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| Joey, Erin and Temperance Blackmon are shown with Joey's PTSD companion, Chaos. |
During a June 24 evening Kickoff Reception for the
September 7 Tidewater Patriot Day Charity Golf Tournament, Folds of
Honor Foundation Vice President Major Ed Pulido, Ret., will present a
Folds of Honor Scholarship to Temperance Blackmon, daughter of Erin and
Joseph Blackmon. The Tidewater tournament helps to fund a number of
nonprofit organizations, including the Folds of Honor Foundation (www.foldofhonor.org), which provides "scholarships and assistance to spouses and children of those killed or disabled in service to America."
According
to Bill Pearson, Tidewater Patriot Day Charity Golf Tournament
Director, Temperance Blackmon's father, Joseph (Joey) Blackmon,
graduated from high school in June of 2001. He had completed one of
life’s passages and felt the joy of that accomplishment mixed with the
good anticipation of what the future had in store for him. While
enjoying a summer of fun, dreaming of a world of opportunities, and
planning his next step in life, the horrible events of 9/11 unfolded.
Determined to defend and protect his country, Joey joined the military.
Joey
was sent to basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, MO, and was stationed
with A Co, 105th Combat Engineer Battalion and was activated for
deployment to Iraq in March 2003. On arrival to his combat theater in
Iraq he was tasked as Route Security for a period of 13 months in which
he experienced on a daily basis major rocket fire, mortar attacks and
several IED blasts. During this period, his vehicle was hit by an IED,
causing a commercial bus to slam violently into his vehicle, and
resulting in severe trauma to him. After recovering from his injuries,
Joey completed this combat tour and also returned and served with a
Heavy Equipment Unit on their embedded Recon and Tactics Team.
Joey's
combat tours took a heavy toll on his well-being as he continued to
struggle with the effects of combat. He has been diagnosed with Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He was recently medically discharged
and awarded 100% service connected benefits for PTSD.
Over
the past six years during his readjustment process, Joey has been
homeless, separated from his family and continuously dealing with the
demons of combat. Today, he is in a better place, with help from his
family, his service dog named Chaos, who has saved his life several
times, a family community, and the Folds of Honor that supports him and
his family. Joey Blackmon will always face stress from his memories of
war, but he is now ready to move forward into the next phase of his
life.
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| The Blackmons pose with other area families whose children previously received Folds of Honor Foundation scholarships |
