HONOREE: Terry Araman
NOMINATOR: Tami Bohannon
Terry Araman enlisted in the Army because he wanted to make a difference, and he continues to make a difference today as the founder of the MANA House.
Araman served in the Vietnam Way for three years as a medic.
"I wanted to be able to select and choose what I wanted to do in the military, and I had a very strong desire to be a medic. My job is to make sure I keep people alive, keep them calm when they're wounded, " he said.
"Unfortunately, you can't save everyone, and you tend to remember those faces where you did the best you could and somebody passed on."
Araman even received a Bronze Star for rescuing a fellow soldier.
After he got out of the military, he says there weren't a lot of programs to help veterans and he became homeless for awhile, staying on the streets and couch surfing.
He helped develop a self-help organization for veterans, and once he got assistance from the Arizona Department of Veteran Services, he was able to open a veterans outreach center and the MANA House (MANA = Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force) to provide a home for homeless veterans.
"If we can provide a place where veterans feel comfortable, my goodness we should do that," he said."
For more information about MANA House, go to www.manahouseaz.org.
