Movie Hero Ben Affleck Appears With Real Life Hero in New Public Service Announcement

Movie Hero Ben Affleck Appears With Real Life Hero in New Public Service Announcement

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Movie star Ben Affleck is appearing in a new television and radio public service announcement (PSA) for Paralyzed Veterans of America (Paralyzed Veterans).

The new PSA stars Affleck and Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran James Crosby, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.), who was paralyzed in a rocket attack while serving in Iraq. The spot can be viewed at www.pva.org/BenAffleck.

"Many actors have played the part of a U.S. service man in the movies, but for veterans such as James Crosby...his service and his sacrifice for our country are real," says Affleck in the PSA, being formally launched to coincide with Veterans Day.

After only a month of duty in Iraq, Crosby's truck came under rocket attack and he was hit in the back by flying shrapnel, which pierced his intestines and spine. In critical condition with severe internal bleeding, Crosby was rushed to a local base and then evacuated to Germany before he was sent back home to the U.S. "When I woke up in the states, they told me I was paralyzed," Crosby said. With help from Paralyzed Veterans, Crosby is now living a full and productive life. "I made it back and I was lucky to have help. I say, 'Thanks Paralyzed Veterans, I could not have done it without you.'"

Academy Award winner Affleck, who played U.S. Army Air Corps pilot Rafe McCawley in the 2001 drama "Pearl Harbor" and Jack Ryan in the 2002 thriller "The Sum of All Fears," shot the PSA with Crosby in Boston earlier this year.

"We are delighted to be able to bring Ben and James together for our new public service announcement," said Paralyzed Veterans national president Gene A. Crayton. "We hope that through the airing of the PSA, millions more people will hear about our work to empower America's paralyzed veterans and their families, and will want to join our effort."

Note to editors

Sixty-three years ago, Paralyzed Veterans of America was founded by a band of spinal cord injured service members who returned home from World War II to a grateful nation, but also to a world with few solutions to the challenges they faced. These veterans from the "Greatest Generation" made a decision not just to live, but to live with dignity as contributors to society. They created an organization, dedicated to veterans service, medical research and civil rights for people with disabilities. And for more than six decades, Paralyzed Veterans of America and its 34 chapters have been working to create an America where all veterans, and people with disabilities, and their families, have everything they need to thrive. (www.pva.org)

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Paralyzed Veterans of America

CONTACT: Mark Daley, +1-202-416-7681, or Sheila Skipper,
+1-202-416-7654, both of Paralyzed Veterans of America

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Profile: International Entertainment