Anna Durham wins the Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick Child of a Disabled Veteran Scholarship
Congratulations to Anna Durham, a first-year student at the University of Virginia School of Law, who was awarded the 2017 Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick LTD Child of a Disabled Veteran Scholarship.
Durham is the proud daughter of a disabled veteran of the United States Army and Air Force. Her father served his country first in the Air Force as a medic before and during Operation Desert Storm and later as a medic in the Army. Anna’s father suffered a traumatic brain injury in service and still suffers from seizures.
In her award-winning essay, Anna Durham wrote movingly of being a child watching her father struggle with his injuries. But the Durhams have a hard-fought happy ending. Today, Anna Durham’s father is one of her biggest heroes.
Her father struggled greatly until he was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She credits his recovery to his immediate willingness to seek treatment, the expert help of doctors, and a very special service dog.
“His health has absolutely transformed with the help of his doctors, and especially his service dog, Roo,’’ Anna Durham said.
Her father reaches out to other veterans. “Now he works very closely with Operation Seas the Day and has made a huge impact on several years’ worth of wounded veterans.”
Anna Durham is a native of Hurricane, WV, and a graduate of Rice University in Houston, TX. This summer, she will work as an intern for a private law firm and she hopes to practice in the area of complex private litigation upon graduation. “I’m interested in working on complex cases that will really challenge me intellectually,” she said.
Durham advocates for a more public conversation about the challenges facing servicemen and women. “It is so important that veterans have the support of the public not just when they are at their strongest, representing our nation at home and overseas, but also when they are at their weakest,” she wrote.
Civilians, she wrote, should indeed recognize the heroism, “but also the humanity behind it.”
In 2016, the U.S. Dept. of Veteran Affairs and U.S. Census Bureau estimated that out of the almost 20 million U.S. veterans, 3.8 million live with a service-connected disability.
This is one of the reasons why we at Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick are dedicated to fighting for our veterans. We have a national practice and reputation in Veterans Law, ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) Law, and insurance litigation. Our mission is to restore pride and independence to our clients.
Veterans lawyer Robert Chisholm is a former two-term president of the National Organization of Veterans Advocates (NOVA) and is a founding member and former President of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims Bar Association.
The annual Child of a Disabled Veteran Scholarship is a symbol of our firm’s gratitude for the service of veterans. CCK will be award two scholarships in spring 2019–deadline is Dec. 15. Click here to apply!
