Wounded Iraq War Hero to Earn Bachelor's Degree from Rutgers-Camden; Will Participate in 4th Annual Jeremy Kane 5K Benefit Run

Sgt. Lester Orellana, an Army veteran of the Iraq War, will graduate from Rutgers–Camden on May 23 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

It will be a busy month for Orellana, who will also be among hundreds who will take to the streets of Cherry Hill on June 9 to pay tribute to a fallen hero. The Jeremy Kane 5K Benefit Run, beginning at Cherry Hill High School East at 8:30 a.m., raises money for the Jeremy Kane Scholarship Fund, which supports student veterans at Rutgers University.

Kane, a Cherry Hill resident, was killed by a suicide bomb attack while on patrol in the Helmand Province in Afghanistan in January 2010. The 22-year-old was a lance corporal in the United States Marine Corps and was a criminal justice major at Rutgers–Camden.

“Anytime there is something for any fallen veteran is something that I feel very strongly about,” says Orellana, a resident of Willingboro. “Even though I didn’t know Jeremy personally, it’s important to honor him and my fellow soldiers.”

Orellana has been working hard to participate in the event. But rest assure, he won’t be caring much about his 5K time, or where he finishes in the pack. For Orellana, who was wounded by an IED in Iraq, it will be a victory just to make it to the starting line.

“In today’s world, we use the word ‘hero’ loosely,” says Fred Davis, campus director for the Office of Veterans Affairs at Rutgers–Camden. “Lester is a hero, and he’s a role model for all Americans.”

In October 2006, Orellana was on patrol with the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne, looking for IEDs south of Baghdad. As he scanned the area, he looked out of his window and saw copper wire. “Before I could say, ‘IEDs,’ it exploded where I was sitting,” he recalls.

While his memory is still hazy about what happened next, Orellana remembers bleeding from a gash just above his right eye. He stood up and felt an excruciating pain. Anger kicked in. “I realized that I was fine, but my back hurt so bad that I couldn’t move,” he recalls.

Fortunately for Orellana, a medic was in his vehicle and tended to his injuries. After his unit sustained small-arms fire and mortars for four hours, he was transported back to the base, where they confirmed what he already knew – he had suffered a traumatic brain injury, in addition to extensive damage to his shoulder and his lower back.

With only two months left on his tour, Orellana was told that he could return home. He declined. A few weeks later, three of his comrades were killed by an IED on the same route on which he had been wounded. Orellana took the news hard, and begged his commander to allow him to return to his mission for the final month that he was deployed. “I couldn’t just sit there; I needed to go out on the mission,” he says. “I was in a lot of pain, but I sucked it up.”

When Orellana returned to the United States, it was a different story altogether. Riving in pain, he struggled to complete routine, everyday tasks. It became a chore just to bend over and tie his shoe. Taking a shower became an excruciating challenge. Stationed at Ft. Campbell, Texas, he was then assigned to the Wounded Warrior Transition Unit in Ft. Hood, Texas, and began a daily regimen of physical therapy and pain management.

On a personal level, Orellana had to deal with lingering anger issues as well. Forced to retire in 2009, he found it difficult to make the transition from the military to civilian life. “My life had always consisted of getting up and doing something,” he recalls. “Suddenly, I was in so much pain, I couldn’t do anything.”

Gradually, Orellana found the strength to move forward. He began to attend counseling sessions at a local veterans-administration hospital, and enrolled at a nearby community college, Central Texas College, to take advantage of his post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. In 2011, he continued his education at Rutgers–Camden. “Over time, I started to turn my life around,” he says.

At Rutgers–Camden, Orellana found much-needed assistance from the Veterans Affairs office, and comfort and camaraderie from his fellow veterans. He recalls that Davis was especially helpful, constantly checking up with him, and speaking to professors on his behalf. “He was always there for me,” says Orellana.

Orellana became active in the Rutgers–Camden Student Veterans Association, and was soon a familiar, friendly face in the veterans lounge. As new veterans arrived on campus, he would routinely speak with them, and help them to get adjusted to classes and civilian life. He notes that often they were dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. “I would tell them, ‘It’s difficult, but things will get better,” says Orellana. “‘Keep on pushing and eventually, you’ll get through school and it’ll all be worth it.’”

Today, Orellana is enrolled in the Philadelphia Police Academy, and is on track to graduate in October. Much like his experience serving in the military, he loves knowing that, as a police officer, he will be helping others. “Anytime you know someone in need, the first person who they call is a police officer,” he says. “There’s a respect, an honor and a responsibility that comes with wearing a badge. I can’t see myself doing anything else; if I can’t serve in the military, I want to be a police officer.”

More than seven years later, Orellana still feels the lingering effects of the injuries that he sustained in Iraq. Nonetheless, he is focused and determined more than ever to get stronger every day. “Physically, it’s very challenging, because I am still not 100 percent,” says Orellana. “But where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Orellana is now looking forward to participating in the Jeremy Kane 5K Benefit Run as a way to commemorate a fallen hero, as well as to remind himself of all the progress that he’s made.  While he gathered sponsors for last year’s run, he was sidelined by a knee surgery. He sees nothing standing in his way now. “I came from being wounded and not being able to walk, to being able to run,” he says. “I am physically getting back to my old self.”

Registration for the Jeremy Kane 5K Benefit Run is $15 per person, or $25 for a family. For more information, please visit jeremykanebenefitrun.webs.com.

The on-site media contact for the Jeremy Kane Benefit Run is Fred Davis at (856) 287-6047.