Marine Corps veteran Noah Currier speaks at VA Veterans Day ceremony

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The annual Milwaukee VA Veterans Day ceremony was held Monday, Nov. 11, and a special guest was in attendance.

Marine Corps veteran Noah Currier spoke at this year's ceremony. Currier, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, was injured in a car accident three days after returning from a deployment. The accident left him without full use of his arms and legs. He lost his girlfriend and he sunk deep into depression. Today, Currier told the story of how his life turned around. 

"A buddy of mine had come over to my house and he saw me shove a rifle under my pillow when the door opened, 'cause I wasn't expecting him," Currier said. "And he didn't say anything about it. I knew he saw it, I was completely busted."

That friend, a paraplegic veteran, insisted that Currier join him at an adaptive sports clinic. Currier went along and not only did that visit lift his spirits, it inspired him to become a downhill skier, surfer and a dominant rugby player at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games. 

He also spoke on the importance of the VA to veterans across the country.

"It drives me nuts when I hear people complain about the VA, to realize how lucky we are to be able to come up to a hospital like this and be taken are of by people who genuinely love veterans," said Currier.

He went on to form Oscar Mike, which makes American-made military apparel, and the Oscar Mike Foundation, a nonprofit that supports disabled veterans.