GORHAM – Surviving near fatal wounds in Iraq 10 years ago, a Gorham veteran and his wife find supporting other wounded warriors and their caregivers to be good medicine for themselves.

Harold “Butch” Freeman, 53, and his wife, Ora, stay busy helping other families of injured veterans by filling an active role in the Wounded Warrior Project, a military veterans’ charitable organization.

Out of their own struggles, the couple musters the strength to reach out and help other wounded warriors and their families, who don’t want to be forgotten.

“All veterans want to do is to talk with somebody,” he said at their home in Gorham on Tuesday, Nov. 11, the day set aside to honor veterans.

Freeman suffered multiple injuries in a suicide bomber attack in Iraq. Ora Freeman learned that her husband had been wounded in the line of duty when she returned a telephone message left at their home to call an 800 number.

“I was in shock,” she said.

A blast from the suicide bomber left Freeman with post traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, back and pelvis injuries, broken femur bone, and a leg with shrapnel. He said he has trouble sleeping, and his wife said he has memory issues.

“These injuries will be with me the rest of my life,” he said.

A decade later, she still faces the everyday problems of maintaining their home, reminding her husband to eat, and overseeing his medical appointments. She serves as her husband’s full-time caregiver.

She was honored by the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, an organization with a mission to strengthen caregivers of veterans, to represent Maine in a White House meeting last spring with Michelle Obama, the first lady. Ora Freeman was among 50 caregivers, who met with Rosalyn Carter, Elizabeth Dole and Michelle Obama.

“(Ora) is the ambassador from Maine,” Harold Freeman said about his wife’s role in the foundation.

According to the foundation’s statistics, Ora Freeman is among 5.5 million military caregivers in the country.

She said the first lady supports their efforts.

“She was very nice, very sweet,” Ora Freeman said about Michelle Obama.

The Freemans spoke this week to alert the public about the needs families of other wounded warriors face.

“We tell our story to make everyone aware,” she said.

She said some veterans’ families need help with duties like mowing lawns, fixing a meal or transportation. Some younger families have lost their quarters on bases and need a home.

The couple counsels veterans and caregivers by telephone, email and text. They are working with 20 veterans.

“We do peer mentoring for the Wounded Warriors,” he said. “It’s solution-based networking.”

They take a positive approach, discussing problems common to them all and how they can best handle situations.

Ora Freeman said older veterans need companionship. “Be a buddy at a veterans’ home,” she urged.

She said that a whole family is impacted when a seriously wounded soldier returns home. Ora Freeman left her job in management to care for her husband. She reaches out to other caregivers.

“I speak with the spouses,” she said.

The Gorham couple, grandparents of two boys, has two daughters, Ora, a student at the University of Southern Maine, and Ashley, who lives in New Hampshire.

Ora Freeman grew up in Westbrook and graduated from Westbrook High School in 1984. Her husband graduated from high school in New York.

They married 29 years ago on Nov. 7. He spent 27 years in the military counting time on active Army duty, Army Reserve, and National Guard. He volunteered to go to Iraq.

The Freemans mentor and encourage others from their first-hand experience dealing with tragedy.

“It helps me as much as it helps them,” he said about reaching out to fellow veterans.

Ora Freeman cited cases of veterans with missing limbs.

“It gets tough when you are alone,” she said.

She said caregivers need as much support as wounded spouses. When Freeman returned home, they found themselves alone to cope with multiple problems with no guidance from the military.

“We’re very fortunate,” she said. “We’ve come a long way.”

The attack where Freeman suffered his injuries occurred in a mess tent on Dec. 21, 2004, at Camp Marez in Mosul, Iraq. Freeman, a staff sergeant, was serving with the Westbrook-based Company B of the 133rd Engineer Battalion.

An American Journal story on Dec. 29, 2004, reported Freeman was one of 72 wounded in the deadly blast that killed 22.

Freeman credits a mobile Army surgical hospital (MASH) unit with saving his life. “They had to pump blood into me,” he said.

After receiving medical attention near the scene, he was transferred to a field hospital in Iraq. After being stabilized, he was flown to a hospital in Germany.

Ora Freeman, at home in Gorham, called a friend, who sat with her.

“It was three days before I talked with him,” she said.

He called her from a hospital bed in Germany.

“The military wouldn’t fly her there,” he said, because he wasn’t close enough to death.

He was in Germany for a week before being transferred to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the states.

Now, the Freemans are helping others to combat loneliness and despair. They hope fellow veterans and local citizens will join the national effort.

Those wishing to help can contact a local veterans post or visit www.woundedwarriorproject.org or HiddenHeroes@elizabethdolefoundation.org.

Harold Freeman, wounded in Iraq 10 years ago, is pictured this week with his wife, Ora, and their daughter, Ora, at their home in Gorham. The couple is on a mission supporting veterans in the Wounded Warrior Project.  Staff Sgt. Harold Freeman of Gorham is pictured on duty in Iraq. He said a mobile Army surgical hospital unit saved his life following a blast by a suicide bomber in 2004 in Mosul, Iraq.