(U.S. Air Force/Airman 1st Class Robyn Hunsinger) Retired U.S. Army Sgt. Michael Verardo suffered two separate improvised explosive device attacks while deployed to Afghanistan in April 2010. After the second on April 24, he was listed as “death imminent,” but a field blood transfusion saved his life. Ever since, he celebrated the 24th of April as his “alive day.” Many military veterans celebrate their own “alive day,” the day they might have died in combat but didn’t. For some of those, it’s also a day of mourning, because they might have lost a fellow service member on the same day.