Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Daniel Gade graduated from West Point and eventually served as a tank company commander as part of the Second Infantry Division in Iraq in 2004-2005. While serving there, Gade was wounded twice. The second set of injuries nearly killed him and did lead to the amputation of his right leg.

Exactly one year after that horrific attack, Col. Gade began graduate school and became a triathlete. He also took an intense interest in the veterans benefits program, which he believe is a badly arranged system leading to tragic results for our nations heroes. He is the author of "Wounding Warriors: How Bad Policy Is Making Veterans Sicker and Poorer."