Saint Martin's University named 1SG John Blue as the first recipient of its America's Service Heroes Scholarship at the annual President's Gala held last weekend at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound.

Sergeant Blue, presently the Commandant of Fort Lewis Warrior Training Academy, has deployed twice to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. During his second deployment to Iraq in January 2007, he was injured by an explosively formed projectile resulting in the loss of his right leg below the knee.

During his time as a member of the Wounded Warrior Transition Battalion at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas, Blue realized the importance of a post-secondary education and began to plan earnestly for a degree in business administration with Saint Martin's University. He is now within 22 credit hours of graduation.

"The ability to provide financial relief to the defenders of our culture and heritage through pursuit of higher education was the motivating force of the scholarship's founders and supporters," said Cruz Arroyo, director of extension campuses at Saint Martin's University.