Decorated veteran to speak at Springville senior center

Gordon L. Ewell is an award-winning author, inspiring motivational speaker and devoted veterans ' advocate. He will speak on Wedenesday, Nov 2, at 5:30 p.m. at the Springville Senior Center, located at 65 E. 200 South in Springville. His topic is "Re-membering is Healing"

Ewell was medically retired and honorably discharged from the U.S. Army in 2010 having served active duty in both the Army and Utah Army National Guard.

Through 2005 and 2006, Master Sergeant Ewell served in the war in Iraq in the Explosive Hazard Coordination Cell under the Multinational Corps Commander over all 29 countries fighting the war. While there, he completed about 60 dangerous combat missions, earning the Bronze Star in part for preserving soldiers’ lives and performing under enemy attack. He was the first senior NCO in a special Mobile Observation Team and coauthored the first modern-day warfare handbook used by U.S. soldiers with the arduous mission of “route clearance.” His teams were finding more than 100 bombs per day and more than 3,100 per month. Six times he was in a vehicle directly blown up by roadside bombs as well as twice more. After the last explosion, he returned home to begin a long six-year recovery period from injuries which included, among others, a broken neck, severe traumatic brain injury, cranial facial reconstruction, loss of his right eye, severe visual damage, hearing loss and many neurological injuries. He EagleState received Amongof Mountainthe Utahhis Purpleother ExecutiveCity’s noteworthyHeart. Citizen Award of awardsthe of MeritYear,are fromthe Myersthe Department Evergreen of Memorial’sPublic Safety, Humanitarian and of the Year. Ewell was presented the highest award the Commonwealth of Kentucky can bestow, a commission as a “Kentucky Colonel.” He is the author of five books including “Dung in My Foxhole” and “A Lifetime at War,” which received the prestigious Eric Hoffer Award in 2015 for Excellence in Literature. Ewell continues to serve veterans at the George E. Walhen V.A. Medical Complex in Salt Lake City as a member of the hospital’s Volunteer Services Committee, as an advisor to the Warrior Transition Assistance Team (Fort Knox), and as a board member of the amazing charity Hand in Hand Outdoors and the American Heroes Project, helping veterans and their families suffering from severe disabilities and PTSD.