The Maine soldier who lost part of all four of his limbs in Afghanistan, and recently opened a veterans retreat, met with the president and vice president on Monday during a visit to Washington, D.C.
Retired Staff Sgt. Travis Mills met Vice President Mike Pence a couple months ago while he was at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and was invited for a tour of the White House, according to Brandy Cain, lead gift officer for the Travis Mills Foundation, who accompanied the veteran along with two other foundation board members.
During the tour, “the vice president took us right down to the Oval Office,” Cain said. “They [Mills and the president] talked about the foundation, the veterans retreat, what was up with Travis and how Travis was injured — all the traditional first meeting someone questions.”
Mills seemed to be pretty amazed by the meeting, Cain said.
“It’s not every day that you get to meet the president,” Cain said. “I remember Travis saying he thought [the tour] would be just five minutes, but it was well over two and a half hours in the White House.”
The Manchester native, who created the Travis Mills Foundation to support other injured veterans — or “recalibrated warriors,” as he calls them — tweeted images of him posing with Trump and Pence immediately after the meeting.
Doing my part to make America great for our vets. Thank you @VP for hosting us at the @WhiteHouse today. Thank you @POTUS for your support. pic.twitter.com/BYkORex137
— SSG Travis Mills (@ssgtravismills) July 10, 2017
“Thank you Vice President Mike Pence for hosting me and our team at the The White House today,” Mills tweeted. “It was an honor to share our mission of hosting recalibrated warriors at the Travis Mills Veterans Retreat.
“And, President Donald J. Trump thank you for meeting with us impromptu as well,” Mills said.
Travis Mills Foundation opened the Maine Chance Lodge & Retreat overlooking Long Pond in Rome at the end of June to provide a place for veterans and their families to vacation for free. The foundation that bears Mills’ name also operates a camp, the National Veteran’s Recreation Center, on Salmon Lake near Belgrade.
Mills was on patrol during his third tour in Afghanistan in 2012 with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne when he put his bag down on an IED. He typically wears prosthetics on his left arm and both legs. His story is featured in the documentary “Travis: A Soldier’s Story,” on Netflix and in a book, “Tough as They Come,” a copy of which Trump is seen holding in one photo with Mills.