A feel good Story

As you know, my job is to reach out to webmasters and give them free shit. It's a pretty sweet gig most of the time, but not always very meaningful or gratifying...until yesterday. I partnered up with Jonathan from Patriotic Mind, to give away a free office chair from CSN Office Furniture, to a disabled veteran in need. Jonathan sent out a twitter message announcing the contest, asking for a short write-up from a disabled veteran in need of a more comfortable work setting. The response was overwhelming, but one message in particular stood out above the rest. It was written by Jeremy Brent, a disabled Vietnam veteran who loves connecting with people over the computer. Only problem is, his thrift store office chair further induces his pain which prevents him from sitting on the chair for more than an hour at a time. Jeremy's message is as follows:

My name is Jeremy Brent. I am a disabled vet, with pension paper to prove it. I would love one of those chairs! The piece of thrift store junk I've been using leaves me in horrible pain, if I stay at my computer too long, but being online is one of my only pleasures in this isolated rural area. I sure hope that this offer is for real.

My service was in the U.S. Army during '66-'67 and I was a tank gunner (11 Echo MOS) in the 3rd Battalion of the 32nd Armored Division. Occasionally, some of my helicopter pilot buddies borrowed me to ride in the door and man the machinegun. We moved around a lot at the time.

I was injured when I got knocked off of my tank in a minor skirmish, breaking a knee and I found out later about a back injury. I was later transferred to Germany and reassigned to the 5th Battalion of the 32nd Armored Division, where I remained until discharge.

I went up and down the rank and pay grades, not being overly concerned about the rank at the end, since I wasn't retiring and it wasn't going to be important. I did reach the rank of Specialist 4 (e-4) at one point.

I did my job to the best of my ability. Others did better and many did a lot more. I wasn't a hero; others earned that honor and served with far more distinction than I did. I made it back alive.

I am absolutely struck by this e-mail, by Jeremy's humility and the self-less way he describes his experiences. Because of this, we are sending Jeremy a fully ergonomic chair with lumbar support and a footrest. In my opinion, this is a well-deserved prize for a disabled veteran like Jeremy.

If you want to see the post, check it out here at Patriotic Mind. Thanks to Jonathan and CSN Office Furniture for allowing me to take part in this giveaway.