Posted: 13 Mar 09
By: Rocky
Thank you Rory for this update - A fine example of a mentally and physically tough American
Amputee Soldier completes Jumpmaster Course
By Sgt. 1st Class Jason B. Baker
American Forces Press Service 
Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jason B. Baker
Army Sgt. 1st Class Mike Fairfax, left, a Special Forces intelligence sergeant with 3rd Special Forces Group, inspects a Soldier’s parachute. The two are aboard an aircraft over a drop zone above Raeford, N.C.
A roadside bomb in Afghanistan cost Army Sgt. 1st Class John “Mike” Fairfax his right leg, but it didn’t take away his spirit.
In November, Fairfax a Special Forces intelligence NCO assigned to Headquarters Support Company, 3rd Special Forces Group became the first amputee
Soldier to complete the Army’s Jumpmaster Course at Fort Bragg, N.C.
The journey to Fairfax’s milestone began in summer 2005 in a remote region of Afghanistan, when an improvised explosive device struck his truck. He suffered a severe injury to his right leg, and injuries to his right eye and left lung. His team’s medic, Sgt. 1st Class Derrick Coyme, quickly went to work to stop the massive bleeding caused by Fairfax’s severed femoral artery...
“When you wear (a Special Forces) tab, you hold yourself to a higher standard,“ Fairfax said. “If this can give another guy a glimmer of hope, then that’s a good thing. Sometimes you need someone to look up to someone to look to when you’re down.“...