D-M hosts NDEAM Luncheon

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Michael Washburn
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  In celebration of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, D-M hosted a luncheon at the Mirage Club here Oct. 6.

According to the Library of Congress website, during October, Americans observe National Disability Employment Awareness Month by paying tribute to the accomplishments of the men and women with disabilities whose work helps keep the nation's economy strong.

The theme for this year's event is "Profit by Investing in Workers with Disabilities."

The guest speaker for the luncheon was retired Tech. Sgt. Christopher "Matt" Slaydon, an explosive ordinance disposal technician. On October 24, 2007, Sergeant Slaydon got the call to defuse an improvised explosive device at a familiar intersection in Kirkuk, Iraq, near a highly hostile village.

He described the intersection as looking like the surface of the moon because of all the craters from explosives. Sergeant Slaydon and his team deployed their robots to find the explosive, but came up with nothing. He eventually had to get out and try to find it himself. When he got to the intersection and slid his mine probe into the ground, 15 pounds of explosive detonated in his face.

"At about 5:30 p.m. on October 24 ... that was my last sunset," Sergeant Slaydon said, after taking a pause from his speech.

He suffered catastrophic injury. He lost his left arm above the elbow, his left eye was damaged and had to be removed. His right eye was severely damaged and he is now completely blind with no light perception.

Even through all his injuries, he survived. He was in a coma for a month, while his wife and his brother waited by his side the entire time. When he came out of the coma, he spent the next 15 months recovering. Soon after, he started to regain a sense of purpose.

"Through a lot of coaxing by my wife, I began to get out of the house again and started to find a new sense of purpose," Sergeant Slaydon said. "I thought I had lost everything, but I'm learning from other vets that there is still so much I can do. The amount of heart and desire I experienced being around them is unbelievable."

Sergeant Slaydon has met other disabled veterans who do incredible things. He tells a story of meeting a quadriplegic that snorkels. He met a blind lieutenant colonel who base jumps and slalom skis, and he also met a double amputee who was competing in a bicycle race. He was hand cycling for more than 20 kilometers when, two kilometers away from the finish line, his chain broke. He used his hands and dragged his way to the finish line.

"What they taught me is they still have everything inside of them that they had before," Sergeant Slaydon said. "Think what these people could bring to something like employment, a job or being a mentor. My point is to remember what these people could bring to the table, think about what got them to where they are now."

Before Sergeant Slaydon finished his speech, he left the crowd with some words of advice.

"The saying, 'you never appreciate what you have until it's gone' is true," Sergeant Slaydon said. "I wish I had paid more attention to the world around me because it could be taken away like that. You could be hanging out with me in a hundredth of a second. So appreciate what you have, where you are and what you do. Don't forget why you're here. When you go home tonight, spend time with your kids, hug your wife, husband, girlfriend or boyfriend, because you could lose it all very suddenly."

A thunderous applause and a standing ovation followed the emotional speech of Sergeant Slaydon.

Col. James Meger, 355th Fighter Wing vice commander, presented Sergeant Slaydon with a gift and thanked him for sharing his moving story.

Reiterating on what Sergeant Slaydon had said about disabled individuals in the workplace was Mr. Julius Parker Jr, JP industries president.

Mr. Parker spoke about the Ability One program, which is a Federal initiative to help people who have significant disabilities find employment through nonprofit agencies that sell products or services to the U.S. government.

"I wish everyone in this city could have heard what Sergeant Slaydon had to say because everybody brings something to the table," Mr. Parker said. "The Ability Ones job is to provide a job to people with disabilities. I want to thank the Air Force for the opportunities they give to the Ability One program. People with disabilities operate the library, the dining facility, the self-service center and they clean the buildings. The Air Force provides us the opportunity to help our people help themselves."

As the ceremony came to a close, Colonel Meger addressed the crowd with some final regards.

"This month and this event are a time to reflect about disability employment," Colonel Meger said. "To me, it's a little bit about courage as well. I submit that our warriors like Matt carry multiple levels of courage. The courage to volunteer for the toughest duty, the courage to go into harm's way. To take three deployments and to go out there daily, that's courage. In our Airman's creed, when we say that we have a tradition of honor and a legacy of valor, we're talking about people like Sergeant Slaydon."