Craig Fitzgerald

Nashua, New Hampshire

Air Force Veteran

Craig Fitzgerald joined the Boys Club of Nashua in 1985, taking part in sports and leadership programs. He enlisted in the Air Force after high school in 1995, serving first as a survival training instructor, then a pararescuer. In 2003, he was leading a rescue reconnaissance mission in Afghanistan when insurgents attacked. Severely wounded, Craig underwent 11 surgeries and was medically retired in 2004. Wanting to give back to other injured veterans, he and a friend hiked the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail in just four months in 2006, generating more than $150,000 on behalf of severely disabled veterans and their families.