Skip Andersen, left, with his wife Brenda and Post 90 Commander Bill Cooper. holds a check for the Lt. Micah Andersen Foundation Donation. Photo by Leland Lehman/ladailypost.com
COMMUNITY News:
The Los Alamos American Legion Post 90 and American Legion Riders (ALR) Chapter 13 presented donations to parents Skip and Brenda Andersen of Los Alamos for the Lt. Micah Andersen Medical Fund July 11.
Both organizations presented $1,000 donations to the Andersens. Presenting the donations for Post 90 was Commander Bill Cooper and Post ALR President David Bullock.
Lt. Micah Jay Andersen is in the Burn Intensive Care Unit at the San Antonio Military Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, one of the leading infectious disease control ICUs in the country. With their help, he appears to have fought back the fungal infection that was the biggest threat to his life. Andersen is recovering very slowly and will begin rehabilitation as he becomes fully awake.
Andersen, formerly of Los Alamos was severely injured June 1 by an improvised explosive device (IED) while leading his platoon on a mission near Kandahar Afghanistan. Andersen lost both legs above the knees. One soldier was killed and six others injured in the attack that included multiple IEDs. Andersen was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division stationed at Ft. Bliss, Texas and currently deployed in Afghanistan.
Andersen is the husband of Linzi Bommarito Andersen and father of infant Jay Salvatore’ Andersen of Boise, Idaho.
Andersen is a graduate of Los Alamos High School where he was a member of the Los Alamos High School Junior Reserved Training Officer Corps (JRTOC). In 2011 he graduated from Boise State and received his commission as a US Army Officer, Armor Branch. Prior to attending Boise State, Andersen served for three years in the US Army. He completed basic and advanced individual artillery training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, then served as a crewman on the testing team for the military’s new heavy portable artillery, and spent a year as an NCO in Iraq protecting convoy’s from Al Taji to Baghdad. Skip Andersen, his son Justin, and daughter Venecia are veterans and Andersen’s uncle, David Youngblood is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army is currently serving at the Pentagon.
The Los Alamos American Legion Post 90 and the American Legion Riders Chapter 19 have organized a Micah Andersen Family Support Organization in order to support the Andersen family to defray the expenses for Andersen’s recovery, rehabilitation and return to full mobility not covered by the US Army, the VA or other official organizations.
The American Legion is asking all those community citizens who want and desire to rally and support the Micah Andersen Family Support Organization to donate what is in their hearts to the: Micah Jay Andersen Medical Fund – that has been established for Micah and the family. Donations can be made at any branch of the Los Alamos National Bank or by mail at: Los Alamos National Bank, PO Box 60, Los Alamos, NM 87544, by asking for a deposit to be made to the: Micah Jay Andersen Medical Fund.
