122mm projectiles with a wooden pressure plate containing a micro switch as the initiator. The post blast analysis determined that IED was set off by me stepping on the pressure plate and was undetectable because the wooden pressure plate and the projectile were separated by 20ft.

The injuries I sustained were a traumatic left arm amputation, 18% third degree burns to both legs, damage to right femoral artery, shrapnel damage to abdomen, and severe blood loss. The doctor gave me a 25% chance of living and if I made it through the first surgery I'll have a 50% chance of living.

I beat the odds and the next memory I have was waking up on December 11, 2005 at Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas. The first person I saw was my wife. She was the one to tell me what happened, where I was, and the true extent of my traumatic injuries. That very moment my road to recovery began and is currently ongoing. The first significant progress in my recovery was learning to walk and since then it's been all uphill.

When I got to the point in my recovery to where I felt my normal self minus the physical losses, I realized what is important in life and what I want to do with it. The most important part of it was my family and there was a chance that I would never see them again. My wife and I wanted to complete our family with trying to have a boy, well we were blessed. On January 19, 2007 my wife gave birth to our son Mario Daniel.

I separate from the Air Force within the next 6 months, so my immediate goal is to find a house in San Antonio that will be affordable and comfortable. Once we have a home and are established I will concentrate on finishing college and graduate with a degree in business. From there I will continue to work and provide for my family.

My goals are ones that will be met because of my determination to move on from what happened to me. The way I see it, I have been given a second chance with a new outlook on life to become the person I want to be and provide for my wife and children to give them the opportunities I did not have growing up.

Please assist me and my family making out dreams become a true reality, any support given would be greatly appreciated and will take me and my family to another level in life.

Hope For The Warriors® assisted with $5000 toward the down payment on the Acosta's new home and $5000 towards furnishings. It is a privledge to provide help to a family whose outlook on their future is bright despite the challenges they face