FALLBROOK (CBSLA) — A gracious former Marine who lost the lower half of his body in an I.E.D. blast is being honored by the Los Angeles Rams this weekend, though he says he was just doing his job.
“Do I regret it? No, I don’t,” veteran Jason Ross told CBS2 News.
“I tell people that I had a blast,” Staff Sgt. Ross jokes about the explosion that completely took off his legs during his 2011 tour in Afghanistan.
It’s in keeping with the Marine’s good nature and modesty.
“I tell people that I was stubborn,” he chuckled, talking about the lesson he wants to impart on his young daughters who do not really remember their father before he suffered his injuries.
Ross was given a 2 percent chance of surviving after the blast and has had over 200 surgeries, but that does not dissuade him from his purpose in joining the Marines.
“It’s about serving your country. It’s about feeling a sense of pride and being able to actually do something, give back to the country that has given you so much,” said Ross ahead of a hero’s honor he’ll receive this weekend, about which he is a bit ambivalent.
For Veterans Day, the L.A. Rams will name Ross “hero of the game” before their game against the Houston Texans Sunday.
“When it comes to things like this, I’m kind of like, I guess I don’t want to say “humbled,” but I’m very kind of like, ‘Why, I just did my job?’”
The Rams and his family see it a little differently.
“It don’t get worse than what he got hit with,” father and fellow veteran George Ross told CBS2. He believes its his son’s fighting spirit that is being recognized, and he hopes others appreciate the sacrifice soldiers make.
“Try to step up and help the foundations that are helping the veterans, ’cause there’s so much of need there,” the senior Ross said.
The Rams will honor Sgt. Ross this Sunday, November 12 before a 1:05 p.m. kickoff.