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Master Corporal Jody Mitic and his wife, Sgt. Alannah Gilmore, pose with their daughter Aylah as they prepare for the inaugural Tribute Gala yesterday. (Ernest Doroszuk/SUN MEDIA)True Patriot gala thrilling way to pay tribute to troops: Wounded vet
Master Cpl. Jody Mitic and Sgt. Alannah Gilmore proudly wore uniforms to a gala that last night had them rubbing shoulders with the prime minister and the creme-de-la-creme of top brass.
Wearing "greens" off-base wasn't something the legless soldier and his common-law wife could do when they joined up in the 1990s.
"In the 1990s, we weren't allowed to wear our uniforms off-base," Mitic, 32, who lost both legs in Afghanistan, said in an interview.
Today he is thrilled that children are taught to honour veterans and peackeepers, that more people attend Remembrance Day services, and people stop him in the street, realizing "we are fighting a war."
"Now we can wear our uniforms and hold our heads up high," Mitic said.
At 17, "it was a different political climate" and many youths scorned the military then, he said before the True Patriot Love Foundation dinner at the Intercontinental Hotel where Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff showed up to support the troops.
The event is one of many Mitic has attended since donning his artificial legs two years ago.
He's determined to continue serving and help other wounded vets through the military's Soldier On program, including running in marathons to raise funds that help them and their families.
Support from individuals like the Barrie men who built his modified motorcycle, plus corporate sponsors helping the military, are a major boost to morale, Mitic said. Hoping to return to active duty overseas on another peacekeeping mission, he is realistic, prepared to continuing exercises, working and waiting.
Still recovering from devastating wounds, often feeling his ghost legs, the Kitchener-born, Brampton-raised member of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment regrets he can't be with comrades next April in Afghanistan.
"The first priority is getting better," Mitic said.
On patrol Jan. 11, 2007, following buddies through a village wall, he stumbled.
Stepping on a landmine, one leg was half gone, the other too damaged to save.
"I had a rough week ... I turned 30 and I lost my legs," Mitic said wryly.
"I always make a joke about it," he chuckled. "Imagine what life would be without a sense of humour!"
Gilmore was one of several medics dispatched to help.
When Mitic returned to CFB Patawawa after rehabilitation, they met at a base club.
"I had just got a puppy and wanted to introduce him to other dogs," he said. She remembered him.
A dog-meet and a barbecue followed.
A year later, in September, 2008, their daughter, Aylah, was born.
The soldier philosophically said, "If I hadn't been hurt, Alannah and I probably wouldn't have met and Aylah wouldn't have been born.
"Everything's fluid now ... I try not to focus on the bad things," said Mitic, who once stood "6-foot-4, now 6-2."
IAN.ROBERTSON@SUNMEDIA.CA
