By Kathy Onorato
Retired U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills (left), shows Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation Commissioner Anne L. Head, the features of his prosthetic arm. Mills is just one the five American veteran quadruple amputees from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. (Kathy Onorato photo) |
Maine’s First Lady Ann LePage and former U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills kicked off The Maine Values Veterans: Employment and Community Engagement conference in Edgecomb, which focused on helping to create jobs for Maine’s veterans.
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Maine First Lady Ann LePage smiles and waves to the audience at the Maine veterans job conference in Edgecomb Sept. 25. (Kathy Onorato photo) |
LePage and Mills, who lost all four limbs in service to his country in Afghanistan, have been working together to raise awareness of the needs of veterans and their families, which has included helping veterans get work after leaving the military.
LePage said she has made it her mission to use her position as Maine’s first lady to raise awareness of veterans’ needs by supporting programs that benefit men and women in uniform, including those that help veterans find jobs when they leave the service.
“To have veterans return from serving our country and not being able to find a job is unacceptable,” LePage said.
This past August, Mills challenged LePage to join him in a fundraising sky dive. LePage accepted the challenge and the pair jumped from a plane together at the Freedom Fest in Fort Kent to raise money for a veterans’ center and museum.
The jump was pretty scary, LePage said.
“I would do it again for veterans, but I told Paul I wouldn’t do it for him,” LePage said.
In April of 2012, Mills was critically injured on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan by an improvised explosive device. He lost parts of both legs and arms. Mills is one of only five quadruple amputees from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to survive.
Now Mills, as a way of giving back for all the support he received during his recovery, shares his story to encourage other veterans who have injuries not to lose hope.
“The best healing is going out to help others in my situation,” Mills said in his opening address at the veterans’ job conference Sept. 25.
Mills said, although many people think of him as a war hero, there was nothing heroic about what happened to him in Afghanistan.
“It was a day at work that turned ugly,” he said. “I didn’t do any more than anyone else that day.”
At the time Mills was injured, he was just 25 years old, newly married with an infant daughter.
“I had a good life all mapped out,” Mills said.
With thoughts of his daughter Chloe, now 3, and his wife Kelsey, he worried about the quality of life he and his family would have living with his disabilities. Mills said he even told his wife to take all their money and run away from the situation.
“Fortunately, she told me the vows she took meant something,” Mills said.
“If I gave up, I would have given up on my family,” he said.
While in Walter Reed Medical Center, Mills said he got a visit from another soldier who had also lost four limbs. The soldier told him, “You are going to get better.”
Mills said he began his recovery by setting goals for himself, including walking again, feeding himself, and driving again.
With prosthetic legs, seven weeks later he walked three laps around a track, much more than anyone expected, Mills said. Five months after his injury, Mills completed a 5K in New York.
“It wasn’t fun or easy,” Mills said. “But I had to know for myself I was going to be able to walk again.”
With the help of modern technology and special equipment, Mills is now able to drive a car. He has also added snowboarding, sky-diving, and mountain biking to his activities.
“I have to keep moving to keep up with my daughter,” Mills said. “Every day is a challenge, but worth taking.”
Mills has founded the Travis Mills Foundation, a nonprofit organization, which assists other wounded veterans and their families. Using his motto, “Never give up. Never quit,” Mills travels throughout the country to inspire other veterans to overcome their physical and emotional challenges.
Maine Commissioner of Labor Jeanne Paquette also spoke at the conference. Paquette said Maine has the second-largest population of veterans per capita in the country. Last year, 8,200 veterans were assisted by the Maine Department of Labor, and veterans represented 10 percent of all Mainers looking for jobs.
Paquette said Maine people do an excellent job of looking out for Maine veterans.
“But we need to ask ourselves, how can we do a better job serving those who served us?” she said.
The Maine Department of Labor has been working to help translate the military skills of veterans into the private sector.
“We are extremely proud of the work we’re doing,” Paquette said. “Events like these to pull stakeholders together are so important.”
The conference, held at the Water’s Edge Banquet & Function Facility, was co-hosted by the Maine Department and Labor and the U.S. Department of Labor.
Event organizer Auta Main, the veterans’ program manager at the Maine Career Center, said the two-day conference gathered veterans, their families, businesses, nonprofits, and other agencies committed to connecting Maine veterans with employment opportunities.
“It’s a celebration of thanks to veterans,” Main said.
This year, Maine received an $800,000 Jobs for Veterans grant from the U.S Department of Labor to support the staffing of 15 veteran representatives, who help veterans find jobs. According to Main, 95 percent of the veterans’ representatives have disabilities themselves and can relate to the challenges facing veterans looking for jobs.
“There is a big emphasis on employing veterans,” Main said. “They feel better about themselves when they contribute to their community.”
