The Amputee Coalition announced that Dan Berschinski, a decorated war veteran and amputee, has been elected to serve a 3-year term on its Board of Directors, effective immediately.
Berschinski is a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point. While serving in Afghanistan during Operating Enduring Freedom, Berschinski encountered an IED during a mission and lost both of his legs. According to a press release, he received the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Combat Infantryman’s Badge and Ranger Tab for his service. Since then, Berschinski has worked as a liaison with the Army to improve recovery efforts for wounded warriors.
Berschinski is the founder and president of Two-Six Industries, a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business, which will produce injection molded plastic components for sale to public and private sectors of the O&P industry. Berschinski is also in the process of patenting a prosthetic socket for hip disarticulations and is working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab to design and test a haptic feedback system.
He is also an accomplished athlete, completing the Marine Corps Marathon and two Army 10-Miler races while recovering from his injury. He is a certified peer visitor regularly visiting with wounded soldiers at military hospitals. In 2011, he raised $10,000 for the Amputee Coalition Paddy Rossbach Youth Camp, where he plans to volunteer this summer.
“We are honored to welcome Dan to the Amputee Coalition. He brings a wealth of personal and professional experience as a wounded warrior, an Army officer, an entrepreneur and as an athlete,” Kendra Calhoun, president and chief executive officer of the Amputee Coalition, stated in the release. “We look forward to his perspective as we expand our support for active duty service-members and veterans living with limb loss and their families. As a businessman and Amputee Coalition volunteer, his input into our strategic philanthropic efforts will be of great value.”
