#VeteranOfTheDay Army and Marine Veteran William McLeroy

March 28, 2023: William McLeroy

William “Bud” McLeroy was born in San Diego, California. He joined the Marine Corps in May 1980 and completed basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. He attended engineering training at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

McLeroy also attended several other schools throughout his career, including the Army Infantry School, Basic Noncommissioned Officer School, and the Sergeant Major Academy, where he ranked within the top 5 of his graduating class.

After serving six years in active Marine Corps, McLeroy served an additional 27 years in the Army Reserve. In 1993, he underwent surgical amputation after an auto accident. After retiring from military service, he joined the Federal Fire Department in San Diego, California, as a firefighter and diver.

According to McLeroy, he was the first amputee to deploy for Operation Iraqi Freedom. There, he was awarded a Purple Heart from an injury while providing aid to Iraqi civilians during a firefight. He also served in Okinawa, Japan, with the 3rd Foreign Service Support Group; Camp Dakota, Honduras; Camps Humphrey and Pohang in Korea; and at Kaiserslautern, Germany.

McLeroy lives in San Diego with his wife, Tina, and his four children. This week, he competes in the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic.

We honor his service and wish him well in his events.

Nominate a Veteran for #VeteranOfTheDay

Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? You’re in luck! VA’s #VeteranOfTheDay social media feature is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.

It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. All it takes is an email to [email protected] with as much information as you can put together, along with some good photos. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission.

A portion of this story was generated by AI. None of the data we reported included personal or sensitive information, and it was fact-checked and edited by a human copy editor prior to publishing.

Writer: Matthew Rosine, Khaled Maalouf

Researchers: Raphael Romea

Graphic Designer: Kiki Kelly