Birds for the Battle-worn

he first bird that saved Robert Vallières was a Black Hawk helicopter. It was October 1990, and the then 28-year-old Army soldier was serving in the Persian Gulf War. While riding in the back of a truck on a mission to fortify a foxhole in the remote Arabian Desert, a heavy beam slammed into him, sending him flying and causing severe head injuries and swelling in the brain. The chopper sped Vallières to a field hospital for emergency care. He was later taken to the U.S. Navy Ship , where he was stabilized, and then transferred to the Walter