Malabar fifth-grader Izaiah Harper wears the Army dress uniform jacket of his father, retired Staff Sgt. Kevin Harper, after the senior Harper spoke to Izaiah’s class. Retired U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Kevin Harper had a lot of fans in Lisa Foley’s fifth-grade classroom at Malabar Intermediate School on Monday, but the proudest of them all was his son Izaiah.
Sgt. Harper’s Veterans Day visit included an account of his two tours of duty in Afghanistan before battlefield wounds forced his retirement.
Harper, who joined
the Army in August of 2007, explained to the class that the Army provided him
with the opportunity to provide financial security for his family.
“We were basically homeless with two kids and a third on the way,” he said. “A buddy kind of jokingly suggested that I join the Army. I thought about it and realized it was a good idea for me.”
Harper enlisted with the intention of retiring after 20 years of service. It didn’t work out that way.
In 2011,
during his first tour of duty in Afghanistan, Harper was injured by three
separate rounds of mortar fire. Shrapnel was embedded in his leg, shoulder,
neck, back, hip, face and chest. Surgeons removed some of the shrapnel, but
some remains in his body.
After
receiving the Purple Heart medal for his injuries, Harper began an 18-month
recovery that included learning to walk again.
“The first time I left Afghanistan, it was on a stretcher due to my injuries,” he told the fifth-graders. “I was determined to go back for another tour and walk out under my own power when it was done.”
Injuries forced Harper’s retirement from the Army after 10 years, four months and six days, he told the class.
When a student asked what he had gotten from his experience in the military, Harper said, “I learned the proper way to treat people and I have the opportunity to go to college.”
He is taking
online classes for a degree in graphic design.
“I have the best of both worlds,” he said. “I get to be home when my kids get home from school and I’m working toward a college degree in a field I’ve always had an interest in.”
Harper displayed
his Purple Heart medal and Army dress uniform jacket and explained what each
ribbon, medal and insignia represents
The class
thanked Harper for his service to our country and for his visit to their classroom.