Gary Sinise Salutes Post-9/11 Veterans

Jeremy Haynes, now a retired major, was in JROTC and in his senior year of high school when he witnessed the events of 9/11 and decided to serve his country. 

He went to Georgia Military College and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army after two years. It was then that his military career started in earnest, including a deployment to Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division. 

On June 22, 2011, he married Chelsea Aiko, who had also decided to join the military after 9/11. She was a drill sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserves and the couple started a beautiful family together.

The Army recognized Jeremy’s talents. He was promoted to captain and appointed aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen. Harold Greene, the deputy commanding general of Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, which trained Afghan forces.

On Aug. 5, 2014, during an inspection visit to Camp Qargha, site of Afghanistan’s National Defense University, a member of the Afghan National Army opened fire on a delegation of officers and other dignitaries.

Gen. Greene, 55, was shot dead, the first American general officer to be killed in action since Vietnam. Jeremy, then 30, was running toward his boss when the gunfire erupted. Four bullets hit Jeremy, fracturing his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed.

A few days later, Jeremy woke up in an intensive care unit in Germany. Chelsea was at his bedside. 

Jeremy later had moments when he wanted to give up. He told Chelsea: “I’m not the man you fell in love with. I am half of a man so therefore I understand if you leave me and you go and remarry.” Her response was: “I’m here.”

Chelsea recalled: “You don’t know how much strength you have to gather to be by their side. You hear all the horror stories about spouses who have left because of injuries, so I made a promise to myself that I would be there by his side no matter what.”

That November, Jeremy, who had been told he would probably not walk again, took his first steps. He later took up adaptive skiing and participated with Chelsea in the D.C. Wounded Warrior Soldier Ride.

They gave their third child the middle name Harold, after Gen. Greene, and asked his widow, Susan Myers, to be godmother.

In October 2020, Jeremy, Chelsea and their six children moved into a smart home custom-built amid six forested acres in Fairfax, Virginia, as part of the Gary Sinise Foundation R.I.S.E. (Restoring Independence Supporting Empowerment) program.

Creating the home had been a three-year process, with every detail tailored to Jeremy’s needs so that, in his words, he would be “able to independently achieve things that many said I'll never be able to do alone … forging a greater bond with my family.”

Jeremy, 39, is now one of the Gary Sinise Foundation’s 31 ambassadors, helping spread the word about our work, proudly sharing our accomplishments and aspirations as well as his own incredible story of service. 

Heroes such as Jeremy and Chelsea inspire me every day. They are the very best of America and the generation of post-9/11 veterans. And they are present-day reminders that our freedom and security come at a price and a sacrifice that we must always honor and respect.

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