ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor to present to you bobby barrera.ause] >> thank you so much, mr. secretary. good morning to everyone. this is truly a remarkable day. we are here to mark a major milestone in the quest to create the first national memorial honoring the service and a sacrifice of our nation's disabled veterans. i want to thank each one of you for being here with us this morning. the american veterans disabled for life memorial that will rise from the ground that we break today will make a very powerful statement. [no audio] [laughter] last year, we participated in a fly over at the indy 500 race as the opening ceremony and as the desk 25 bombers flew over the race. on the two days before the actual race, orientation flights in the aircraft were provided to certain of the ip's. the most important of those vips were returning troops who had been injured in iraq and afghanistan. one of the man that was present had been paralyzed from the waist down. his father pushed the young man in his wheelchair. to enter the b-25 bomber, one has to cl

[applause] >> bobby barrera is a job he knows how to get the job done.. his immediate past national of e commander of the american veterans and currently serves as chairman of the organization o is. bobby is a combat disabled u.s. marine corps veteran of the vietnam war. he was seriously injured in 1969 when enemy forces exploded a 500-pound bomb bomb who is burned over 40% of his body. he can overcome the mental challenges he faces the death. he received a master's of education degree predel. taught high school and had careers as a juvenile probation counselor and the director edit family support center in texas beg. bobby has received many awards and honors including the disabled veteran of the year bill. his humility has taxed the lives of them. >> thank you so much. good morning to everyone. this is truly a remarkable day. we are here to mark a major milestone in the quest it created the first national memorial honoring the service and the sacrifice of our nation's disabled veteran special. i want to thank each one of the for being with us here this