As a young competitive gymnast, Melissa Stockwell's heart would fill with pride as she looked at the American flag and sang the national anthem before every meet. When anyone would ask her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she would say she wanted to join the Army. Stockwell's parents thought she was going through a phase, but she joined the ROTC program while at the University of Colorado in Boulder. After graduating with a communications degree in 2002, she was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army's Transportation Corps. At 23 years old, Stockwell was deployed to Iraq in March 2004. Less than a month later, her life changed forever. She was part of a routine convoy going through central Baghdad when a big explosion went off. Think of the loudest noise you can imagine and our vehicle starts to swerve, she recalls. The woman in the front yells IED, IED, we 've hit an IED ! Stockwell's left leg was gone. It sounds strange, but as soon as I was told I did n't have my leg, I knew it was going to be OK, the veteran says. I just kind of had this almost peaceful feeling that, alright, it's going to be alright. Life is n't over. While recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, Stockwell says she was inspired by other patients. You see these other soldiers and these other veterans that are missing two limbs, three limbs, sometimes four