Local veteran to become hall of fame inductee

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – On Friday, the Indiana Military Veterans Hall of Fame will induct it’s second group of honorees. Eighteen men and women will be recognized for valorous military service and also community service.

One of them is Jeffrey Mittman.

“It’s an alive day. I call July 7 the alive day,” Mittman said.

It was 2005 and Staff Sergeant Jeffrey Mittman was just three months into this 4th deployment with the Army. It was his second tour in Iraq.

“It just became who I was,” he said.

Mittman was on the road to meet with an Iraqi unit he was an advisor for.

“I was just so happy it was my turn to drive,” he said.

That’s when insurgents ambushed Mittman and his team. They detonated a roadside bomb which sent a projectile through the driver side window where Mittman was sitting.

“When it went out the other side, it took with it my nose, my lips, my teeth, the majority of my eye sight, damaged my arms and knocked me unconscious,” Mittman said.

It wasn’t until a month later, when a badly injured Mittman woke to the sound of his wife’s voice in Walter Reed Medical Center, that he even knew what happened.

“I had no idea why she was in Baghdad. That was my only thought was, ‘Why are you in Baghdad?'” Mittman said.

His last memory in Iraq happened days before the attack. It was July 4, 2005.

“I was sitting on the hood of my Humvee with some of my Iraqis and we were watching the fireworks. The Americans were firing fireworks out of our base,” he said.

But the reality of Mittman’s injuries quickly set in. He would no longer be an infantry platoon sergeant. He would spend the next five years recovering.

“I think the driving motivation for me is my wife and children, honestly. Me being hurt never relieved me of my responsibilities as a father and a husband,” Mittman said.

But Mittman surpassed his responsibilities and after being nominated by his superiors at Defense Finance and Accounting Service, he’s been chosen to be part of the Indiana Military Veterans Hall of Fame. A great recognition, but Mittman says he’s just excited to meet the other men and women who were selected.

“It’s an honor for me just to be there with them and you learn so much just sitting back and listening. You try to just fade into the background as much as you can,” Mittman said.

Mittman isn’t always so modest. He travels the world speaking about his experiences.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t been injured. I’d be doing something else. I don’t know what that is and I’m sure it would have been great, but my life has really turned out well,” Mittman said.

Despite being legally blind, he works full-time, runs 20 miles a week, and each year on Alive Day, July 7, he remembers the moment that forever changed his life.

“We just hang out all day and have a party. So it’s a celebration of me surviving. You know, the bastards couldn’t kill me,” Mittman said.

Other than his daughters, Mittman says his biggest point of pride is bringing his entire platoon home without any deaths after tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mittman and the other 17 honorees will be inducted into the Indiana Military Veterans Hall of Fame Friday in Carmel.