Bryan Anderson (born April 9, 1981) is an American veteran of the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror
, image ...
, triple
amputee
Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indiv ...
, and spokesperson. He is the author of his memoir, ''No Turning Back.'' Anderson has acted in a handful of television shows and movies, and also works as a
stuntman.
Early life
Anderson has an identical twin brother named Bob, and a younger sister named Briana. His parents are Jim and Janet Waswo.
Anderson was active in sports during high school. He began as a gymnast when he was a freshman, and competed in state-level competitions for the next three years.
After graduating, Anderson worked for
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
as Ground Crew Chief at
O'Hare International Airport.
He also worked as a prison guard at
Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary
The United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth (USP Leavenworth) is a medium security U.S. penitentiary with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp in northeast Kansas. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the Unite ...
.
Career
Military
Anderson enlisted in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
in April 2001.
His deployment date was on September 11, 2001. He served two tours of duty in Iraq. Anderson was stationed in
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
.
Anderson earned the title of Sergeant in the Military Police.
While in Iraq, he led police training courses.
On October 23, 2005, while taking his unit commander on a routine mission to visit Iraqi police stations, Anderson's Humvee drove past an improvised explosive device (IED) in Southeast Baghdad.
Anderson's Humvee was the last vehicle in the convoy.
The IED would have caused fatal damage if they were traveling at 30 miles per hour, but they were traveling at only 5 miles per hour.
Anderson says he was awake for the entire ordeal.
Due to the impact of the explosion, Anderson spun backwards in his seat, and lost both his legs and left hand immediately.
Adding to his injuries, Anderson's right lung collapsed when the bomb hit.
He tried swatting a fly from his face when he realized he no longer had his left hand.
He credits his smoking habit for saving his right hand. Anderson said he usually has both hands on the steering wheel, but because he was smoking, he only had his left hand resting on the wheel.
Immediately after learning about the severity of his wounds, Anderson cracked a joke to his friends.
After being transported by helicopter, he lost consciousness and awoke one week later at
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC)known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951was the United States Army, U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in the Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, it se ...
. Anderson said it felt more like three seconds, and was confused to wake up and see his mother staring back at him.
He endured 13 months of rehab at Walter Reed Army Hospital.
At the time of the incident, Anderson had two months left in Iraq before he was to return to
Fort Hood
Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquarter ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
.
He is the Iraq War's fourth triple amputee.
He was 9 months into his second tour in Iraq, where he served as a specialist in the 411th Military Police Company.
Anderson's twin brother also serves in the Army, and his hand served as the mold for Bryan Anderson's prosthetic hand.
Anderson was awarded the
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...
because of his injuries.
After the war
While in recovery and learning how to walk in his prosthetic legs, Anderson tripped into
Gary Sinise
Gary Alan Sinise (; born March 17, 1955) is an American actor, humanitarian, and musician. Among other awards, he has won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also received a sta ...
at Walter Reed Army Hospital. Upon meeting, Sinise called Anderson, "The real Lt. Dan!" referring to the character Sinise played in the film
Forrest Gump.
Sinise wrote the foreword to Anderson's memoir. The two worked together to get a bill passed in the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
for a disabled veterans memorial in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Anderson even played with Sinise's band,
Lt. Dan Band.
He is the ambassador of the Gary Sinise Foundation.
Anderson has acted in ''
CSI: NY
''CSI: NY'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: New York'', stylized as ''CSI: NY/Crime Scene Investigation'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 22, 2004, to February 22, 2013, for a total of nine seaso ...
'' as a wounded Navy Seal accused of murder.
He also had parts on the television shows, ''
All My Children'', ''
The Wire
''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...
'', ''
Hawaii Five-0'', and most recently in the reboot of ''
Magnum PI
''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on t ...
''. Anderson was in the films, ''
The Wrestler'' and ''
American Sniper
''American Sniper'' is a 2014 American biographical war drama film directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Jason Hall. It is loosely based on the memoir '' American Sniper'' (2012) by Chris Kyle, with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice. The film ...
''.
He was featured in the
HBO documentary ''
Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq'', and worked with
James Gandolfini
James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. (; September 18, 1961 – June 19, 2013) was an American actor. For his role as Tony Soprano, the Italian-American Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series ''The Sopranos'', he won three Emmy Awards, five Screen ...
.
Aside from acting, Anderson is also a stuntman.
He was a stunt driver for the film ''
The Dark Knight
''The Dark Knight'' is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Jonathan Nolan, Jonathan. Based on the DC Comics superhero, Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman Begins'' (2005) and t ...
'', and became friends with actor
Heath Ledger
Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor and music video director. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to ...
.
Anderson was interviewed by ''
60 Minutes'', and featured on the cover of ''
Esquire'', ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'', and ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
''.
He hosted a TV show on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
titled, ''Reporting for Service with Bryan Anderson,'' which aired in 2013.
Anderson won a regional
Emmy Award for this program, which focused on community service in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
.
Anderson was made into a character for the
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
's
Captain America series.
Anderson's memoir titled, ''No Turning Back: One Man's Inspiring True Story of Courage, Determination, and Hope'', focuses on his experiences and lessons he's learned rather than on the incident in Iraq.,
David Mack is the co-writer. It was published on November 11, 2011.
He won gold medals at the National Wheelchair Games for table tennis and archery.
Anderson is the spokesperson for USA Cares, a nonprofit organization based in
Radcliff, Kentucky
Radcliff is a home rule-class city in Hardin County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 21,692 at the 2010 census, and in 2019 the estimated population was 22,914. It is included in the Elizabethtown–Fort Knox Metropolitan Are ...
that helps post-
September 11
Events Pre-1600
* 9 – The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends: The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hu ...
veterans.
He is also the national spokesperson for Quantam Rehab.
Anderson is a wheelchair design consultant. He is responsible for testing out the wheelchairs to make them sturdier and stronger.
Anderson speaks at large rehab facilities, working to instill "perseverance and determination".
Personal
Anderson lives in
Rolling Meadows, Illinois.
Some of his interests and hobbies include, bungee jumping, skydiving, snowboarding, rock climbing, wakeboarding, and white-water rafting.
References
External links
In Commitment to Troopsat ABC News
Bradley Cooper makes surprise visit to the troops with a special screening of ''American Sniper''at We are Movie Geeks
Character Building Project
*
Triple Amputee seeks American dreams in Hollywoodat Daily Herald
Anderson on ''No Turning Back''at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library