Veteran Amputee Tells Lewisburg Students They Are Stronger Than They Think

Kevin Bittenbender retired from the U.S. Army after 34 years of service, came home from deployments that included exposure to burn pits, and eventually lost his left leg. On April 2, he stood before students at Donald H. Eichhorn Middle School in Lewisburg and told them they are stronger than they think.

Bittenbender, a retired Sergeant Major, Paralympic athlete, and central Pennsylvania veteran advocate, delivered the keynote address at the school's "Stronger Than You Think" assembly. His message was built on personal testimony: after the amputation that reshaped his life, he told students he "wasn't sure what his future held." Then he explained how he found it.

Recovery and reinvention came through goal-setting, determination, and a support network of family, friends, and community resources, Bittenbender said. Since losing his left leg, he has competed in Paralympic events, taken on marathon challenges, and developed a second career as a motivational speaker advocating for veterans and people living with disabilities across the region.

The assembly addressed an audience in the thick of transition. Middle school years bring academic pressure, shifting social dynamics, and emotional challenges that students often face without a clear framework for working through setbacks. Bittenbender's account offered one, grounded in lived consequence rather than abstraction.

His visit also reflects the partnerships Union County schools have built with veteran organizations, adaptive sports programs, and disability advocacy groups. For Lewisburg, where military families are woven into the community's social fabric, having a decorated Sergeant Major walk into a gymnasium and describe losing a limb, and what came after, carries a different weight than any lesson plan could.