The twin towers terrifyingly tumbling to earth in his hometown, the whole world suddenly a very scary place, Freddie de los Santos was instantly determined to make amends. He would enroll in the Army. He would protect his family and his neighbors, wherever he had to travel to do it.
“I’m from New York City,” said de los Santos of the most painful Sept. 11th in U.S. history. “I was hurting. I took it personally. I wanted to do something to make a difference.”
Most of us felt that way. But how many actually acted? How many were willing to say good-bye to family and friends and jobs to serve a greater good?
But de los Santos wasn’t most of us. A graphics designer by trade, a husband and father of two, he nevertheless joined the Army. He became a Special Ops Staff Sargent. He wound up in Afghanistan. On April 20, 2008, he began living a nightmare.
“A RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) hit our patrol,” he recalled on Friday, three days before his scheduled ride in today’s hand cycling national championship criterium. “I lost my right leg. I was in the hospital for two years.”