Brett Miller: 2017 Courage Award Recipient Connects Veterans with Wounded Warrior Project
Part of the reason Brett was chosen is his hard work and dedication to those around him, even while managing injuries sustained during his time in the Army.
NEW YORK (June 14, 2017) – At the 2017 Courage Awards and Benefit Dinner, Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) recognized warriors and partners who have dedicated time and effort to change the lives of the warriors served by WWP. Army veteran Brett Miller, who was seriously wounded in 2004, received the highest honor for the evening.
The Courage Award is given to a warrior who embodies the values of WWP. The most humbling part of the award, Brett said, was who chose him to be the recipient.
“It’s something that’s chosen by your peers,” Brett said. “To be chosen among the peers here in this room is unbelievable. I’m beyond honored.”
Part of the reason Brett was chosen is his hard work and dedication to those around him, even while managing injuries sustained during his time in the Army.
“I was conducting security operations when a roadside bomb went off six feet from the door of our Humvee,” Brett said. “I smelled sulfur, and the sky went black. It all goes blank for me from there.”
The impact shook Brett with such force that he suffered a traumatic brain injury, brain bleed, and multiple other wounds. It rendered Brett paralyzed on his left side. During his recovery, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, which he described as “a fit of mental rage.”
But Brett’s can-do attitude and drive to help fellow wounded service members led him to start his nonprofit organization, Warfighter Outfitters. He often partners with WWP, taking groups of veterans on extraordinary hunting and fishing trips throughout the western United States, including Hells Canyon, Snake River, Jackson Hole, Salmon River, and Yellowstone National Park.
“Several years ago, I saw a need in the Pacific Northwest,” Brett said during his acceptance speech. “My deal was hunting and fishing, so I thought, ‘let’s get some more trips started.’ It’s what I knew how to do; I could hunt, and I could fish, so I wanted to get these guys out. I learned more in the last several years of guiding disabled veterans than I thought I could ever learn. And the only reason I was able to do that was because Wounded Warrior Project honored and empowered me.”
Brett’s nonprofit organization served over 2,000 veterans last year, and for him, working to save lives is what drives him because he knows how it feels to have someone there for him.
“I would be dead or in prison if it wasn’t for Wounded Warrior Project,” Brett admits. “The biggest thing on my checklist when I wake up is to try and be that guy who finds at least one guy on his path to recovery. I try and make small missions the goal for the day – to help one warrior who’s never heard of Wounded Warrior Project, to find their way. That’s what their logo means to me because that’s what they did for me.”
Events like the Courage Awards & Benefit Dinner provide the critical support necessary for WWP to offer warriors a range of specialized programs and services – all tailored to each veteran’s specific needs – free of charge. To learn more about how WWP’s programs and services connect, serve, and empower wounded warriors, visit https://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org.
Contact: Mattison Brooks – Public Relations
Email: mbrooks@woundedwarriorproject.org
Phone: 904.646.6897
About Wounded Warrior Project
Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) connects, serves, and empowers wounded warriors. Read more at https://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org.