Examiner.com | Aderholt honors soldier blown up by IED in Afghanistan

Aderholt honors soldier blown up by IED in Afghanistan
By Robert Tilford | Examiner.com | December 12, 2012

On December 11, 2012, Congressman Robert Aderholt of Alabama was granted permission to address the U.S. House of Representative regarding an injured hero.

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of one of Alabama's most heroic sons, Joshua Wetzel of the United States Army. While out on patrol on May 31, 2012 Joshua was almost killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion in Kandahar Afghanistan. While he lost his legs and suffered numerous other injuries, he never lost his faith. As he said to me the first time I met him in a hospital bed at Walter Reed, I'm still standing! And that pretty much sums up this man's will to live and can do spirit.”

“He makes all of America proud and his town of Glencoe. With the help of his family and wonderful wife Paige, he has already made such great strides in such a short time and it's going to be hard to catch up to him. I ask that this poem penned in his honor by Albert Caswell be placed in the Record”, said Congressman Aderholt.

According to a report by Homeland Security Market Research in the USA, the number of IEDs used in Afghanistan had increased by 400 percent since 2007 and the number of troops killed by them by 400 percent, and those wounded by 700 percent. It has been reported that IEDs are the number one cause of death among NATO troops in Afghanistan.

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