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Veteran embraces the spirit to serve through DAV

Amy Bahl was a 25-year-old combat medic with the Iowa National Guard when she was deployed 2003. She spent a year in Iraq – away from her five-year-old son, Austin – treating gunshot wounds and injuries sustained from roadside bombs and IEDs. She did her best to fix and save as many people as she could.

“My day-to-day life was very little sleep, followed by trying to fix and save as many people as we possibly could,” says Amy. “It was really hard because medics take a lot of things personal,” says Amy. “We always feel guilty when we couldn’t save somebody.”

As is the sentiment of many post-9/11 veterans, Bahl served overseas so that the next generation would not have to. But today – fifteen years later – U.S. troops are still in Iraq.

Today, Amy’s son Austin, who was five when his mother deployed to Iraq, is now a young man who shares his mother’s sense of service. In 2016, Austin joined the Army National Guard in Dubuque, Iowa. That same year, Amy joined DAV and serves as senior vice commander for DAV Department of Iowa as well as commander of DAV Chapter 6 in Dubuque.

“DAV helped me with my claims,” says Amy. “They fought for me so I wasn’t by myself. So, I figured, if someone is going to help me, why not join the fight?”


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