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Quadruple Amputee Vet Flies High With The Golden Knights

HOMESTEAD (CBSMiami) -- A retired Army sergeant and a quadruple amputee got the experience of a lifetime, six thousand feet above land on Friday and not only is he Army strong, he also jumped Army strong.

Sergeant Travis Mills, from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, left his prosthetic legs behind and tandem skydived at the Homestead Air Reserve Base.

"Travis as you know has made the ultimate sacrifice as one of our heroes who served this country, so we are honored to have him here today," said Jose Enrique Melendez of the Golden Knights who made the jump possible.

"I couldn't really breathe and I wanted to throw up a little bit, but I didn't want them to know that, so I didn't," said Mills.

Mills, a Wounded Warrior, said it was about two years ago he hit an improvised explosive device (IED) while serving in Afghanistan. He lost portions of both legs and arms.

It's something that changed his life forever but don't feel sorry for him.
He insists, "I ended up landing on my face. I woke up like this. Oh no, but Walter Reid hooked me up and made me all better and now I'm retired, moving on and I'm jumping with the Golden Knights. Are you kidding me? This is awesome," said Mills. "I'm not a sob story. Everyone is like, 'oh it could be worse.' Oh no, but really it's only going to get better."

Another Wounded Warrior, Jason Reicio, joined in on the fun. He was shot twice and lost both of his legs while serving in Iraq. His vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Reico serves as a distinguished Police Officer, now serving with a faithful K-9 partner, for the City of Coral Gables.

There has been a documentary made about Sergeant Mills' journey, called Travis: A Soldier's Story.

Its firsts screening in Miami will happened Monday at 7:00 p.m. at the University of Miami. After the screening Sgt. Mills will do a Q&A session with the audience.

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