Wounded Afghanistan Vet spends July 4th at White House

Wounded Iowan at White House today
O.Kay Henderson
04 Jul 2012

(Washington) -- An Iowa sailor is one of about 1200 service members invited to spend Independence Day at the White House.

Taylor Morris of Cedar Falls lost all four of his limbs after stepping on an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in May. He was just discharged from Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital. Morris says the White House visit will make for a special 4th of July.

“There’s a dinner. I think Brad Paisley is going to be playing and a fireworks show we’ll be watching out on the lawn, hopefully the weather stays good. I definitely will be putting my nicest shirt on,” Morris says. “A Brad Paisley concert — you can’t beat that.”

Morris is just the fifth person to survive a quadruple amputation at Walter Reed. The explosion happened two months ago and he talked about the incident with KCNZ, his hometown radio station.

“I was conscious through the whole thing,” Morris said, “and so when I stepped on it I could hear it and feel the blast, feel the heat and I remember looking at my arm when I was trying to stabilize myself in the air as I was back flipping through the air and noticing that my arm was gone and then I hit the ground and noticed by legs were gone, too.”

Morris had a face-to-face meeting with the president last week when Obama toured the “Wounded Warrior Wing” at Walter Reed.
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