Colonel Greg Gadson, Joe Miller's West Point Classmate and Wounded Warrior, to Speak at Pentagon's King Observance

During the Pentagon’s annual commemoration of the life of Martin Luther King Jr., a combat veteran wounded in Iraq will explain the inspiration he drew from the civil rights leader.

Army Col. Greg Gadson, garrison commander of Fort Belvoir, Va., said he will spread King’s message of overcoming prejudices and challenges when he speaks at the Pentagon event, which begins at 9 a.m. Jan. 16. The observance will air live on the Pentagon Channel.

On May 7, 2007, Gadson was returning from a memorial service for two fellow soldiers when he was struck by a roadside bomb. Everything changed, he said in an interview with American Forces Press Service. Gadson lost both legs and suffered serious injury to his right arm, but, seven years later, said he says he can do without the term “wounded warrior.”

“At some point, you have to stop being a wounded warrior,” the colonel said. “Like graduating or getting a promotion or accomplishing anything, it’s tempered in time, so don’t allow yourself to be defined as a wounded warrior, because then you’re always wounded.”

And just as King envisioned decades ago, Gadson said, he wants people to know that prejudices and challenges are things to overcome.