CWU Presidential Speaker Series Welcomes Veteran and Paralympian Melissa Stockwell

Melissa Stockwell's journey from the front lines of Iraq to bearing the U.S. flag at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games has inspired thousands of her fellow countrymen over the years. Central Washington University is proud to welcome Stockwell to share her story, "The Power Of Choice," on Wednesday, February 22, at 6 p.m. as part of the CWU Presidential Speaker Series.

The special engagement in the SURC Ballroom is sponsored by the Terry Robling Endowment, the Presidential Speaker Series Endowment, and the CWU Military Sciences Department. Free tickets are available at Wildcat Tickets.

CWU Professor of Military Science Joseph Paolilli has known Stockwell for more than 20 years, and he says that while her journey has been full of hardship, her ability to overcome adversity has only strengthened her resolve. Paolilli met Stockwell as a cadet in 2002 when she graduated from the University of Colorado and has followed her progress since her injury.

"We learned that she had been injured while serving as a platoon leader in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and it was terrifying to learn of someone to being injured in that way, especially a leader who was compassionate, approachable, and led by example," he said. "She has overcome her injury, and her personality and leadership seem to have only been strengthened. Her success as an Olympian and other endeavors only shows the quality of her character and her dedication to helping others."

Stockwell was commissioned into the U.S. Army in 2002, and following her deployment to Iraq in 2004, she lost her leg in a roadside bomb explosion-the first female American soldier to lose a limb in active combat. She received the Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for her heroism, and went on to be the first Iraq War veteran to qualify for the Paralympics, representing the U.S. in swimming at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games and bearing the Star-Spangled Banner for the team at the opening ceremony.

Stockwell later represented the U.S. as a triathlete at the 2016 and 2021 Paralympic Games. She now operates Tolsma Stockwell Prosthetics and Orthotics out of Colorado Springs, designing and producing prosthetics and helping patients adapt to them through physical therapy. She also travels around the country to deliver motivational speeches like the one coming up February 22. She believes that choices, like her own choice to become an athlete after losing a leg, hold great power.

"It's almost like I had a second chance of becoming this Olympian that I had dreamt of being. Only this time it was that as an athlete with a disability," Stockwell said. "So that choice, I think, all of our lives are kind of driven by the choices that we make. But just that the power of that one choice kind of, you know, made my life incredible in so many ways."