Ian Freeman, Sergeant First Class, US Army (Ret)
RIDER

​I am a 43 year old father of 3. I served in the US Army reserve for 18 yrs and deployed to Iraq in August of 2006. I was part of a route clearance platoon operating in the Al Anbar Provence, primarily in and around Fallujah. As the vehicle commander of the lead vehicle my job was to identify IEDs and other threats. I was personally responsible for clearing 40 IEDs. Some of them got past me and I was hit directly by 6 IEDs. Resulting in 3 grade 3 concussions and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). After my last blast I was air-lifted to Germany for a possible brain bleed. In Germany they ruled out a brain bleed but determined that I had sustained too much brain damage to return to combat. After a 4 month stint at Walter Reed Army Hospital I was sent home to Boise to recover and receive treatment. I spent about 3 years in a non-deployable status until the Army retired me to TDRL. A temporary retirement program where they don’t have to pay you. 4 yrs later they permanently retired me with 80% disability.

​Currently I am a senior at Boise State University majoring in Political Science. I have been a member of the Wyakin Warrior Foundation since 2013. They have played a major role in my success at BSU. They provide mentoring and tutoring as well as people to talk to about issues involving PTSD and Multiple Concussion Disorder.

I have been riding motorcycles off and on for most of my life. Starting with dirt bikes and moving to sport and later road bikes. I currently ride a Yamaha V-star classic 1100. I am a member of the Purple Heart Riders Idaho chapter and ride about 4000 miles a year. I am very excited to be riding in the Veterans Charity Ride to Sturgis. My friends and fellow Wyakin Warrior’s went last year and I have been jealously cursing them ever since.