Retired U.S. Army Captain Karen Roddy-Spikes is a wounded warrior but says there is no battle too big or too small that she won’t fight.
Originally from Columbus, Ohio CPT Roddy-Spike served nearly 24 years in the service.
“We have to look at how the men and women that came before us paved the way,” CPT Roddy-Spikes.
She spent the day telling her story and the history of WWI at the Defense Logistics Agency.
Signing a blank check to serve her country, CPT Roddy-Spikes was in charge of five countries, eleven ports and 200 soldiers.
“I was over there when ISIS began. I had to be in a different mind frame,” she said.
While serving in Kuwait, a HUM-V accident caused an injury to her right leg that forced her to hang up her army boots.
“It was very hard. I had to change everything. It was very hard,” Roddy-Spikes said.
She’s had two surgeries, including one that left her with severe nerve damage to her foot.
But the life-changing accident never let her give up hope.
She took an oath to serve because of her father, an Air Force Veteran.
“After my second surgery, I did get to have Veterans Day with my dad,” she said.
That Veterans Day turned out to be his last.
“He passed on April 7th, 2016,” she said.
CPT Roddy-Spikes gets emotional and says her tears are for the men and women who served this country and will forever leave a lasting imprint on America’s history.
“You keep going. You keep going and you tell yourself no you’re a winner. You’re a winner,” she said.
