Ten seconds longer, and a Cherokee County man likely would have been blown away. Scott McElroy had been standing on an IED while stationed in Iraq in September 2005.
“I was almost killed,” McElroy said Tuesday. “There’s just no other way to put it.”
McElroy was seriously injured when the device detonated, but he survived. And he wasn’t done.
“I was able to recuperate and I deployed a couple of more times after that,” McElroy said.
But when he was re-injured, the Army decided McElroy’s military career was over. He already had served in the U.S. Navy, and when he wasn’t deployed, he worked for the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.
“I wanted to stay in and keep going, but the Army came to me and said, ‘You’re done.’”
His 22-year military career was over, but the Purple Heart recipient was just beginning his next fight — the battle to help others injured in combat.
A married father of four, McElroy said he needed something to do to fulfill his desire to serve. He and his wife have helped with fundraising for charities that help those wounded in combat. Now, he has the chance to do even more.
The Georgia National Guard Family Support Foundation nominated McElroy to represent Georgia in a contest sponsored by Kangaroo Express, a chain of convenience stores. He’s one of nine candidates, and the person who gets the most votes on Facebook wins the top prize: A Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
McElroy would love to win, but he has no interest in keeping the motorcycle. Plus, he says his wife wouldn’t let him ride it anyway.
Instead, he plans to sell $25 raffle tickets for the motorcycle to raise money for wounded veterans. McElroy said he’d like to sell 1,000 tickets, but there’s no limit. All of the money will go to charity, he said.
Voting ends Wednesday for the contest. To vote for McElroy, go the contest Facebook page.
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