Sergeant uses sports to reach out to struggling veterans


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SALT LAKE CITY — Recognized recently with a bronze star, Sgt. Josh Hansen received a different recognition at a Bees game Thursday night.

The sergeant joined nearly 100 veterans and their families as guests at the game. As the seventh-inning stretch arrived, Hansen led the crowd in the old tune, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

"Utah really supports its soldiers, and it's outstanding," Hansen said.

The baseball fan and military liaison for Wasatch Adaptive Sports encourages struggling veterans to reclaim their lives. He knows it is possible because he had to do so.

The Iraq War veteran led a platoon that hunted for roadside bombs and blew them up. His vehicle was rocked eight times by explosions. He came home in 2007 with a traumatic brain injury and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"It was very hard to live with. It would've been easier to go back to Iraq for me," Hansen said. "(I) started getting very depressed, not leaving the house. I had a hard time getting out in the community at all."

It was also tough on his family.

"We just did not know from day to day what was going to happen," said his wife, Melissa Hansen.

He received counseling at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and discovered Wasatch Adaptive Sports, which helps veterans and others rediscover their athletic spirit.

"I've got my old personality back, I'm happy with life now," Hansen said.

Last month, Hansen was awarded the Bronze Star, the military's fifth highest combat decoration.

Hansen said he lost six men in his company in combat in Iraq and four to suicide since they came home. He said that's what gives him the drive to keep helping his fellow veterans.

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Jed Boal

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