SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Eleven years ago, Corporal Josue Barron, a Marine serving in Afghanistan, stepped on an IED. Barron lost his left leg and sight in his left eye. Dealing with the physical wounds were one thing, but it was the psychological horror that kept the Marine up at night.
“While I’m laying in my hospital bed, I’m going through these nightmares,” said Barron. “I’m having these memories that I’m still in Afghanistan. My heart was still in the fight with the guys.”
Barron spent the next few years recovering at the Naval hospital in San Diego. But after attending a Warrior Foundation event, he was invited by Sandy Lehmkuhler to move out of the barracks and into something new. Independent living, surrounded by those with shared experiences.
“If we got an apartment building that was similar to a barracks, they were going to live the same way,” said Lehmkuhler “By giving them individual cottages with a courtyard and a barbecue area, that’s where the healing happens.”
The Freedom Station I and II, both located around South Park, house 20 wounded post-9/11 veterans in little cottages suited for their needs. Their neighbors, other veterans, all of them dealing with their own physical and mental scars of war. Planned activities and sports teams like The San Diego Wolfpack further bond the vets and neighbors as they transition into civilian life.
“There’s a lot of bonding that goes on here,” said Lehmkuhler. “Maybe a warrior’s been here a little longer than the other. They can teach each other and help each other with information and how to progress and move forward in life.”
Corporal Barron is a success story for the Freedom Station. He played for the Wolfpack and is an avid hand cyclist. Before he moved into a house with his family in Temecula, Barron spent two good years there, forging relationships and learning to live life outside the Marine Corps.
“For a while, I was scared to go out into the world by myself. I was scared that people were going to look at me different,” said Barron. “But knowing that there was guys here and we can walk across the street or go to the store together. That took my anxiety away.”
If you’d like to support the foundation, visit their website here.
WATCH: Warrior Foundation's Freedom Station II in South Park opens - May 21, 2020