www.esryle.comLOCAL NEWS ACROSS THE NATION
Posted on 11/11/2004 12:37:12 AM PST by esryle
OMAHA, Neb. -- A local soldier who helped defend freedom in Iraq needs a little help himself.
James Lathan Jr., 27, was paralyzed from the neck down when shrapnel from a mortar hit him in the back of the neck. Wednesday, his family and friends are holding a fund-raiser dinner to help build a ramp to his home.
Lathan is in a VA hospital in Boston. His wife, Amy Lathan, said that considering what he's been through, her husband is doing very well.
"He's always joking and laughing. He's able to get up in a wheelchair now," she said. "He says to me, 'There's no reason to whine about it or you'll never get out of bed. Never move forward. You have to keep moving forward.'"
James Lathan III is proud of his father, and has asked his mother for a wheelchair for Christmas -- just like his dad.
"I just don't want him to see his daddy as any different when his dad came back," Amy said. "He told everyone, 'My daddy's a hero and that's all I can hope for.'"
The benefit dinner is at Skinner Magnet School, on North 33rd Street, from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday.
fyi
I understand that donations can be made at any Commercial Federal Bank.
Can you give an address so that I may send him donation?
Skinner Magnet School hosts a pre-Veterans Day Pancake Dinner to benefit Sgt. James Lathan, who was paralyzed while serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq, Wednesday, November 10, from 5 to 7 p.m. The school's address is 4304 N. 33rd St. Also, donations can be made at any Commercial Federal Bank.
Bump for follow-up.
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