At Luke's Wings, volunteers and staff are devoted to helping veterans recover, but it's also how a wounded warrior and a volunteer met and fell in love.
Retired U.S. Army Staff Sergeant James Pierce proposed to Mitzyn De La Rosa, a volunteer for the organization, at Luke's Wings' third annual Heroes Walk to Fly event, a fundraiser event to raise awareness and money and to show support for wounded warriors.
The two were introduced in August 2013 by Jennifer Magerer, the executive director of Family Communications and Logistics.
"If it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't have never met this beautiful woman, Mitzyn De La Rosa," he said at Sunday's fundraisder.
They went on a blind date, then dated for three years.
Sunday morning in Rockville, Maryland, De La Rosa was in the crowd when Pierce took the stage to speak. After saying how much Luke's Wings does for wounded warriors, he called De La Rosa to the stage, told their story, then dropped to a knee and proposed.
Luke's Wings also flew in the couple's families to witness the moment.
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Pierce was a member of the North Carolina National Guard for over 14 years before retiring in 2015. He was injured by a suicide bomber in the Khost Province in Afghanistan on Oct. 1, 2012. The attack killed three of his teammates, and wounded Pierce and two others.
The explosion ripped through Pierce's body, collapsing his lung, breaking his arm and shattering his leg. He spent three years recovering.
He currently works as a Park Ranger for the National Parks Services in D.C.
