Klamath Falls, Ore. – Eric Clark encountered several roadside bombs during his time in the army.
“Total, I hit three IED’s.” Explains Clark. “I hit two in trucks, walked away from both of those, without a scratch.”
But Clark wasn’t as lucky when he hit a third IED in August of 2012.
“Next thing you know, I was laying on the ground with a burning sensation all over my body.” Recalls Clark. “Basically as soon as I hit the ground I realized I had stepped on an IED.”
Clark lost a leg, and part of his hand.
He spent the next several months at Walter Reed Hospital.
“You’d see a quadriplegic walking on robotic knees – I was like, well, I have nothing to complain about.” Says Clark.
Still healing, Clark was invited to the State of the Union address in February of 2013.
But Clark says the high point of the address was meeting Ted Nugent…
“We just started chasing him down in our wheelchairs, and we saw him get in an elevator, and we were yelling, ‘Hold the elevator! Hold the elevator!’ – And then we just slid in, like, ‘Sorry to barge in here, but could we get a picture with you?’ He was more than happy to, so his wife took a picture of us with Ted Nugent.”
Clark has also been honored at several veterans events in Klamath Falls.
“After going through everything I went through, seeing the support first hand, like the letters I got when I was in Walter Reed – I mean, it’s just awesome knowing that there are people that still care.” Notes Clark.
Clark says his service dog ‘Maverick’ is also a good source of support: “Helps me when I fall, I can brace on him to get back up – and that’s his main job, and everything else he does is purely emotional support.”
Despite all he’s been through, Eric Clark still isn’t comfortable being called a ‘hero’…he was simply doing his duty.
Since coming home, Clark has studied welding at Oregon Tech, and is now taking courses in diesel technology at Klamath Community College.
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