HONOREE:
BJ Ganem
BRANCH:
Marine Corps
GAME:
Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears
The Green Bay Packers and WPS Health Insurance paid special tribute to Sergeant BJ Ganem during the Packers-Bears game for Operation Fan Mail.
BJ began his career in recruitment training for the U.S. Marine Corps in 1996 in Paris Island, S.C. He was then trained in combat skills in the infantry and was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and Camp Quantico in Virginia during his first four-year enlistment.
After his enlistment, BJ left active duty to pursue a career with Kraft Foods, but enlisted as an active reservist with a U.S. Marine Corps infantry company in Madison, Wis. In 2004, his unit was activated and sent to the Babil Province of Iraq, where he and his squad were hit by a roadside bomb on Thanksgiving night. BJ was seriously injured by the assault and was medically evacuated to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
As a result of the ambush, BJ had his left leg amputated below the knee, and suffered several shrapnel wounds and a traumatic brain injury. After one year of rehab, in 2005, he retired from the military.
After retirement, BJ worked as the Dane County veteran service officer, a role in which he advocated for other veterans in his area by helping to educate and empower them on issues such as benefits, education, health care, and employment. BJ was also an athlete for the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund’s Team Semper Fi and a peer mentor for the Wounded Warrior Project.
BJ now lives in Reedsburg, Wis., with his wife Sarah and two children, Dylan and Mackenzie. Dylan accompanied him to the Packers game.
