Glacier Point Yosemite Family Wedding Military Story
Taft Point, Yosemite Valley Elopement Photos
Early morning Sunrise Yosemite Family Wedding Ceremony
We met in the morning for sunrise at Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park. Michael and Neisa were going to elope here to make it official. They brought their two adventurous kids with them, whom I wanted to adopt. They are such a great family and I enjoyed adventuring with them for the day. There are some images below to share their Yosemite elopement ceremony.
However, different from my other weddings and elopements in Yosemite, there’s more to this Yosemite family wedding story than an elopement in a National Park. Both Michael and Neisa met in the service together. Michael was hit by a IED (improvised explosive device or roadside bomb). And rather than me tell the story, I’d like to allow Neisa to share the story in her own words:
Michael and Neisa’s Military Story
Michael and I served in the Army together, and were stationed in El Paso, TX at Fort Bliss. Right before our unit deployed to Iraq, Michael got transferred into the company I was working in. We first met in Kuwait, while awaiting to be mobilized into Iraq. We were in Iraq for a little longer than a year, frequently working on missions together, and became very close.
Struck by an IED
Toward the end of our deployment, Michael’s Humvee was struck by an IED (improvised explosive device or roadside bomb). He suffered several injuries, including severe trauma to his left hand (eventually leading to the amputation of his pinky finger), multiple shrapnel wounds all over his body, and a perforated femoral artery in his right thigh. He was medically evacuated into Germany, and eventually back to the US.
Surgeries, Purple Heart, and Family
Over the course of the following months he underwent seven surgeries, including one to harvest a nerve from his leg in order to replace the damaged nerve in his left hand. He was awarded a Purple Heart for the injuries he sustained while in combat. I was the commander’s driver, and while my truck was struck several times with IED’s and gun fire from the enemy, I was very fortunate to be able to finish the deployment with the rest of the unit, as a few of our friends did not. Michael and I reunited a few months later when I returned to the US. Our son, Luccas, was born a year later, right before we both got out of the Army, and our daughter, Brooklyn, was born the following year. We have been one big happy family ever since =).
Warning graphic images below Elopement Images.
We are attaching some pictures for you to get a better understanding (Michael’s injuries, surgeries, amputation, his truck post-IED, receiving his Purple Heart, and a couple of me while infiltrated into an Iraqi home, waiting for the bad guys who set the IED’s to show up), but they are quite graphic so beware!
Michael and Neisa’s Military Story Photos. Graphic images below
