Staff Sgt. Javier Villanueva, a Fort Benning soldier who was injured in 2004 while serving with the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry in Iraq, has been chosen by ExtenZe Racing to be the team’s honorary crew chief for the NASCAR Sprint Cup event today at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Villanueva, 41, was chosen to be an “ExtenZe Local Hero” for the sacrifice he made on behalf of his country and the fortitude he has shown to prevail over a wound that has left his left leg paralyzed from the knee down.
While serving with the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry, Alpha Company in 2004, Villanueva, then a sergeant, was working a security detail assigned to protect a commander surveying neighborhoods around Mosul, Iraq. The unit was speaking with local residents to learn of their fears in regards to insurgents. At the last stop of the day, Villanueva’s detail was ambushed and the soldiers engaged the enemy. During the skirmish, Villanueva was hit in the left leg by a high-velocity round fired from an AK-47.
He was immediately evacuated to a base in Germany where he was stabilized before being flown back to a U.S. hospital. Doctors did their best to repair his injured leg, but the damage could not be fully reversed and Villanueva’s left leg was paralyzed from the knee down.
“My first barrier was getting physically better,” Villanueva said about the almost three years he spent in rehabilitation following his injury. “I got injured in 2004 and it wasn’t until last year that I could go ahead and hold a job and go back to the Army full time. My other problem was I had to convince myself that I am still useful. Even though I can’t do my job as an infantryman I still can go out and teach the younger soldiers and pass down the skills and the outcomes that I have learned being over there (in Iraq).”
Six years after being wounded, the Purple Heart recipient has achieved his goal to remain in the U.S. Army — with 18 years of service to his credit. He currently serves with the 1st Battalion, 29th Infantry, a training unit on Fort Benning.
The “ExtenZe Local Hero” program pays tribute to people who have gone to great lengths to make a difference, said ExtenZe racing driver Kevin Conway, a candidate for the NASCAR Rookie of the Year.
“With NASCAR being the largest spectator sport in America, we wanted to find a way to further involve the communities that we’re in each week and honor somebody who has gone to great lengths to make a difference and somebody who has put others ahead of themselves to make a difference in their communities and in their area,” Conway said. “And with Javier this weekend it’s really cool because we’re able to honor somebody that has made a difference not only in the lives of others and in the community where he’s based here in Georgia, but also for our country and representing America.”
Villanueva will receive a tour of the paddock, attend the pre-race NASCAR driver/crew chief meeting and sit atop the pit box with crew chief Peter Sospenzo during the race.
Each recipient also receives a $1,000 award from ExtenZe in recognition of their sacrifice.
Villanueva was nominated for the chance to be the “ExtenZe Local Hero” by his wife through Operation Homefront Georgia. The staff sergeant said during a phone interview Friday from Atlanta that he wasn’t previously a die-hard NASCAR fan, but this experience might just change his mind.
“When I found out I was honored actually that I got picked,” Villanueva said. “I’m excited. It’s kind of out of my comfort zone.”
Operation Homefront provides emergency and morale assistance to troops and families during deployment and also works to aide wounded warriors when they return home. Georgia’s chapter of Operation Homefront serves all 13 military installations within the state, including National Guard and Reserve personnel and their families.
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