Justin Bond was born and raised in Hanford CA. At 18 years old he joined the Army as a combat engineer. Early on in his career Bond needed to separate on a hardship discharge after his Grandma, Grandpa younger sister died, all 2 weeks apart. In 2001, the Twin Towers in New York fell in a terrorist attack, and Bond couldn’t sit idly by, so he rejoined the Army to defend his country. On April 09th, 2004, Good Friday, Sgt. Bond and his platoon engaged in an intense firefight during the battle of Fallujah, Iraq. Sgt. Bond was severely wounded as he was hit with an AK-47 through the center of both knees, leaving his left leg on the battlefield. Today Sgt. Bond feels fortunate to have made it back and is very proud of all his brothers and sisters, often wishing he could return to the battlefield.

      Since returning home and going through over 40 surgeries, Sgt. Bond realized that the real battles that our Nations Warriors face are not on the battlefield in Iraq but instead are on the battlefield here at home. The challenges and fights our warriors face are tougher than ever as they navigate the VA system while living with nightmares and flashbacks that many of our warrior’s face from their PTS, TBI, MST and a lack of mission. He learned that 22 a day are committing suicide, and to him, this was just unacceptable.

      Sgt. Bond then started fundraising to help his comrades by bowling 1000 games non-top taking nearly 4 days. Next, he rode a Segway from Monterey CA to Jacksonville Fl. at 12 MPH taking 60 days. Sgt. Bond took on another challenge and rode a Zoom chair 2,200 miles from Canada to Mexico, and then on to Fresno to help raise funds for Our Heroes’ Dreams and Operation Battlefield. Next Sgt. Bond and a team hiked part of the John Muir Trail and summitted the highest mountain in the lower 48 states, Mt. Whitney. The last 16 miles to the peak took Sgt. Bond 27 hours straight but with the help of his team, Sgt. Bond summitted, before switching to crutches for the long descent down. Next, Sgt. Bond will be riding a bicycle from Ground Zero New York, to SF and then to Fresno, over 4,100 miles. 

      Sgt. Bond created Our Heroes’ Dreams which host a Healing Retreat among other programs and which has already saved hundreds of veteran’s lives. Recently Sgt. Bond opened Our Heroes’ Dreams up to First Responders and Peace Officers and recently hosted a Healing Retreat for First Responders. Sgt. Bond is a huge veteran’s advocate but couldn’t do it without his many family and friends in the local community and around the country to support his mission in defending and honoring those that defend us. His all-volunteer group has gone above and beyond with countless 15-20-hour days while picking up homeless, answering the crisis line, deploying to suicide attempts and manning an all-volunteer organization that operates several programs 24/7/365. Bond is so proud of his team that is helping to save the lives of our Heroes one family at a time.

      Sgt. Bond has numerous medals and awards from the military as well as local and national awards from the Senate and Congress. He was also awarded the Purple Heart from wounds received during combat action in Iraq. Bonds greatest honor, other than serving his country, was being honored by his Commander in Chief, President Bush. President Bush painted Sgt. Bond’s portrait and hung it in the Presidential Library and put the portrait in his book, Portraits of Courage. Bond’s favorite sayings are – “It is what it is” and “If it doesn’t kill you it can only make it stronger”. 

      Sgt. Bond is a natural speaker, while engaging, captivating and relating with audiences from all walks of life. Bond can speak on many things like his experiences in combat, military career, motivational talks, team building, fundraising, and most any issue you need him to speak on. He is truly a warrior that speaks from the heart. He also has a testimony called "God in Iraq" as well as other spiritual talks. Call to book Sgt. Bond as a keynote or motivational speaker for your next event!

How did I become a Paralympian?

       I can say that before I was a star athlete in the Paralympic clique, I was beating up on able bodied athletes around the United States at archery tournaments. This was even at the national level. At that time I looked at myself as still "able" and did not want to be labeled as "disabled". Yes, this was my own negative thinking and showed me how shallow a person can be as I look back. 

Fortunately for me, I ran into Aaron Cross at one of these national events. Aaron is a quad. At the time, he  was a member of the U.S. disabled archery team. He had competed at the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games. For some reason, he reached out to me to see if I was interested in competing. Listening to his story, I quickly made up my mind that competing with the disabled archers was not for me. I was head strong to make my name while shooting with the able bodied archers. Period!

Several months went by and my wife and I were watching TV. Some footage from Sydney popped up and my wife took interest in it. Soon enough, there was Aaron shooting on the screen. I told my wife that I had met Aaron at a tournament and he had asked if I would be interested in trying out for the team. Of course I told her my answer was "no", due to the fact I did not want to compete against the disabled. I thought that would be the end of the conversation when she turned and looked at me and said, "You are disabled, right?!"  I replied "Yes, I am" and that was all it took to change my life.

Shortly thereafter, I was in contact with Aaron and he introduced me to the head coach of the U.S. Paralympic Archery Team. This set me up to attend a training camp that was scheduled to begin on Sept. 11, 2001. I was to fly down and meet with the team but that came to a sudden stop with the attack on the Twin Towers. A friend showed up to give me ride to the airport, he asked why I was still packed to go. Puzzled, I asked him "What do you mean?" All he said was to turn on the news since I had not watched any TV this morning. As the screen showed a picture, we witnessed the second jet crash into the other building. What the? I couldn't believe what we just witnessed. Anger ran through my blood. After taking everything in and feeling numb, I decided to head to the airport and see for myself if the nation was grounded or if there was still a chance to get down to San Diego.

        Of course all aircraft were ordered to sit down, so a quick call to the coach soon had me driving down to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., just outside of San Diego. The coach flew in a few days earlier and was on campus. With all the other athletes stuck who knows where in the nation, I was told if I can  get down to camp I would have the coach’s sole attention for the length of the camp.

Yes, this was the beginning of my current 12 year career with USA Archery as a Paralympic athlete. To date, I have taken bronze medals in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 and the highlight was winning a gold medal at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Today I sit here and think what do I need to do to prep and try to repeat in Rio. 

        Life is great. The friends and memories I have thanks to being “disabled” are the best a person could ever ask for. 

In September 2001, Samantha Norment joined the US. Army as a Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Warfare Specialist and found herself stationed in Germany after her initial training. It was not long until Samantha deployed to Iraq in 2003, where she was attached to HHC 1/6 Infantry as a female searcher. Samantha then returned to the states, a single mother in 2004. Samantha found herself in an undesirable new situation, and like many others, unable to identify with who she once was before joining the military and now felt lost. 

Within 6 months of an Honorable Discharge from Active Duty, Samantha joined and served in the Army Reserves until November 2010. Needing help but not realizing it, Samantha began isolating herself from her family. She had repeated nightmares of her time in Iraq, she held on to guilt, and she started to self-destruct. Soon, Samantha began using drugs and heavy amounts of alcohol. She found herself in abusive relationships and was now hopeless and drifting in life. Some years later, Samantha was awarded a service-connected disability, after four years of waiting. During her path of destruction, Samantha ended up pregnant two more times, and is now a mother of three. By October 2017, Samantha had fallen even further into depression. She was being evicted, she was now using drugs, being even more reckless, but didn’t want to live this life any longer. She didn’t want to die but couldn’t keep going either! She mustered up enough strength for her children one more time, and googled “help for veterans”. Within the search results, she came across Our Heroes Dreams. Samantha was hesitant and expected to be turned down or away since she had no idea what help she even needed, but she called 844-OHD-VETS. Another veteran answered, and connected Samantha with Justin Bond, who then sent a two-person crew, to drive from Hanford to San Bernardino County to rescue her and her daughters. She was able to attend a healing retreat, where a mission plan was created, which gave her new hope. Samantha was guided through the Fresno VA enrollment; she was able to get placed into a female transitional center for female veterans with children and began and completed the VA’s Substance Use Disorder Outpatient Program and received mental health services. Now, Samantha is employed by the Department of Veterans Hospital and has her own apartment to safely raise her children. Samantha is currently the coordinator for Female Resources and Outreach with Our Heroes Dreams - Women Warriors. Her children are happy, to have their mom back, who is proving to be their new hero in life. Samantha has an amazing story to tell that will captivate and motivate audiences through her stories and journey that she takes them on.  

       David W. Riley was elected National Commander of the 1.3 million-member DAV at the organization’s 2016 National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. He was selected DAV Outstanding Disabled Veteran of the Year for 2010. He also served as Chairman of the organization’s Convention Committee on Legislation and Veterans’ Rights. Riley is a veteran of both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Coast Guard. In the Army (1976-82) he served as a radar repair technician with tours of duty including Korea. He joined the Coast Guard in 1983 and served as a helicopter rescue swimmer. While on active duty at the Coast Guard Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Alabama, he contracted septic shock pneumococcus sepsis. He was hospitalized for three months and lost all four limbs and some internal organs due to the infection. Following his medical retirement from the Coast Guard in 1997, Riley earned a bachelor’s degree in computer sciences and a master’s degree in computer science. He is a retired analyst for Gulf Coast Technical Services. Riley is a life member of Chapter 7 in Mobile, Alabama. He also volunteers at the VA outpatient clinic in