Salute to Veterans Gala

John Quinn
Keynote Speaker
John Quinn, Senior Chief Petty Officer: USN, (Ret.)

Rich Luterman
Master of Ceremonies

Post 32 Newsletter designer & editor / Unit 32 Women’s Auxiliary member and officer Josie Boore
on Volunteerism and Adamant Advocate of the Michigan Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America (MPVA)

I could hardly contain myself standing next to Senior Chief Quinn, knowing his story !

On Wednesday, November 9, 2011, I attended the annual MPVA Salute to Veterans Gala. I was hyperventilating at the honor of meeting Senior Chief Petty Officer Quinn, having read his Bio pre the event. I recognized Senior Chief Quinn immediately from the photo in the MPVA brochure regarding the event. The first words that came out of my mouth when I was face-to-face with John was “Oh my God”, you’re John Quinn. Next, I told John, “ I am humbled at your tenacity, Sir ! ”. Then, I asked John for the honor of a photo.

The morning after the event – Thursday, November 10, 2011 – I am shaken, still, to know that I did have the tremendous and probably a once-in-a-lifetime honor of meeting this man, this veteran of the United States Navy – this hero in overcoming what he’d been told the first time around in his attempt to enlist – No!  

John’s story of being sent home by the Navy doctors set his pace and determination for preparing to prove the Navy wrong. His desire to serve his country of the United States of America – in the Navy – was fulfilled the second time around, serving with numerous honors for 20 years. The rest is indeed “history”.

   
Josie and John Quinn                                                                                           Josi and Rich Luterman

Detroit native John Quinn was born with cereral palsy. He also wanted to serve his country. So, in spite of partial paralysis, two different sized feet, and the inability to walk prior to the age of four, John joined the United States Navy and served for the next twenty years on battleships, aircraft carriers and destroyers. He did it all while keeping his condition a complete secret out of a deep desire to wear the uniform of his nation.

In his powerful memoir Someone Like Me, An Unlikely Story of Challenge and Triumph over Cerebral Palsy, Senior Chief Quinn describes what it is like to live with a handicap—a life filled with pain, laughter and love. His remarkable story of determination, sacrifice and hope can be heard at on November 9, 2011 at the MPVA’s Salute to Veterans Gala.