News At-A-Glance
Brighton, Colorado
City News: Brighton Honors
Staff Sergeant Dennis Griffee
Article by Cathie Johnson
At the February 5th City Council meeting, Brighton’s Mayor and Council members honored Staff Sergeant Dennis Griffee for his service in Iraq. The Council learned of Dennis through a letter from a friend that wanted them to know that a very special person was living in Brighton. The following are excerpts from that letter.
“Dennis joined the military in 1996 and served as a Marine for four years. He rejoined in 2001 and this time his choice was the Army. He moved quickly through the ranks and as the war approached he was promoted to Staff Sergeant. He was deployed to Iraq and was in charge of daily patrols looking for insurgents and Hussein loyalists.
Dennis’ unit was ambushed on its way to a raid on a paramilitary complex and his armored tank was hit by three rocket propelled grenades. This attack caused facial lacerations and temporarily damaged his hearing but when his commander suggested he seek medical attention, he instead completed his mission and four hours later went to the medics. For his actions he was awarded the Army commendation Medal with “V” device for valor and a Purple Heart for his injuries. The day after being wounded Dennis was back out on patrol. He became known in the area of operations as the guy to go to if something difficult or dangerous needed to be done.
On November 11th, 2003 Dennis and his crew were on a routine patrol late at night when they were ambushed with a very large roadside bomb. Dennis was partially ejected from the vehicle causing him to be hammered with flying metal and falling debris. Even though wounded himself, he went back to the tank and tried three times to reach his driver but finally had to abandon the rescue because the ammunition began to explode. Dennis was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with “V” device for his bravery and a second Purple Heart for his injuries.
When he returned home the pain of his injuries forced him to seek medical attention. Doctors found he broke several vertebrae in his low back, suffered a severe spinal cord injury at the C-3 level, and also sustained a traumatic brain injury. Read More....Continued