WEST BRANCH — Local veteran and Purple Heart recipient Sgt. Damon Suiter had a slightly more vested interest in the Olympic hockey gold medal game when Team USA faced Canada, because he had been teamed up with one of the USA players.

Suiter was paired with Detroit Red Wing Brian Rifalski through a partnership between USA Hockey and Operation Homefront. According to an article in Red Wings Today, general manager Brian Burke contacted Operation Homefront because he wanted his players to understand the meaning of playing for their country.

Each of the 23 American players were partnered with a wounded warrior. Suiter was paired with Rifalski, sending some things along to give him some extra luck during the Olympics.

“It was a big deal to my son, Cade,” Suiter told the Herald. “He thought it was really cool, that Dad’s going to be adopted by a hockey player. So did my other son, Ethan.”

Suiter said his wife, Priscilla, was the one who found out about the program.

“She does a lot of research on the Internet about what happened to me, and she stays in touch with these organizations like Operation Homefront, Wounded Warrior Project, and Army Wounded Warrior Advocate’s Group, which is an Army program,” Suiter said. “She’s my caregiver now, and takes care of me, so she always wants to be up to date.

“She brought this to my attention, that they were doing adopt a player through Operation Homefront. She said, ‘I think it’s something you should do. I think it would be good for you.’”

Suiter, who received the Purple Heart in 2009 after suffering from traumatic brain injuries resulting from injuries he received while serving in Iraq, said he was asked to write a letter to Rifalski.

“I sent him a small letter,” Suiter said. “I just told him that I was proud to be involved in this, and America needed something to believe in right now, and they were it. I don’t know what it is about hockey. I know in Michigan, hockey has always been big.”

In addition to the letter, Suiter said he sent a couple of mementos along as well.

“I sent him an American Flag,” Suiter said. “It was a flag patch that you see on soldiers’ shoulders, and I wore it all through Iraq. Never took it off. I changed it from uniform to uniform. It was kind of old and raggedy, a little dirty. I tried to clean it up a little bit before I sent it through the mail to him.”

Suiter said the flag meant a lot to him, and his family. Suiter is a sixth-generation soldier.

“I sent him that because that meant a lot to me,” he said. “People talk about the colors of the flag, and what they mean, but that’s a flag that I carried with me to combat. I carried it with me through all that. It was on me when I was wounded. I kept it all the way back home.”

Suiter also sent Rifalski a coin that he received at the end of his first deployment in Egypt.

“I explained to him what they meant and what they were,” Suiter said. “I don’t know if that helped Mr. Rifalski. I’ve read some articles that the coach for Team USA was really big on the service of the military, and what they sacrificed.”

Suiter said he hasn’t heard from Rifalski yet, and he wouldn’t be upset if he didn’t.

“I don’t know how many games they played,” Suiter said. “And then the next day they had a game against the Avalanche. I don’t think he’s slowed down yet. And to play in the gold medal match against Canada, and then to play the Colorado Avalanche, you play one hard, hard-hitting match and then you’re going to play your rivals the next day. I’m sure he had some sore spots.”

Suiter said it meant a lot to him to be able to participate in the program.

“It humbles you,” he said. “I think it’s important that people understand what’s happened during this war, what’s happened to the men. They talk about the casualty totals, and they talk about the thousands of men who have died, but they forget the tens of thousands that came home without legs, or faces. They’ve sacrificed so much of their lives. Especially the guys that are wounded, the guys with traumatic brain injuries, amputations and things like that.”

“It’s that hidden part of the war,” Suiter continued. “It’s even hidden from the men that fight the war. Because once you’re wounded, no one sees you again. I’ve only seen my truck partner, and talked to a couple buddies on the phone since their mission ended. No one sees you, so everyone forgets about it.”

Suiter said programs like Operation Homefront do a great job helping soldiers readjust to civilian life.

“That’s why I did this,” he said. “Because any help I can give to them, in furthering their cause — the oath that all of us take is to never leave your friend behind. Never leave a fallen comrade. My dad preached it, and the Army preaches it and the military preaches it. And it doesn’t stop when you take your uniform off.”

And Suiter said he doesn’t consider himself a hero.

“I told this to Mr. Rifalski and in the interviews; I don’t have any regrets about what happened,” Suiter said. “I’m not a hero. I was a soldier that did his job. I did my duty, and that means more than any kind of award or anything. To do your duty. Making it home was a plus.”