During Women’s History Month, today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran Leslie Zimmerman, who served during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Leslie Zimmerman grew up in Utah and joined the Army after graduating high school. She was the distinguished honor graduate at basic training and then went on to train as a combat medic.
After completing her training, Zimmerman spent a year serving in South Korea as a medic with the military police unit before transferring to El Paso, Texas, with her unit to prepare for deployment. In 2003, Zimmerman deployed to Kuwait at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While there, she received an Army Commendation Medal.
When she returned from Iraq, Zimmerman attended the Primary Leadership Development Course. She graduated on the commander’s list and received the highest leadership award. Following this, she received EMT-Intermediate training.
Her experiences in Iraq made it hard for her to return to her old life and fit back into her old life. Zimmerman honorably discharged from the Army as a sergeant, but she continues to find ways to dedicate her life to service.
Following her military service, Zimmerman served as an ambassador and staff member for Continue Mission, a nonprofit created to serve Veterans with service-related injuries and their families. She also authored three children’s books, two of which serve to help children of military parents face deployment. In her free time, she enjoys mountain biking, and she participated in the Warrior 100k in 2015.
Zimmerman recently received her bachelor of science in community health at Utah Valley University.
Thank you for your service!
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Contributors
Writer: Kimberly Kassis
Editor: Brooke Wolfenbarger and Rachel Falconer
Fact checker: Ormina Naveed
Graphic artist: Courtney Carr
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Thank you for your service Leslie Zimmerman.