William "Bud" McLeroy (born 1960) was the first amputee to serve in

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. He is also the first service member, and firefighter, to serve while only having one leg.

Early life

Growing up in south

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, McLeroy attended Montgomery High School; in his senior year he changed to night classes, in order to save up money to fund his upcoming mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . After high school, McLeroy became a missionary for two years, then enlisted in the Marine Corps.

Military career

After six years in the Marine Corps, McLeroy joined the Army Reserves, before joining

active duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, the equivalent term is active service. India The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be one ...

. While on active duty, McLeroy was stationed in

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

, and witnessed the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

coming down. In 1990, McLeroy returned to the Army Reserves. After losing his leg in 1993, McLeroy became the first one legged service member. In 2012, McLeroy served as a

commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

of the 80th Training Command. In 2014, McLeroy was medically retired after nearly 33 years of service.

Civilian career

McLeroy began working as a firefighter in San Diego in 1990; joining the Federal Fire Department of San Diego. In 1993, while in a preliminary race in Plaster City for

Baja 1000 The Baja 1000 is an annual Mexican off-road motorsport race held on the Baja California Peninsula. It is one of the most prestigious off-road races in the world, having attracted competitors from six continents. The race was founded by Ed Pearl ...

, McLeroy was hit by a passing race car, severing his leg below the knee. McLeroy received his first

prosthetic In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

limb in January 1994. After losing his leg McLeroy became the nation's first professional one-legged firefighter.

Political ambitions

In 2009, McLeroy announced that he would run as a candidate for the 51st Congressional district, against incumbent

Bob Filner Robert Earl "Bob" Filner (born September 4, 1942) is an American former politician who was the 35th mayor of San Diego from December 2012 through August 2013, when he resigned amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment. He later pleaded gui ...

; he did not appear on the primary ballot for the seat in June 2010, instead winning a seat on the San Diego County Republican Party

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

. In 2010, McLeroy ran for board member of

Southwestern Community College District Southwestern College is a public community college in Chula Vista, California. Founded in 1961, Southwestern College serves approximately 19,000 students annually. History Current enrollment at all locations exceeds 19,000 students. Of the m ...

, ranking third out of four candidates for the fifth board member seat. In 2012, McLeroy ran again for the third board member seat of Southwestern Community College District and lost, receiving 41.82% of the vote. In 2014, McLeroy ran for a seat on the

Sweetwater Union High School District The Sweetwater Union High School District is a school district headquartered in Chula Vista, California. , the school district is the largest secondary school district in California. The union high school district serves over 42,000 high schoo ...

school board, placing second out of four candidates. In 2016, he ran for a seat on the board of the Southwestern Community College District, and came in second in a field of five candidates.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McLeroy, William 1960 births Living people American Mormon missionaries United States Army personnel of the Iraq War United States Army soldiers American amputees 20th-century American firefighters California Republicans Military personnel from San Diego Latter Day Saints from California United States Marines United States Army reservists