“I was deployed with a transportation unit in Balad Iraq, and pretty much every night around 7:30 or 8:00, the enemy would hit us with rockets and mortars. One night, I was coming out of the phone tent and heard noises, so I looked at my watch to see what time it was. Just at that moment I heard a high-pitched whistle sound behind me.”

What Joe heard was a 122mm rocket that exploded right behind him, tossing him into the air.

“Suddenly I’m lying on my back with an incredible pain in my leg, yelling for help.” What happened next continues to amaze Joe to this day. “Two female medics rushed to my side. I had my eyes closed because debris was still falling out of the sky, so I never actually saw them. They cut off my weapon and my body armor, and had just taken scissors to cut off my uniform when we heard the next round coming in. These two medics threw themselves over my body to protect me from the second explosion.”

Joe was stabilized and sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, where he underwent 14 painful operations to try and save his right leg.

One day, Joe’s doctor gave him a choice. “He came in and said I could salvage the leg, be in pain the rest of my life and have a leg I couldn’t use, or I could have it amputated.”

"My first thought was I want to play hockey again, so I'm going to have it whacked off. I basically had it cut off so I could play hockey."

Determined to return to playing hockey, Joe was named to the U.S. National Amputee Team 2007. From there, he helped to grow the U.S.A. Warriors Ice Hockey team, a program designed to assist military veterans who have sustained injuries while serving abroad. Hockey provides a competitive outlet as well as a vital rehabilitation tool.

“Our biggest injuries are the ones you can't see. The guys suffering from post-traumatic stress or brain injuries. Hockey gives us such a great opportunity to just be able to skate together and tell war stories in the locker room. The first time I stepped on the ice after being wounded was the greatest feeling ever. I felt like I was normal again."

Although Joe retired in 2006, he continued to serve as Staff Assistant to the Secretary of the Army through 2021 where he advised the Secretary on wounded veteran issues, including issues on military and VA healthcare facilities, veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury and the plight of mental health problems.