Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:12:12 -0800WeeblySat, 05 Nov 2011 08:02:50 -0800http://www.coltonread.com/1/post/2011/11/no-title3.htmlHey Everyone,

Well I have had a great past couple of weeks. I will start off with I went on a hunting trip with L.E.E.K Preserve in Pennsylvania. I had an awesome time there. While I was there I got a chance to ride around in an Action track chair. I posted some pictures of me in it. While I was there I shot an antlerless deer and I got my limit of pheasants. I learned how to process my own deer which was really cool. I got to meet a couple of special people while I was out there. Everyone out there was really great but two of the families really had a special connection with me. While I was there we got to go to Ontario Knife company they gave us knives that had our names and rank engraved. I will say it was a great trip. Now I am greeting ready to go on a hockey trip in Minnesota. I am really excited because hockey is one of my favorite sports since my injury.

            Since I have gotten back from Pennsylvania, I have tried to do some research on how to get an Action track chair. I was gave some information about an organization called Serenity outdoors. They are going to help me raise the money to get one of these chairs. The VA does not cover this chair. This chair is a life changer! It can do ANYTHING. I went through a creek, mud, and steep hills. The link to the organization is http://www.serenityoutdoors.org/colton.htm.

Also, JR Martinez from Dancing with the Stars, chose Operation Finally Home as his charity of choice. Myself and everyone in the OFH family would appreciate any support you could give him by voting!

I will try to start updating a little more often. Things are starting to move forward for me when it comes to my medical board. The Air Force leadership that has control over my insurance money has pretty much blown myself and Governor Perry off.  It’s really sad. There board to review my appeal for my TSGLI is supposed to be an average of 60 days. As of today, they received my appeal package 255 days ago and still nothing has come through. I don't understand why we are almost 200 days past their average.

Now, for the most exciting part! We have found out we are having a baby girl. We are going to names her Eden Grace Read. It has been exciting getting ready for her. We have painted the room, got a rug, and just yesterday we got the crib. Jessica and I put it together last night. Everything is coming along well. Jessica is almost 7 months now and we can’t wait to welcome our little girl in February.

]]>Sun, 28 Aug 2011 08:44:24 -0800http://www.coltonread.com/1/post/2011/08/great-news.htmlHey Everyone,

Things are going good here lately. Jessica and I are proud to announce we are expecting our first child in early
February. We were supposed to find out boy or girl on Friday but he or she was hiding.  So now we are going to
have to wait for a little bit. Jessica and I are excited. We have been looking up names and planning the nursery. We feel very blessed.

We have had a lot of challenges with the Air Force. Governor Rick Perry has been helping me a lot, but even with his
support the Air Force has stalled.

There was a great story published today in the Fort Worth Star Telegram. Here is the link if you would like to see the
story. http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/08/27/3318017/colton-read.html

I am about to start school again. I am looking forward to getting some more of my basics out of the way. My medical
evaluation board has been delayed, so I’m excited to get some schooling out of the way before I retire and the baby comes.



Thanks,


Colton

]]>Sat, 25 Jun 2011 19:17:49 -0800http://www.coltonread.com/1/post/2011/06/6252011.htmlHey everyone


 
I have been really busy lately. The first week of June I went to Alaska with
H.A.V.E Alaska organization. They were so great and friendly. 
I ended up getting a Brown/Grizzly bear that was a little over eight
feet. I started to get sick towards the end so that was a bummer. 
It was defiantly neat there. I thought it would be hard to sleep because
it never got really dark. After I got use to that it was really nice because you
can go do anything at anytime of the day. I got to try some new foods I would
have never thought I would like and I loved it.



Then this Thursday we went down to Galveston for the Sellers Brothers fishing
tournament with Operation Finally Home on Friday. I caught a Trout, Catfish, and
a Stingray. We did not win but it was fun.  It was really nice and relaxing to get
out.


I have still been fighting for my insurance through the Air Force. Governor Perry
has been trying to help me too. We still have not gotten very far with the
insurance.  If you would like to help I have looked up the Public Affairs office for the Secretary of the Air
Force’s office. I would really appreciate any help you all can provide but will
you all please send a letter letting him know how this is wrong and I deserve my
insurance money that I been paying into. He has been ignoring Governor Perry’s
pleas to help me. I could really use all the support I can get. The Address is



Honorable Secretary Michael Donley
1690 Air Force Pentagon
Washington, DC 20330.



Thanks, 
Colton 


]]>Wed, 18 May 2011 20:06:42 -0800http://www.coltonread.com/1/post/2011/05/moving-in.htmlWell it has been almost 2 weeks since we recieved our mortgage free home from Operation Finally Home. We love it. It is a dream come true. We are so thankful for Blue Green Communities, Jimmy Jacobs Custom Homes, and of course Operation Finally Home. We were excited to have our family, friends, and members of the community there to celebrate with us. It feels like a dream living here. We feel so free, and relaxed, and thats a gift we cannot say thank you enough for. Heres a link to the interview I did the day before with San Antonio Living..


 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8BCGdrIQ_s

Please check it out, and thank you all for your support! We are very excited to have moved to a new phase in our life! ]]>Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:38:41 -0800http://www.coltonread.com/1/post/2011/04/moving-on.htmlAs we approach May, it's getting closer to time to leave our on base housing, and move to the new house that Operation Finally Home has built for us. We were hoping the Air Force would help move us, but they have declined to be of any help to us. Thank God for Operation Finally Home, who will move us, but we are once again, disappointed that the Air Force won't take care of this severely wounded Airman. Our house will be ready for us May 6, 2011 and we are very excited. We can't believe it's almost here! Thank you to Jimmy Jacobs Custom Home, Bluegreen Communities and of course BABA Operation Finally Home! You have made our dreams come true and we are so excited to be "finally home"!

UPDATE:: 4/23/2011::
As a cowardice commenter so wisely pointed out, the Air Force has now intern decided to move us after 3 weeks of petitioning for them to help move us. I believe it is common courtesy, that if you have an issue with our blog, perhaps you should address it in an email to Jessica and I but, I suppose those who post nasty comments, in the cover of anenemity are the same cowards as the Air Force itself. Thank you cowardice commenter for the correction, if you would like to know the stuggle we have been through and what it has taken to achieve this move, feel free to email me, but please devulge your actual name this time, so I know who I am dealing with. Thank you to all the rest of my supporters who know the true struggles we have been through and what it takes to live the life the Air Force has bestowed upon me. ]]>Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:57:09 -0800http://www.coltonread.com/1/post/2011/02/progress.htmlHey yall! We've added some new pictures to the website so you can keep up with the progress of our home right along with us! Also, the facebook and twitter feature have been added so you can share Colton's blog and posts with your family and friends on your social networking site! Colton has started rehabbing full time at the Center For the Intrepid again. After some much needed time off to re-evaluate his life and what he wants to do, Colton was ready to go back to therapy and get back into his prosthetics. I am extremely proud of him. If you watch the videos of Colton walking you see how it almost look effortless, but I assure you its not. It takes a great deal of physique, balance, and conditioning. Again, I am very proud of him. Below, I have also added the link to our facebook group page, "Airman Colton Read". If you have facebook, make sure you join!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=109155386641

We are anticipating to be in our house by the spring of this year. We will be very glad to be in our home thanks to  Bay Area Builders Operation Finally Home. As a lot of you know, we have struggled with our on post housing run by Lincoln Military Housing. Everything from discrimination of Colton's rank and disability, to fighting for simple modifications for our home, that should already be in place in a "handicap accessible" home. I think it's very sad, that we live on base that offers the premire prosthetics center in the country, a renouned burn unit hospital, and one of the largest bases with the most handicap children and there are not enough wheelchair accessible houses to accomate the need. There are four wheelchair accessible houses for ranks E-6 and below and there are 14 for ranks E-7 and above. This makes no sense to me because the majority of the men at the Center for the Intrepid are E-6 and below, and lower ranking individuals, including us, have been told we are ineligable for one of the 14 houses because we are "junior enlisted". This is disgusting to me. First of all, being placed in a handicap home should be based on NEED not rank, and you should not be withholding an accessible home due to rank, I believe that is discrimination. The whole situation is very sad.  

We feel very blessed to have you all in our lives, whether you read the blog all the time, or this is your first visit. Please keep Colton in your thoughts and prayers.

"For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord. 'plans to prosper you, not harm you. Plans to give you hope, and a future." Jeremiah 29:11



]]>Thu, 20 Jan 2011 21:18:24 -0800http://www.coltonread.com/1/post/2011/01/our-new-home.htmlI hope
everyone had great holidays. There have
been lots of great things happening for
Jessica and I.  We did our ground
breaking ceremony in December. We
also finished up all of our selections for
our home. I am so excited our
house is going to be beautiful. As of right now
our foundation is poured and
they will be working on our framing. Last week Jessica
and I got to go to the
international builders show with Operation Finally Home,
the organization
that is building out home.  We met a lot of people
that want to help out
with the organization so we can build more homes for
more wounded military members.
I am about to start going to rehab a lot
again. I have not been walking a lot because
it has been hurting. I really
want to get back into walking again. I also want
to start swimming again to
get back in shape. I might have to have another
surgery on my shoulder. This
will be hard because I use my shoulder every day.  I
will find out how invasive it will be in
six weeks.



]]>Mon, 29 Nov 2010 20:48:15 -0800http://www.coltonread.com/1/post/2010/11/happy-holidays.htmlHey everyone,

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I started back to work for the Air force,  I only work half days, the other half I attend therapy. It’s nice to be back at work.  Jessica and I were very fortunate to be able to go on a 5 day long trip to Midland/San Angelo with a group called “Show of Support”. This organization takes wounded military and their wives out to west Texas for several days filled with parades, a banquet, pampering for the wives and a hunt for the men! I was able to shoot an 8 point buck while I was on the trip and am very excited! This organization was wonderful and everyone we met there was so kind and welcoming.

We are going to break ground on our new house December 17, we are very excited. We were able to go select things like our counter tops, and outside stone before the holiday. We are expecting the house to be done between May and June. The founder of “Operation Finally Home”, Dan Wallrath, was named one of CNN’s Top Ten Heroes of 2010. The special was on Thanksgiving night and is repeating if you get a chance to catch it! Jessica and I appear in the footage honoring Dan.

My wife and I are going to start mentoring for the Recovery Care Coordinator Program for the Air Force. We are hoping to use our experiences to help others. We flew out to Orlando before the holiday to get some training and leadership skills.  

I feel very blessed being able to spend another Thanksgiving with my wife and family.  I am very thankful for the recent opportunities God has blessed me with. Again, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

]]>Thu, 30 Sep 2010 21:44:29 -0800http://www.coltonread.com/1/post/2010/09/new-home.htmlHey everyone,

I have had a great past month. Well first off I want to tell everyone the Jessica and I were given a huge hand up to help us with our situation by a wonderful organization called Bay Area Builders Association (BABA)/ Operation Finally home. Jessica and I have been working with them for about a month. We have not said anything because so many places have said no to us because I was not war wounded. But this wonderful organization didn’t care about that they still saw me and a wounded military person. I really encourage everyone to look up this organization up and see what there about. Dan Wallrath is the Founder/President of BABA and they have helped lots of wounded soldiers. He is actually one of the top ten CNN Heroes because of all the great thing he has done. Here are links to go look at the news.

KSAT

KENS 5

Also if you want to learn about the organization and Dan Wallrath here is the link for BABA and the story on CNN.

CNN Heroes

BABA

Now back to earlier, I went surfing in Pismo Beach, CA it was great. The water was cold but we had wet suites and boy did those make a difference. That community was really great and fun. I learned to surf and even did a head stand on the surf board. I had a accident there though. I was riding a wave and another surfer jumped in the wave with me and he accidently hit me in the throat with the surf board. According to the people that saw it I was knocked out for a little bit. I remember being hit then the next moment I remember was me being held up and people asking if I was alright and of course I said no. Well it was a show from there the life guards did a great job and they came over and started to help until the ambulance got there. Well the ER said it didn’t seem to have caused any major damage but I sat out the next two days. When I got back to San Antonio I had a doctor make me an appt with the throat doctor just in case and that’s when I found out things were not so OK. I have blood in my voice box and vocal chords so I was not allowed to talk for about two weeks.

Now the next day I ended up having surgery to fix the stimulator that I had messed up the one I got installed back in July. So I ended up not getting to sky dive on that Friday. That was a mess because I left the hospital right after the surgery and felt fine. Well that was because I was still on a lot of meds. So the next day I was in so much pain I had to go admit myself to the hospital and I got to stay three nights in the hospital.

 

Thanks again for all the support that you all have shown it really means a lot to me. Ill keep you all updated on the house and everything else going on.

 

Very Respectfully,

Colton

]]>Sun, 29 Aug 2010 20:18:39 -0800http://www.coltonread.com/1/post/2010/08/another-great-trip.htmlHey Everyone,

Just a quick update on how things are going. Two weeks ago I went to a conference in Atlanta. I think that was one of the most productive conferences I have done. When I go to the conferences I speak about different things that have happened.  Sometimes I talk about what happened to me on that horrible day. Sometimes I talk about programs that the military has to help, and other times I talk about how some things could be better or what is being done right. I like speaking at these things because of a lot of reasons. First I want to make sure this does not happen to other people. Another is to spread awareness about how hard life is now. Third is I want things to get better and by telling them what is wrong hopefully they will fix it and telling them what is good hopefully they will keep that.

In my personal life things have been up and down. For a while everything was going great and now I’m starting to be in a rut again. I think part of it is that I’m getting closer to the day I’ll be out of the Air Force. That will be hard because I love serving my country but being in the situation that I am I’ll never get to do a lot of things in the military that I wanted to do like deploy. I think the hardest thing is that I LOVED my job not too many people can say that. Once I retire I want to stay in Texas where my family is and no matter where I live in Texas the Center for Intrepid won’t be too far. To do my exact job I would have to move out of Texas. I really mean it to, I would wake up and want to go to work I loved what I did. I didn’t love waking up to do Physical Training i.e. running.

I still need to have another surgery because the back stimulator is still messed up and I am getting frustrated with that. The person that puts this in is a doctor from a specialized pain clinic at Brooks Army Medical Center (BAMC). Well BAMC is really busy with non elective surgeries they have not gotten a time for my elective surgery to get rid of my pain. Some good news is I am going surfing this week. I am flying to Pismo Beach on Thursday and I will get to learn to surf.  There is this great program here in San Antonio called Operation Comfort. They are an organization that raises money to help disabled people do things they use to do. They do all of this by donations they really are great. Then I get back next week. Then the following Friday I am going Skydiving.

 

Thanks for all the support,

Colton ]]>