Ben Tomlinson

Sgt. United States Marine Corps

House Location: Jacksonville, AL

House Status: In-design

Marine Sgt. Ben Tomlinson’s first war injury occurred in 2009 in Afghanistan, when he was hit by shrapnel from a mortar that struck a nearby building. Tomlinson returned to Afghanistan in November 2010 for another seven month stint.  It was then that he was injured standing on a rooftop in an Afghanistan village as troops searched for bomb-making materials and weapons.  Shot through the upper back and left gasping for breath after a bullet ripped through his chest, Ben wasn’t afraid of dying.  Paralyzed from the neck down, Tomlinson was haunted by the idea that people back home wouldn’t remember him, that they wouldn’t even know he was hurt.  “That’s the worst fear for everyone who gets deployed,” said Tomlinson, who now uses a wheelchair.  “It’s that no one is thinking about them.”

    Tomlinson’s hometown of Jacksonville, Alabama, made sure he wouldn’t feel forgotten, and staged a welcome home celebration veterans groups say should be a national model now that the fighting has ended in Iraq.  Tomlinson said the lavish homecoming in the city of 7,700 people inspired him to work harder on his rehabilitation.  “This is not the way I am going to be forever,” said Tomlinson, 24.  He’s getting stronger little by little, his biceps filling out after months of shuttling between hospitals and doctor’s appointments, and he’s hopeful of walking again one day.

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