Army reservist and Reno resident Boone Cutler spent two years recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center from injuries suffered from a mortar round while serving in Iraq.
During his recovery, Gene Lumsden, president of Legacy Sports International, a firearms importer with a location on Longley Lane, called Cutler and offered him a job when he got out of the hospital.
Legacy's efforts recently were recognized by the Department of Defense, which awarded the company its Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. Legacy received the award from a pool of more than 2,600 nominations.
"The Freedom Award is the highest award given by the Department of Defense to an employer," says Cutler, a credit manager at Legacy Sports International. "They did more than just support a guy who was deployed; they hired me when I was recovering from deployment.
"LSI created a job for me, and paid me while I recovered at Walter Reed. I think that was above and beyond. LSI is a great place to work that supports veterans and the American war fighter."
Newmont Mining Company also received a Freedom Award for its support of Staff Sgt. Curt Prokasky of the Army National Guard from Winnemucca.
