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RIM Blue Star Moms
“They Will Never Feel Forgotten”
Alexandra Wilder is the wife of Robert Dean Wilder from Running Springs, CA. Robert was recently discharged from the United States Army.
Robert enlisted in the Army in 2008 then re-enlisted in the Army Reserves in 2012. He was medically discharged in October of 2017. Robert was a Sergeant and was stationed at Camp Casey in South Korea, Shindand Air Base in Afghanistan, and Camp Pendleton in San Diego where he served as a 12N, a Horizontal Construction Engineer-Route Clearance Operations.
Robert has an extensive list of injuries as a result of his combat duty. While reloading rockets, it was really cold and the hydraulic system froze, and while trying to manually drain the hydraulic fluid, there was a catastrophic malfunction where the cables snapped, the rockets fell, and he got his leg stuck in between them, ripping his MCL, ACL, and meniscus. He was “blown up” five times by IEDs. His injuries include a labral tear in right and left shoulders, micro-fractures in the spine, broken inner ear bones resulting in hearing loss, and a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) which causes uncontrollable muscle spasms, PTSD, sensitivity to light, migraines, memory loss, and damage pituitary gland (hormone imbalance). While recovering a downed vehicle from an IED blast, the explosion grounded the main power supply which resulted in second degree electrical burns on left forearm causing permanent nerve damage in his left hand.
Robert did not always want to be in the military, he just wanted to help people – make a difference in a way. Serving in the Army, he enjoyed the brotherhood and how everyone always has each other’s backs. However, like many Soldiers, he did not like the politics. Alexandra says that orders given had to be followed, even though they didn’t seem right. Coming home, some people treated the Soldiers poorly because they didn’t believe that the military should be there. And some people make the Soldiers feel like they didn’t do much even though they tried.
Alexandra says that being an Army wife was scary because she often didn’t know what was happening to her husband, and not being a part of his life every day was very hard on her. “Every time I was able to talk to him, I was the happiest I could be, knowing he was safe… Hearing his voice put me at ease, or just a random text knowing he was still there. I’ve never been prouder of my hero. My nickname for him is Superman because that is what my soldier is to me… He is My Superman and always will be.”
Robert and Alexandra got married on December 19, 2016. They each came into the marriage with a child, and have two more together. Alexandra and their kids say that they have never been prouder to say that their hero has served his country and that he’s THEIR Veteran. They are proud that he has served his country and even though he’s been through so much, he still has an amazing sense of humor and a good outlook on life. He reminds them all the time that life can try to break you, but you have to still get up every day and keep moving forward. Robert always does everything he can for his family and lives up to his role as a husband and a father, just like he lived up to his role as a soldier.
