Debt of Service: Personal Finance in the Military
Injured, but still stickin' with the Army
Army Sgt. Angel Herrera drove trucks for an engineering unit in Afghanistan until serious wounds from a rocket-propelled grenade ended her tour of duty. But she's not ready to give up her stripes.
Army Sgt. Angel Herrera with her husband, David. Sgt. Herrera was seriously wounded in Afghanistan in September 2008. (Tess Vigeland / Marketplace)
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TEXT OF INTERVIEW
Tess Vigeland: On our way from Dallas to Fort Hood, we stopped at a local Hooters. The restaurant had donated wings, fries and drinks for about two dozen wounded soldiers. Patrick ended up buying lunch for 56 more service members scattered throughout the restaurant. And after the meal he handed out $5,000-worth of tickets to Dallas Stars hockey games, courtesy of team captain Brenden Morrow.
One of the recipients was a young woman in a plain, white T-shirt and jeans. She sat down next to me, and I noticed a long scar running down her left forearm.
Her name is Angel Herrera, and she's an Army sergeant, 30 years old. She drove trucks for an engineering unit in Afghanistan until an incident last September ended her tour of duty.
Angel Herrera: We were woken up in the middle of the night, the night before we were supposed to leave. And the night person that was on watch came in, woke everybody up and said that we had confirmed incoming and to grab gear and get in the bunkers.
The mortars started hitting, and when I stepped through I looked up, and I saw a . . . it looked like a gigantic football on fire, coming at me. And it was confirmed later as a RPG, which is a rocket-propelled grenade.
It hit me in the abdomen, and I took shrapnel to my left forearm and to my neck, where it severed my jugular. I have numerous internal injuries to include my liver, my spleen, my stomach, my intestines, my lungs. And I still have shrapnel left inside also.
Vigeland: You've made the decision that you want to stay in the Army, if they'll let you. Why?
Herrera: The fact that I got hurt, for me . . . I could walk across the street and get hit by a bus. I just happened to catch the RPG. Most people don't understand about the military. It's another job, just like any other job. Except for, you have the bonus of a deployment. A lot of people don't like it. I do. I enjoy doing my job. I think it's an honor and a privilege to be in the military, and hopefully they'll allow me to stay.
Vigeland: You came into the military fairly late, at age 26?
Herrera: Yes.
Vigeland: What did you do before that? What was your career path?
Herrera: I was a cook for about eight years.
Vigeland: Given what has happened to you, what's attractive about staying with the Army, versus returning to civilian life?
Herrera: It's a steady paycheck. You never have to worry about not getting paid. When you're not deployed you have every holiday off imaginable. I get to spend it with my family. I've had Christmases with my kids that in previous years I didn't get to have because I had to go to work, especially in the profession that I was in as a cook. I was paying almost $800 a month for insurance just for my children. In the military I can take them to the doctor any time they need it. The military pays the whole thing. The other thing is, with the economy the way it is right now, most people are losing their jobs. I'm not going to lose my job.
Vigeland: Well, thank you so much. It's been a pleasure talking with you.
Herrera: Well, thank you.
VIGELAND: That was Army Sgt. Angel Herrera at an event for wounded soldiers just outside Fort Hood, Texas, last month. And we've given her the final word in this week's Marketplace Money special on personal finance in the military.
Comments
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From Powhatan, AR, 09/11/2009
Soryy, I didn't mention to Sgt. Herrera, Thanks for your service. Hope everything works out for you and yours. You are an inspiration to many younger women all across our great nation. Thanks again, AS1 Andrews USN Ret.
From Powahatn, AR, 09/11/2009
I served for 20 years and 1 day in the worlds finest Navy. Retired and am getting some disability. The VA is sending me to college for Business Admin. I never actually saw combat, but I did serve aboard 2 aircraft carriers where a lot of air strikes happen that we don't get told about. I have done everything from scrape tile aff decks to supervising 54 men to being military police. My biggest challenge was when I was job unting after retirement. Civilians just do not understand what we can do and what we are trained to do. I remember when I put in for a promotion and stated that I was OOD (officer of the deck) at pearl Harbor for two years and listed about a dozen of my responsibilities which included warning all commands af Tsunamie's. They laughed at that, Probably not now though, Remember what struck a few years back and how many lives were lost because someone was alseep at the wheel?
We are usually given a job to do and we just get it done, usually with minimal supervision and it is done to the best of our abilities and corectly. We are trained to learn each others jobs in case something happens. In the civilian sector, if I know your job,you are afraid I will take it from you. Not so. We just want to keep the ship sailing smoothly and with minimal troubles, if you are sick and I have to step in to accomplish one or two of your tasks, so be it. I will inform you what I did when you get back, However, I will most likely call and discuss my\your course of action first and the job gets done, the company doesn't have a crisis, and we help each other out. Wish more civilians could learn that. I would rather work with ex military any time. You know they have your back and you know they have yours. Just a few thoughts. Call me anytime, I have voicemail if i am busy or in class. 870-809-0096
From VIrginia Beach, VA, 02/26/2009
What an inspiring story about a woman who knows what she wants. My husband is in the military and I wanted to cry when I heard this story on the radio. Angel just wants to do what she enjoys, earn a living for her family, and she feels its her "honor and priviledge" to serve her country? Utterly amazing! God bless her and all our military members willing to give their lives for us to enjoy such freedom.
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