Jerald Majetich, United States Marine Corps, United States Army
Jerald Majetich has served in the Marine Corps, Army, and the Indiana National Guard. Jerald started his military career in 1998 at the Marine Corp Recruit Depot in San Diego, California. He was assigned to the Marine Corps Security Forces (MCSF) aboard the USS Saratoga, NAS May port, Florida. He served as the Security team leader and Captains orderly during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in 1992.
Jerald served in the Army from 1993 to 1998. He attended the Finance and Accounting School, Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1999, Jerald joined the Indiana National Guard. While serving in the National Guard his unit was mobilized to Iraq.
In October of 2005, his vehicle was struck with an IED and he was medically evacuated to Landstuhl, Germany where he was stabilized. He was later transported to Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC), Fort Sam Houston, Texas on November 2, 2005. His injuries are 35% Total Body Surface (TBS) burns, 100% face and scalp burns, the loss of both ears and a portion of his nose. Complete amputation of right pinky and thumb, amputation down to the first joint of the remaining three fingers, fingertip amputation of all four fingers of the left hand. He also suffered severe muscle loss and damage to the right arm and shoulder. Jerald’s breast plate was forced into his stomach during the blast, which resulted in the loss of 1/3 of his small intestines and 1/4 of his stomach. Upon evacuation from Iraq, he was wounded by gun shots to the rear upper right leg. He also fractured his spine in three places along the L4 and L5 lumbar region.
Jerald was awards several awards for his service. He received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart in 2006. Jerald is hoping that the training the Wallstreet Warfighters Foundation is providing will equip him with the tools needed to provide for his family.