On March 10th the Borough hosted the Sunrise Rotary Guest Speaker,
from the National Wounded Warrior Project. Sgt. Deven Schei (Ret.) . Deven was welcomed by Mayor Richard A. LaBarbiera, members of the Veterans Organizations and the Rotary Club Officers.Deven a remarkable young man who continues his service to his country and his fellow veterans.
Deven Schei’s brother Erik was first deployed to Iraq, Deven made him a solemn vow: “If something happens to you while you’re over there, I promise to finish what you started.”
Tragically, “something” did happen.
Deven’s brother was shot in the head, rendering him a quadriplegic. Deven kept his promise and joined the Army –determined to stay true to his word.
Deven says becoming a member of the 101st Airborne Air Assault
Division was one of his proudest moments. But just as fate dealt
its hand to his brother, Deven’s deployment ended in injury.
“I was hit with four 80mm rockets and shot in the left shoulder. I lost a portion of my left calf, a portion of my left thigh, and had shrapnel all over my body. Slip disc in my back, cartilage missing in my back
and knees, tendinitis, loss of eye sight in my left eye, bullet lodged in my left shoulder, PTSD, and TBI.”
With all that, including more than 17 surgeries, you’d think the pain, frustration, and anguish would be Deven’s greatest challenges.
But he says there was something else that hurt him most.
“My greatest challenge was not being with my battle buddies. Leaving them in Afghanistan was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Not being able to be on missions with them or train with them always haunted me. I kept up with them all the time calling and emailing them making sure all missions went well and everyone made it back in
one piece.”
It’s that kind of dedication that drives Deven to help injured service members today.
“I want wounded warriors to understand there is life outside of the military. My brother Erik is the perfect example. He motivates me to keep going every day. He never lets anything get him down.”
