Dan Gade At age 34, Army Major Dan Gade has accomplished more than most people do in a lifetime. After graduating from West Point in 1997 with a degree in environmental science, Dan became an active duty armor officer in the Army. For two years, he worked as a company commander in Korea, then in Iraq near Ramadi, one of the most notorious areas for the insurgency. During his five months in Iraq, he was wounded in action twice, and then spent most of 2005 recuperating from his injuries, which included amputation of his right leg at the hip. After his recuperation at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., Dan was flown to POA to be fitted with a new prosthesis invented by Stan Patterson for Josh Olson, another soldier injured in Iraq. Dan was a quick learner, and within a few weeks was walking with a cane and regaining strength and confidence. Within months, with Dan’s determination and hard work, his gait improved so much it was hard to tell the difference between him and an above-knee amputee. He has two prostheses, one equipped with the Power Knee and another with a C-leg. Dan was able to stay on active duty in the military after his injuries. When he was appointed to the position of associate director for domestic policy for the White House's Domestic Policy Council, where he was responsible for disability and health care issues, his uniquely designed hip-disarticulate socket and power knee enabled him to walk through the halls of the White House with confidence and without tiring. Dan said that after his injury, people often referred to him as a hero. But at a Department of Defense ceremony in December 2007 where Dan was one of 16 “everyday heros” being honored for overcoming their disabilities, Dan offered a different definition. “A hero by my way of thinking is not captured by a dictionary search or (an Internet) search. Most heroes simply live their lives unnoticed and uncelebrated,” Dan said. “Perhaps the best definition of a hero is one who chooses a harder right over an easier wrong. You may be thinking that the war fighters are the heroes, and some are. You may think the military families are the heroes, and some are. You may even think that you are not a hero, but aren’t you, or couldn’t you be? “Those of you with disabilities who are working despite those disabilities and employees who empower them are my heroes today, and I applaud you.” On Sept. 23, 2008, Dan was appointed to the Board of Directors of a new organization being established in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a successor to the American Health Information Community (AHIC), a federal advisory committee that will soon be dissolving. The Board of Directors will be immediately tasked with defining the strategies by which the organization will fulfill its mission to develop a unified approach in creating an effective, interoperable nationwide health information system in the United States.   "