Movie Hero Ben Affleck Appears With Real Life Hero in New Public Service
Announcement
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Movie star Ben Affleck is
appearing in a new television and radio public service announcement (PSA) for
Paralyzed Veterans of America (Paralyzed Veterans).
The new PSA stars Affleck and Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran James Crosby,
U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.), who was paralyzed in a rocket attack while serving
in Iraq. The spot can be viewed at www.pva.org/BenAffleck.
"Many actors have played the part of a U.S. service man in the movies, but for
veterans such as James Crosby...his service and his sacrifice for our country
are real," says Affleck in the PSA, being formally launched to coincide with
Veterans Day.
After only a month of duty in Iraq, Crosby's truck came under rocket attack
and he was hit in the back by flying shrapnel, which pierced his intestines
and spine. In critical condition with severe internal bleeding, Crosby was
rushed to a local base and then evacuated to Germany before he was sent back
home to the U.S. "When I woke up in the states, they told me I was paralyzed,"
Crosby said. With help from Paralyzed Veterans, Crosby is now living a full
and productive life. "I made it back and I was lucky to have help. I say,
'Thanks Paralyzed Veterans, I could not have done it without you.'"
Academy Award winner Affleck, who played U.S. Army Air Corps pilot Rafe
McCawley in the 2001 drama "Pearl Harbor" and Jack Ryan in the 2002 thriller
"The Sum of All Fears," shot the PSA with Crosby in Boston earlier this year.
"We are delighted to be able to bring Ben and James together for our new
public service announcement," said Paralyzed Veterans national president Gene
A. Crayton. "We hope that through the airing of the PSA, millions more people
will hear about our work to empower America's paralyzed veterans and their
families, and will want to join our effort."
Note to editors
Sixty-three years ago, Paralyzed Veterans of America was founded by a band of
spinal cord injured service members who returned home from World War II to a
grateful nation, but also to a world with few solutions to the challenges they
faced. These veterans from the "Greatest Generation" made a decision not just
to live, but to live with dignity as contributors to society. They created an
organization, dedicated to veterans service, medical research and civil rights
for people with disabilities. And for more than six decades, Paralyzed
Veterans of America and its 34 chapters have been working to create an America
where all veterans, and people with disabilities, and their families, have
everything they need to thrive. (www.pva.org)
SOURCE Paralyzed Veterans of America
Mark Daley, +1-202-416-7681, or Sheila Skipper, +1-202-416-7654, both of
Paralyzed Veterans of America
