From Marine to (role) model: Wounded warrior strikes a pose to benefit fellow veterans

It was June 2012 when the CH-53D helicopter that Marine door gunner and airframes ­mechanic Sgt. Kirstie Ennis was flying in went down in ­Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

The 21-year-old was on her second Afghanistan deployment. She suffered severe trauma, especially to her brain, spine, neck, shoulder, face and left leg, which after some 40 surgeries was amputated below the knee three years later. A month after that, it was amputated above the knee.