He lost his leg while fighting in Vietnam. Now he motivates other amputees
WATERVILLE VALLEY, N.H. – “I was hit by an IED (Improvised Explosive Devices – An improvised explosive device is normally of local manufacture and is often associated with booby traps. It has all the elements of a mass manufactured mine or booby trap.),” he says. “My driver and gunner were killed instantly.”
Ryan Kules, a first lieutenant stationed at Ft. Riley in Kansas, was deployed to Iraq in February 2005. He was injured in November and later suffered a double amputation right arm above the elbow and left leg above the knee.
“I actually flat-lined twice,” says Kules.
But just three months after the explosion, Kules is skiing… yes, skiing.
“Like all the runs, that’s way too much fun,” he says after one trip down the mountain.
Kules and dozens of others vets hit America’s slopes because of one determined man who’s made it his mission to help the wounded.
He’s Kirk Bauer, a Vietnam vet who talks the talk and walks the walk. Bauer lost a leg from a hand grenade...