FHS graduate and former soldier helping wounded veterans find work
Published Friday July 3rd, 2009
Three years after surviving an attack by an Iraqi suicide bomber, Fredericton's Derek Duplisea is concentrating on helping others like him.
The 1990 graduate of Fredericton High School and U.S. Army veteran now works for Arizona-based Raytheon Missile Systems. Duplisea is the liaison officer for the U.S. Army's Wounded Warrior program, which helps severely wounded soldiers.
His job is to search for injured combat veterans and encourage them to apply for work.
Raytheon is looking to hire as many as 10 such individuals by the end of the year.
A wounded warrior in the U.S. is anyone who was severely hurt in any branch of service while serving in Iraq, Afghanistan or in support of the global war on terror.
"I developed a program to recruit and retain wounded warriors," Duplisea said in a telephone interview from Tuscon.
"Since Raytheon is a technology-driven company, and one of the largest defence contractors in the U.S., employment depends on what they're qualified to do. That could cover an area ranging from custodial work to a position of high rank. It's pretty much based on what their qualifications are and how we can place them in a position with Raytheon."
Duplisea, 38, a wounded warrior, was severely injured on Aug. 16, 2006, when a female suicide bomber walked up to his platoon and blew herself up northeast of Baghdad.
He suffered wounds to his right side, lost the use of his right arm and had injuries to his brain.
Duplisea, who has both U.S. and Canadian citizenship, was in the midst of his second tour of duty in Iraq when the attack occurred.
"I was offered the opportunity to stay in and continue my service or to medically retire," said Duplisea, who also served in the Canadian Forces.
Duplisea chose the latter and began working for Raytheon in October.
He spent the first couple of months familiarizing himself with the company, along with its rules and regulations. From there, he moved towards developing the company's Wounded Warrior program.
Over the last few months, Duplisea has travelled to Washington, D.C., where he has met with wounded warrior leaders from each branch of the military.
"Since I am an army wounded warrior, I already belonged to the Army Wounded Warrior program. I got to know the leaders for that particular organization," he said.
"When you start developing that relationship with one branch, it kind of spills over to the other one."
Duplisea said his recovery is going well and it's difficult at first glance to tell he was injured.
He can't fully extend his right arm and can't turn his wrist, but other than that he's doing well.
He said he's recovered from the brain injury.
"That in itself was a miracle because I had a piece of shrapnel go into my brain. I think the will to heal and the will to survive that's instilled in a service member is one of the things that helped the greatest in my recovery," he said.
Duplisea said he decided early he was going to beat what happened to him.
He said he can use that sense of accomplishment in his new life with Raytheon and help other members of the U.S. military get their lives back together through the Wounded Warrior program.
"The (work) lasts as long as the worker wants to and can perform their job," he said.
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