Citizens Bank of Lafayette will hold its twelfth annual Veterans Day breakfast on Thursday, November 8th, at the Citizens Bank Main Office at 400 Highway 52 West in Lafayette. The Bank will host a complimentary continental breakfast for all veterans and their spouses from 7:30 AM to 9:00 AM that morning. At 9:00 AM, the bank will have a short patriotic program saluting our veterans and featuring Adam Widner, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and a Wounded Warrior.
Adam Widner suffered spinal cord, shoulder, and ankle injuries in Afghanistan on July 24, 2008 while traveling in the gunner’s turret of a HUMVEE. He neglected extensive treatment — his sole focus was to simply get himself “mission ready” and back to his team. “I didn’t want to tell anyone about my issues … it can affect the mission and morale,” says Adam. “I felt that it would eventually go away, but I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, and I wanted to get back to the fight.” Adam’s sense of duty, and his being a warrior on which his fellow troops could rely, are deeply ingrained qualities. His father, a Vietnam combat veteran, instilled that ethic in him — and it was the reason Adam enlisted in the military in 2004: to serve others.
Shortly after his accident Adam started having blackouts while on convoy. He experienced night terrors routinely throughout his deployment. It was more than a year later when doctors diagnosed Adam with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “My recovery is still in process at the Department of Veterans Affairs,” he says. “But in the darkest part of my life — when I was lost — Wounded Warrior Project found me.”
Adam participated in a number of student veteran programs at Kent State University where he received his Bachelor’s Degree in August 2011. “Today, my issues are difficult to describe,” he says. “The men and women you serve with are your brothers and sisters, and when they fall, you fall. But now I have hope and support from people who have been there — people struggling through the same trauma I did. And as I improve, I want to help those who need aid through civilian integration. Isolation is not the answer.”
“We are excited and honored to have Wounded Warrior Adam Widner as our guest at our Veterans Day breakfast,” said Pete Williston, CEO of Citizens Bank. “I know our veterans and other guests will be inspired by his story, his service to our country, and his courageous personal battle with his injuries.”
The management and directors of Citizens Bank invite all veterans and their guest to join them for breakfast on Thursday, November 8th, and to hear the story of Wounded Warrior Adam Widner, a true American hero. The program will conclude at 9:30am.
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