Mike
Enlisted eight days after 9/11, pulled two shipmates from a burning engine room, and now fights for veterans as a lawyer.
▶ Watch the recapMeet our hometown hero
Mike's dad, a former Marine and police officer, inspired him to serve. He joined the Navy right out of high school and enlisted eight days after the September 11 attacks.
He served four and a half years, including aboard the USS Princeton, where he tracked 50 to 100 ships a day as an Operations Specialist. While deployed, he went into a smoke-filled engine room without a respirator to rescue two badly burned people. He also made it to Hell Week in Navy SEAL training.
After the Navy, Mike earned a master's in rehabilitation counseling and spent six years helping people with disabilities. Then he went to law school, passed the bar, and now practices law helping veterans with their VA disability claims.
He's lived in Epping, New Hampshire, since 2012 with his wife and their two sons. Their home, built in 2000, had condensation and moisture problems in the attic.
Someone who rises to the occasion to assist those in need.
— MIKE, ON WHAT MAKES A HEROThe Hero Day recap
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