You've never heard a story like this..

was the surge. And so they rescheduled us for August. So my first tour we went in August, and I wasn't I wasn't known, nobody knew who I was, so I was We were doing like all these small fobs, and we were hitting two fobs a day for fourteen days. We would just go around and go to all these real places. But I remember very specifically in Warhorse and we had met we'd been probably going for three or four days. You just meet all these people. Everybody's real cool, upbeat.

They're like, oh musicians, awesome. Yeah, you know, everyone has different jobs on the fob. There's a million jobs on the fire And I remember one day this about a five truck convoy comes in and the sergeant major that was taking us around, you know, they opened the gates. The guys come in, they park, you know, in the gravel, and the sergeant majors like, I want you to meet these guys because they're not gonna be able to make it to your concert tonight because they're going back out.

Then these dudes come rolling out of the truck just covered in dirt and sweat, boys, and nobody was smiling. They're just like just stoic, and they come walking out and the sergeant majors like, I want you to you know, sergeant majors, are I want you to meet here's the band that the bands of playing tonight, you know, come meet these guys. And so it was the first time that I met guys that weren't that weren't like oh yeah they were They were like, it's been been busy day. Yeah.

And then then I knew right then because I was learning everything I knew then there's different kinds of deployments. Oh dude, yeah, those are your grunts right there. Yeah, different kinds you know what I mean. And I don't mean this in any disrespect to to anybody that is served or that's currently serving. This is no disrespect at all. But I learned right then that there's guys that that men and women that will go overseas and they take

out the trash for a living. Yeah, nothing wrong, Like I said, no disrespect, but there are there are others. You're one of the others. Uh, you know, man, before I joined, you know, obviously in high school, I uh, I have buddies that I already gone. Right, So in two thousand and one, I was a sophomore when when all that when nine to eleven went down, and I have buddies that I played football with that were seniors, and a bunch of them were like we're going and

I'm like, all right, cool. So they they had already done a couple of deployments when they came back, and I talked to him, was like, dude, I want to go, Like I want to join, I want to go. What do you think I should do? And without keeping a heartbeat off four of them we're like, you got to be lev and bravo, you got to be an infantry guy. And I go, okay, he goes, You'll think us later. And I was like cool because I still hell yeah, sure, yeah, yeah,

I mean listen man again, without no disrespect, right. I wanted to go and fight, you know. And I had an understanding that you can join the army and be in the band, now that there's something nothing wrong with being in the band. But I wasn't going to join to be the band and play music and not go fight, you know what I mean. Or I wasn't going to join and be a cook and feed guys like which we need those guys. I was going to say, we need to say in this conversation so that no one

starts getting their feelings right. Yeah, for sure, dude, we need the cook, so we do. We need mechanics, fix them to generate all it makes the wheel go around, right, everybody does. Everybody can tribute and that's what makes the machine go and everybody's job is important. I just wanted to be in their front lines, and I wanted to look him in the eyes, and I wanted them to be me was the last thing they ever saw before it was all said and done. So like, I wanted

to go fight. So that's why I chose that job. Yeah, dude, respect, I looked it up. I looked up the day of the week, and it was a Monday, May the fourteenth, twenty seventeen. It was a Monday. Yeah. And anytime I hear a story like yours, I always my brain always goes to twenty twenty or two thousand and seven and one three years ago or wait two, I don't even they can't even do methad, So sure my mind always goes to you know, what was I doing? Yeah, And so I know that I know that my little, my

little entertainment deployment was canceled. So I was probably out playing a nobody in a bar type type of concert, you know. But yeah, and you we're having the day of your life. And I don't think I don't think. I know you've told it a thousand times. Yeah, but I don't think we can go really much farther in this in this story without you telling what happened on May the fourteenth, if you don't, Yeah, no, no, not

at all, not at all. Yeah. So May fourteen, two thousand and seven, it was just like any other day, right, I mean, we went out, it was early in the morning, we went on our patrol, and we had three other platoons, so we all alternated times during the month, so some guys would start at night, some guys would leave those guys, and then in the morning we would go out. So that was our turn. Our turn was to go out

early as possible in the morning. So, you know, I woke up, inspected my truck, and I was a fifty cow gunner, so I went out and make sure that the head space and timing was done on my fifty, make sure that we had enough water, you know, all the little things. You know, It's kind of like when you wake up, you make your coffee, you got your keys and your phone, and you're like, I'm rolling out same thing. And man, it was crazy, right because I can look back at it now, and it was one

of those things where I had a routine. So I would check everything, make sure we had gas, everything guns was good to go. And then before we rolled out, I used to say a quick prayer and then you know, we go out the window and I'm like, all right about the doors, and I'm like I'm good. But for some reason that day we were running behind little there was a lot of chaos going on, and I forgot to do a couple of things and and Santa Prayer was one of them, and uh, so we rolled out.

We were a five vehicle convoy and that was a third vehicle in the uh in the row and uh we start rolling out. Can you tell me what what fob were you leaving? We were in a fall call Apache, which yeah, we were in out of me Iraq, which was the last place. Yeah, I went through Apache. Did you really have another ship? Yeah, it's it's such a small little fob. I mean, there was about one hundred and night and one was to live there. That was it. But that was the last place, I said, almost sane,

having seen before, he went into hiding. So we took over the whole palace and we lived the little small house, which is crazy. It was like a three story home where all of us lived in. And there was body here, body there, caught here. I mean, it was crazy, you know, that's what we call it home. So yeah, we roll out of Fabapatche and you know, it's like seven in the morning and the last vehicle gets hit with an

ID but it was a small one. It was you know, meant to catch our attention and goes off and nothing happened on the vehicle. The only thing that happened was the spare tire got blown out, so we pull over assess the situation. You know, we're already on the alert, and my TC, which is my truck commander, which is my squal eater staff starting compost, hits me on the leg because I'm the gunner, and he goes, there's your wake up call or your alarm wake up and I'm like, god,

here we go. So he reached over and I used to have my cigarettes in my pocket, and he reached over and he grabs one, and he goes, you're getting text today, so he steals a cigarette. I was like, dude, what the hell, man, I'm running low. You know, we're in the middle of nowhere. We already get any and you're taking one of mine. So he does, and you know, we wake up. I put one him them off to you, and then you know, it comes over with the radio. We're gonna go. We're gonna go. Just push is to

sparaits higher. We're like, all right, cool, So we roll out and as we're driving, the first two vehicles start getting engaged from the left hand side, so they start getting shot at, and at that point the first vehicle had already gone, so he can't turn to where the fire is coming from. So the second truck follows it so that we don't have a truck by itself going so anyway. So they go to the next street they pushed, and they turn, and my vehicle turns straight to where

the incoming fire is coming from. So as soon as that happens, and I can just hear things zipping through and hitting the truck. And at that point, you know, all your training kicks in and you're like, oh baby, here we go. And do you get excited? Oh yeah, okay, oh yeah. It's like it's an adrelline that you would never ever experience evering your life again. And I've done almost anything. I mean, I've done skydiving, I've gone and a trophy truck with BJ Baldwin and We've jumped and

gone as fast as you can go. I mean, I've done all these things and I can never ever recreate that high ever again. And so we turn and you know, I start saying it. I was like, all right, here we go. So I get on my fifteen. I started unloading and dropped the few and you know that adrenaline kicks in and everything, all the training is in, so you're you got the adrilline high, but you still got

a perform your job. And I'm like, here we go, start going, and as we do that, everybody falls back in formation against you know, everybody scanning, and at that moment we start getting engaged from the left hand side again. So we all turn and I was the first vehicle and we go over a bump, and in the back of my head and I'm trying to process what's going on,

I'm like, holy crap, this bump shouldn't be here. We've been in there about eleven months already, and I knew those streets like the back of my hands, man, like you could drop me off anywhere and I can get back to the FOP like I knew where we were at. And I'm like, wait a minute, that that shouldn't be there. Well, I'm trying to process this ID goes off. It was a commanded and neate ID. So what they did is there was a house here left and there's a house

to right. They dug a hole from the right hand side into the middle of the street and started packing it with explosives, and there was a guy inside with a commanded nation that as soon as he saw as he needed to hit it. Well, he messed up because he needed to hit it as soon as we were in the middle, and that would have probably cracked the truck in half and killed everybody in it. But he panicked and hit. Yeah, he did, and he hit it

in the back. So the truck hit on the backside and we went up in the air and we came down. And when the truck hit the ground, you know, I'm still standing on the gun and it all happened so fast. It hits and I come back down. My legs collapsed and I fall to my right hand side, and in the back passenger seat was especially this Harkey and Harky was was killed on the spot with the ID just killed him. And I remember looking at him and seeing him and his eyes were just white, man like they

were just foggy. Now, I was like, damn, you know, Harkey's Harky's gone. And as they did that, there's if there's a weird thing about the soul when it leaves the eyes, yeah, I mean they say the winded to the soul. That's that's a true statement. Yeah, cut it out. I don't know how to explain it the other way. I mean, not at all, man, Yeah, and you know,

I looked at him and I was like, damn. And I remember looking over and I saw Catertin, which their driver, and then Fleming was on the other side, and they both jumped out of the truck and they were both on fire. And it was crazy because it was like the movies, man, like you know when things slows down and then but everything's happening so fast. It was the exact same thing. I saw Catertin on fire, and then I looked over and I see Fleming and he's on fire.

And then he ran behind the truck, so I lost sight of him, so he was gone. And then I lost Catertin. And then the midst of all things, like I'm laying there and my truck commander, which is one of my best friends, compos was as the TC. He couldn't get out. His equipment was burned into the seat and he was attached to it and he grabbed me and he's like get out. And man, at that point, you know, eleven months and we've lost a lot of guys.

I mean, we had lost a lot of guys. And my faith was very low at that point, like I had lost faith in God. I was mad. You know, we really didn't talk that well anymore. And I remember laying down there and I told the compost. I was like, nah, man, I'm good. Like this is it. And I don't know if it's brainwash or whatever you want to call it, but in our profession, it's either you come home alive or you don't. There was never a moment where I was like, oh, maybe I'll get injured and come home

and live somewhat normal life. You know that that wasn't in my plan. I was said, well, I was going to dine combat. It was going to be the greatest day of my life, and that was going to be like all the glory that I could have asked for us to dyne combat. So I'm laying there and you know, he's trying to make me get out, and I remember, you know, at that point, I kind of I started talking to God and I was like, hey, listen, I'm sorry. You know I lost faith or questioned you just asked

for a favor. Take care of my mom, take care of my dad, and take care of my siblings, like you know, look out for them, and just look out after my mom because I know she's gonna take it the heart is, and you know, she's got to bear with us for the rest of her life. I knew my dad was gonna be okay. My dad served, so him and I had had these conversations before, and he

was like, I figured he was gonna be okay. So as I'm having that conversation, your compost is trying to get me to get out, and the door opens in front of him, and it was one of our other buddies that had run up to the front, Taylor, And you know, he busted out his knife and started cutting stuff off, and he pulled out Compost. And when he pulls him out, you know, I just started hearing rounds

going off. We had enemies coming towards us, like about thirty to forty of them coming towards us, and it caught my attention. But at the same time, and it was one of those things where like, as I was laying there on fire, dying, I remember this little voice in my head that said, not today, get up, And

then I just felt this energy inside of me. Man like till today, I still created God one hundre percent because I felt it, like and I truly, like I can honestly tell you that I heard that little voice that said get up, not today, And I got up and man my fifty cow and I started shooting. But since there was so much fire coming out of the hum vye and we had extra grenades, we had extra ammunition. I mean, we carried extra stuff for everybody else in caged.

We ever got in a big firefight, we had AMMO to give out and and all that good stuff. So that started cooking off. And for those that are listening that, no, no, what cooking off is is when when the fire is so strong, you know, the actual gunpowder and then the explosives and things that are just going to go off. You know, the heat is what happens. And I remember grenade went off and it just peppered my whole right slide, and I was like, oh shit, here we go. And

there was enemies in the rooftops. I started shooting, and then around cooked off in the barrel of the fifty cow and exploded and just everywhere. So I just remember covering my face and at that point I was like, all right, I need to get out. You're the sitting duck. I mean, you're the gunner. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and you know, just trying to give a little bit of support the fire. Oh yeah, and you're firing on top of it, yeah a little bit, but yeah, all right, just setting the

scene here. So at that point, you know, as a gunner, you're always taught to get other gun attatched. And then you know it's about six feet high, so you jump into the front of the hood and then down, or you know, you can jump in the trunk and then down, which everyone works. Well, the fire was so heavy on both sides. If I would have jumped in the front, I would have gone straight down with the engine and that would have been it. And the same thing in

the back. So I jumped to the side. And as I jumped to the side and managed to grab my ar But when I hit the ground, you know, it's so badly burned and still on fire that when it hit the brown of the ground, both of my fevers broke. So I had both em. Was just break and uh, I remember, and I looked them and it's just something hurt and I just start looking at me and I'm

on fire. So I do the whole stop, drop and roll and let me just tell you it doesn't work wherever event ait that lie to us because it doesn't work. So I started doing it. It's not working. And then out of nowhere, Kushno, which is one of our other buddies, comes over and he's like close your eyes. I'm like why, and he just poppers me with the fire extinguisher and everywhere, and he turns me off and he's like, I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get the medic and I'm like,

all right, cool. So I started pushing myself away from the car, from the vehicle because I mean I jumped down and it was right there and I can still feel the flames with a humvey coming towards me. So I roll over and I start scanning and I look at the rooftop and I can see people and I start take a couple of shots, and I take a couple other shots and then I run out of amma. I mean, I only had thirty rounds in my mag We're actually twenty nine. I never really loaded it all

the way up. And at that point, man, it was like I seen him black hawk down because I remember just looking up and I saw two helicopters and I'm like, holy crap, it's this. This is the fastest medical evacuation in the history of Iraq, Like they're coming to get us already. Well, what had happened was there was two black Hawks and the AO and in the vicinity, and and they happened to see the smoke, so they came

to check it out, like you know, what's that? And then they saw and they were able to make contact with the guys on the ground, so they establish communication and they're like, yeah, we got here with an ID. This was going on, and the guy goes, oh, here they come. This was about thirty to forty of them coming down the streets. All I'll packed, man like with RPGs, everything you can think of, and these guys just came down and smoked them all. I mean just it was awesome.

But that's all I saw. I didn't know what was going on at that time. It's brass falling everywhere, and I'm like what I was like, here we go, I'm getting out of here. And then I see them leave them like where you're not going? But they were running out of fuel because they they you know, they were doing those runs for us, and you know they weren't even supposed to be there. So they went back and

refueled and then they were coming back. But as all that's going going on, I'm sitting there and the STAPs are in Nunness, which is one of the other guys, comes runs by me and he's running and he looks down and he's like, you know, he caught the look like oh, and I'm there, like just sitting there, and he goes, are you alive? And I was like I

think so. And then he's like, oh my god. So he grabs me and I was like, dude, I think my leg's broken, and you know, he takes a quick glance and you know, all this stuff's going on, and he goes, no, no, you're fine. I'm like okay. So he picks me up and I'm putting all my weight on him. So we start walking, you know, and we get to the Humby and he's like, all right, I'm gonna have to let you go a little bit because

I got to open the door. And you know, for those that know an up arm or Humby, the doors are by five hundred pounds. I mean they're heavy. It's they're heavy. So he lets go of me and he opens the door and when he does, my legs rebreak and all I remember is I saw him. I saw the humvey and I remember heading and I saw the sky. And then he comes over to me and he's like, oh my god, Oh my god. And all I can think is like, I told you, legs are broken. And

then he's like, why why aren't you in pain? I'm like, you know, I credited to adrenaline. I mean, the Dala was so high that, you know, I couldn't really feel it. I didn't know the extent of my injuries. And so he puts me on the humby. And the driver that we had was his first day in Iraq. What's his first day out the wire, what's his first driving in combat and seeing combat? And he was a replacement, you know, like we had lost so many guys that we were

starting to get little replacements here and there. So he's screaming and he's scared, and I don't blame him, an, I mean, like probably eighteen nineteen, so yeah, I was twenty one, yeah, yeah, So like, oh, that's that's kind of old. And in the military you're twenty one, you're like, oh man, look at that dinosaur, you know, and uh So I'm sitting there and he's screaming and yelling, and I'm just trying to get a sense of what's going on. And I mean I did what anybody else would have done.

I reached over and I slapped him and I said, shot up. It's like, shut up, give me the radio. Gives me the radio. And I started giving accountability to our company. So I'm like, hey, I got I got two wounded, or I got three wounded, I got one dead. We're getting ready to push, you know, open the gates as you see us coming in. And as I'm doing that, my medic jumps in and he starts working on me, and he's you know, patching me up or assessing the situation.

I guess. And I look over and I'm like, I'm like, doc him, thirsty, give me some water. And he's like, I can't give you any water right now. Man, let me let me look at you real quick, you know. And I'm like, dude, I'm thirsty, bro give me some water. And we went back and forward, and I finally I was like, did I rank you? Man? Just give me some water. And he does, and I remember taking a quick sip and it was like the best thing ever.

Like you know, whenever you're like either hungover or something, or you're very thirsty after a workout and you just take a cold sip of water and it's the best invention that you know we have. That's what that felt like. I was like, oh my God, Like water is life like I was like, and then followed by the biggest

mistake I could have done in my life. I pour some water on my face because I was, you know, hot, and all the chemical was in everything in the dirt and everything in I racked just went into my eyes and I wentn't line. I cannot see. And right then and there, I realized that there was two things that we could do. I could panic, scream, or you know, just not be effective anymore. Or I can help us get back. Because at that same time, I heard over the radio we're good to go. We're going to go.

First truck, push up. And I was right in the first truck and I looked at I asked the driver what position, and we're in the in the convoy goes we're up front, and he's like, I don't know how to get back, and I was like, I'll take you back. And at that point I was like, Okay, I need to man up. I need to get this guy back,

and so we we get it. We get the green to go, which is pretty much everybodys saying they're ready to go, and we started pushing and all I can remember was like, all right, we're we're at where we're at. And then I was like, right, you see that pink house up there coming up in the He goes yep. I said take that left, and he goes, got it. So he takes that left and we started going down the road. And for some reason I still remember it today vividly, these people hat a giant bail from like

a church or something in front of their house. For some reason, I don't know why, but it was there, and I was like, you see the giant bill in the front of yard. He goes yep. I said, take that right. You're gonna go straight down and you should see a house or you should see the fob about three hundred yards away. He goes, I see it, I see it. I said, tell me when we're about one hundred yards away. He goes, We're one hundred yards away. So I call up the company. I was like, opening

the gates, open the gates, we're coming in. We roll in on the first vehicle, everybody alway rolls in and they close them and I knew that we had three medics on our FOB and there was four of us that were wounded. So they coming open the door and I just closed the door and I'm like nope, they go get the other guys. They're worse than I am. And they're looking at me like you're burning naked and there's still fumes come out of you, like no, we got to get you out, and I was like, nope,

we only got three medics. I got lucky that we were in the same fop. Next to us, there was a Special Forces group that had just moved in, so their medic came over to help and he's like, I'm here. We got you, We got you, And I was like okay. So as I opened the door, my buddy comes to grab me, and when he grabs me to pull me out, all my skin just came off into his hands and he's just like and I can remember seeing his face

like he was in shock, like what the hell. So they finally get me out and they put me in a stretcher and they bring me into the eighth station, and I remember laying there and I looked over and I see Catterson coming in and I was like, we're going home, brother, and he just looked at me and he goes like yeah, man. Yeah. I was like i'll see you shortly and he's like okay. And the same thing dude, Fleming, you know, Fleming came in and I was like, love you, bro. I was like, we're going

home and he's like yeah, yeah yeah. So they took him in and then compos came in and I was like trying to reach over to touch him and just tell him that it was okay. And I was like, love you do, dude, and he just he just like looked at me and he wasn't responsible, wasn't really talking, but he was just like, you know, saying yes. I was like, we're going home, and he's like okay, okay.

So they get us somewhat prepped, and then at that same time, a helicopters came in to pick us up to take us to the Green Zone so we can start having surgery. So we can you know, they can get us stable and we're not, so from that point they can ship us to Germany. And man, I remember, you know, they got us back on the Humvey and they start taking us down to the Alz the landing zone, and the choppers come in and you know, and the

medicals close your eyes. I'm like why, and the fan goes, I mean, the the repellors from the chopper a going, and all this dirt goes in my eyes. I was like, yeah, yeah again. I was like gosh. And at this point I can kind of see already, Like it was just kind of quick. So I was like, oh shit, I'm like closing my eyes again. And they load us up in the chopper and at this point it's been almost eleven months. I had and see you another female and the flight medic it was in there was a was

a female and I just I smelled her. I was like, I was like, oh, I was like, how you doing? And she's like she's like, be like, I'm all jacked up and she's just like I'm good. I'm good. I was like, I was like, what are you doing after this? And she's just like what the hell them not at all? Yeah, So that was kind of crazy. I ended up linking up with her down the road and like she's just like, you're crazy, and I was like, cool, whatever, I'm gonna

take a quick break. All right, right back with your story. Yeah, all right, so you already have the one of the crazy stories anybody's ever heard in her life, including you up until this point. So, uh, you're getting transported back to the US. Well yeah, so no. From there, we went to the Green Zone and you know, they they

kind of prepped us to fly to Germany. And I mean again, and this is this is kind of crazy looking back now, and you can kind of see where God was with us the whole time, because May fourteenth got hurt. By the fifteenth ish at night or midday, we were in Germany getting ready to be flown to Brooke Army Medical Center, which is the best, the best hospital in the world for burns. So that's where we

were coming. And San Antonio. Yeah, and uh, we get to Germany and the plane that was there that was supposed to bring us back had been waiting on us. We were we were a little late, but they had other guys on the on the on the plane and these are C one thirties, the biggest fans you've ever seen. And the insight is a hospital, like it's a hospital.

They got like ten beds in there, and they had like four other guys in that they needed to get out, and they were already in the air like four hours into the flight and there wasn't gonna be another flight to probably the next day or something, and you know, they called up the pilots and like, hey, guys, like these guys are pretty bad. We think two of them are not going to make it, and if you guys don't come back, the other two are still unquestionable. And

he's like, but it's up to you, guys. You guys do whatever you want to do. Make the call that you need to make. And those pilots check with the doctors that were on the plane and they're like, we guy, see these guys stable. They're good to go, Like we

can go back and get them. That plane turns around, comes back, they refuel, and I guess there's like a limit of hours pilot can fly and they refuel the thing and they're trying to get the pilots out out of the cockpit, and the pilots are like, get off a plane. We gotta go, like we're going to finish our mission and take these guys back. And they're like going back and forward, like you're wasting time. These guys are going to die get off. So those pilots were

able to stay on. I mean, God bless them, you know. Now this is what I mean, Like we couldn't have been in life if it wasn't for those guys. That's that's their job. Like they fly right, so makes the wheel go around and they we get back up in the air man and May sixteen, I'm rolling through the doors of Brookerny Medical Center in San Antonio. That is

crazy to yeah. Yeah, So as a result of it, I had uh seventy five percent burns, third and fourth degree burns to the body, and I had a metal torso amputation on my right leg, which is just the toes that were gone from the grenade that went off. And then nine years later, I'm doing this dumb twenty two mile road march with all these other guys and you know, we're we're doing it for twenty two vets

a day or whatever. I'm not saying. I'm saying down but to me now, it is because my my wound opened up, and you know, I let it sit there for three to four months because burns and uh and wounds don't go together. When you're burning, you have a woe. It takes forever to heal. I mean a long time. And I gave it like six months and I'm like, man, this thing's not healing up. What the hell? So my fiantly now she's like, you need to go to the hospital.

We'll get this checked out. I'm like, all right, I go. They ended up finding cancer on it, which is a local cancer. It wasn't spreading or anything. They came in, they took it all out, but they took so much that my leg wasn't closing anymore. And you know, at this point, I've got nine years with with it, and

you know, it was limb salvage. And I remember talking to Jay with Jase here, and you know, we had conversations men prior to that, like years before, Like I was like, dide, I just want to cut it off and he's like, no, no, keep your leg, trust me and keep your leg. And I'm like, yeah, you're right. And then it got to that point and man, I was just like Jay, like I'm hurting, bro, Like this hurts, like I can't walk. It's just it's cameing down. And He's like, yeah, I think you should cut it now.

And I'm like, all right. Cool, So we cut it almost four years now, four years ago, cut it in. I didn't realize that that you lost your leg long after the accident. Oh yeah, it was nine years after. Yeah, one years. So then we cut it and dude, let me back up just for a minute to two thousand and seven. You were in a medically induced coma. Yeah, for about three months. You kind of just brushed through that like it. It was a lot, dude. I mean, you just lost three months of your life. Yeah, did

you dream? Did you you wake up and it's it was June July August, right, yeah, August. It was crazy, you know because you know, obviously mom and dad and everybody were in the room talking to me, and my brother's uh my brother and his girlfriend at the time were pregnant with my first niece, you know, my parents'

first granddaughter. Everything first, everything, And she used to come in there and she used to grab my hand and put on her stomach and was like, you need to survive, because at that point they had given my parents thirty percent chance of me living and surviving. And they told him, like, you need to start making funeral arrangements. And they did

the same thing to compos compos. Uh. They amputated both on both legs because he was that's really burn and they were trying to cut the uh the limbs off that were all severely uh with infections and ultimately, you know, his intense and the insects were so badly burned that you know, he could didn't make it, so that they thought I was the same case. They're like, you're your son's not gonna make it. And my parents were like, no, we're not making arrangements like he's going to pull through.

And you know, she used to come in and put her hand on my on her stomach and just like your niece Haley wants to meet you, like you need to survive. And I remember hearing things like that, and I remember my dad coming in and you know, my dad just touching me, and my dad would just like say little things like hey, you got this, I keep going,

you got to push forward. And you know, I remember hearing my mom praying a lot and crying, and you know, my brother crying, my sister crying, Like I remember all these little things, and when I woke up, I was still like on like uh like fight her pilot mode because I woke up, and I looked up. My dad was there and I'm looking around. I'm looking around my dads what are you doing? I was like, where are my boots? I got to go out, like what happened?

I got to go back out. And my dad's like, you're you're in You're in your home and I'm like, where's home? And he goes, You're in San Antonio and I goes what. He goes, San Antonio, Texas. And when my dad said, I was like, I'm in Texas and my dad goes yeah. I laid back down and slept for a little longer, and then finally he came to and realized that what had happened. I was like, oh damn, yeah, I got I got hurt, and so who told you? It's August? My dad? When my dad woke up, I

was like, I was like, what day is it. He goes, it's August fourth or something. I can't even remember the day, and I go what. He goes, yeah. I was like, when I get hurt. He goes May and he goes and I go, what the hell? He's like, you were in an induced coma and you've had about forty surgeries. And I was like okay, Like it was kind of hard to take in because at this point, I mean, all those months were gone and there's nothing, like I don't remember, I don't know what happened. What are they

doing to you? Forty times? I don't know much about So with the burns, right, skin grabs, which is what I have on here now. So they were taking good the good skin that I have, the thirty percent of the skin that I had. They pretty much you know, the little thing that they use for the block of ice when they make those snow cones that just kind

of cuts like that, that's what they do. So they peel it off and a little piece of skin, they're able to stretch it pretty big, and then they put it on you and they make sure that, like you know, you grow that skin back up because you had no skin, no skin. And so they did that on my chest, on my back, on my side, some of my stomach, and then my head too, like they took skin from my head and then they started working on everything else. But one of the biggest things with that is infections.

Infections are huge with burns. So some of it was skin burns or skin grabs. Some of it was to clean infections out that I was having. Some of it was to put rods in my legs because they were both broken, and I mean I had about four rods all the way down on my legs for a couple of months to make sure that everything healed properly. I had wind backs, which is you know, they put this this what is it like a phone rather the the

wound backs is just like this. It's like a foam, right, and it goes over and they cover it with plastic and it seals in and then they has a vac on this side. And what that vac's doing, it's grabbing all the blood that's coming out and everything, and then it makes your stuff heal a lot faster. So all those things, and you know, then they have to take me to the shower because they have to scrub the dead skin that's on the grass. So they got to scrub that off so the other skin below it can

grow better and faster. And so that was that the whole time you're asleep, Yeah, yeah, for some of it, and then kind of came back and then you know, then they're doing and then when I woke up, they were still scrubbing. And that was probably the most excruciating pain that I ever felt was when they would scrub every single part of your body with that, and like the pain was so hard, I just pass out and I wake up in my room with new vantages and stuff,

and I'm like, oh, what happened. We're like, oh, you know, we were taking care of your skin like a r cool, but yeah, that was That was that for about a whole year that I spent in the hospital. A year, Yeah, close to it, dude. Unbelievable story and so important for people to hear people that are wondering, you know, how they're going to move forward with their life setbacks that humans always end up getting. We always get setbacks some sort.

But yours is big. I mean, sure, you say big, But I think you know we're all resilient, right, We're all we all have that in us. I don't think people realize it. And you don't necessarily have to gone through what I went through, right, I mean it could be something else, a car accident or something that that you got to come back from it. And everybody's struggles are so much different than mine. It just happened that

that happened on my job. Things happen with people every single day at their job where I side of their jobs and they got to come back from it. So it's no different than anybody else. It's just that was the situation that I was presenting, and it's it's the cars that I was dealt and I had to play them. I've heard your story several times, you know, and the

thing that comes up a lot is your parents. And I don't hear you talk a lot about the specifics of them, but it feels like from your stories that they were a big foundation on you and your mentality, because I mean, you downplay it. You're super humble, but you downplay the fact that you have overcome a mountain of adversity and you play it off like, well, you know people get in car accidents, you know people, But you spent a year in the hospital. Yeah, you lost

a limb, seventy percent burns on your body. Yeah, and you sit here like, yeah, you know, it's like life. You know, you just I got to give credit, you know, besides God, who you've mentioned. It sounds like your parents are pretty awesome people. Oh yeah, they are. I mean, you know, it's my mom is just she's my rock. So it's my dad. I mean, they're amazing folks, right, they they dropped everything on a diamond like they My mom had just opened up a hair salon she saw them.

Moved to San Antonio, my dad quit his job, came up, and they took care of me from day one. And there were the people that refused to let me quit. They're like, you know, there was kind of a put your head down, let's get this shit done and let's go home, like you got this, and if it wasn't for my family, you know, and not only that man. When you're around the facility that we were at, you see other guys. I mean, there was guys that were worse. The US where we have a good buddy of our

name Schlitz. He's burned ninety eight percent of his body, mincing his arms. And you look at a guy like that that walks in and starts laughing at making jokes and stuff, and you're like, what am I complaining about? I'm fine, Like a look cute to than that dude.

I'm good, you know what I mean, Like I got that so stuff like that man, And honestly, like it's just again, you know, I think people don't realize how resilient we are, and I don't think people really push their body to the max when you're presenting a situation, right, And yeah, my family was a big, big key for me because they were just so supportive. And that's the thing, you know, a lot of people don't see. You don't see that, like people are like, oh, you're you're this,

you're that. But if it wasn't for people in the background, in the vaccines, like I wouldn't be here today. From my friends to my family, everybody at some point in my life has had a big impact in me. And then that's the reason I still hang out with those people. And that's the reason, you know, I always give my parents a credit for it because it's because of them, you know, they pushed me that they did all that.

And I'm lucky enough to have friends that when I'm messing up, they'll call me out like, hey, dude, you're you're not doing what you need to do, or you messed up here, or you did this wrong. And we're all humans, we all mess up, right, It's going to be one of those things. We're not perfect. And I'm blessed enough to have those people in my corner that call me out when I'm doing something wrong, or when I need to do better, or I need to push forward, or I need to do to sorry for you exactly,

Y gotcha. So, I mean, it's not just me. There is a lot of people that people don't see all my social media that have a big part of my life and the reason I am who I am today. So it's not just me. You say it like it's so easy, but you have to put out into the world a everyone around me. Don't feel sorry for me. But then the bigger thing is you. And I can imagine at the at the end of your year long hospital stay, you know, in in and out surgeries, at some point you had to say, Okay, what's next in

my life? What's next for omar in my life? Like what's my purpose now? Because you said God called you out in the hum vy and said not today, So then you have to ask the question why. Okay, I followed you this far, I listened to your voice, I got up. I've been through a lot of pain, So now what why do you ask yourself that I did I did a long time ago. Right, It's the questioning of why right? And you know, I mean, I think we all struggle with it, right, It's why am I here?

Why did she let me through all that and still still go through what we go every day? Right? I mean I'm not done. I still have surgeries, I still have openings on my legs, and I can't do this and I can't do that, and it's frustrating at points, and you're just like why, why why? And then things happen, like I meet kids that are really burned and I get to hang out with them, and they have to show them to do things that that I'm doing that

they can do and inspired me. Man, Like I met a kid and I looked at him, and I can I stepped back, and I was like, what are you complaining about? You grew up an All American, you play sports, you did all these crazy things. You dated the cheerleaders, you dated this, you did all these crazy things, you joined the military. You had an awesome life before you

got hurt. This kid doesn't, and let's not let's not shuvercoded kids are mean at school and he was getting picked on by other kids because he was burned something that he had no control over. So I was like, if I can mentor that kid and tell him that I'm here and he can call me anytime he wants, because let's be honest, you're not going to tell your parents every single day that you're getting bullied you're getting this, because they're going to come to school and embarrass you.

But here's a guy that's burned, here's a guy that knows what I'm going through. Here's a guy that experience is the same pain. Let me talk to him and tell him how I feel and what can I do. So that was one of the biggest things. Man. It was like huge, man, oh wow, like okay, I get it. And then after that met more burnt kids, and I got gut involved with that and started doing stuff with nonprofits, and then I started doing motivational speaking, and I started

seeing everything correlating. Right. I was like, okay, cool, this is because of that, and this happened because of that, and all things kind of started coming together and then met all the right people and it's just like it all started making sense. I was like, Okay, I see what your plan is and and at that point you

don't question it. You just go with it. So you could rewind back to that day when he said not today, yeah, and you go Okay, I'm starting I don't know it all yet, but I'm starting to see oh yeah for sure. And it took. It took a while, right, I mean, it wasn't right off the bat. It was in like a year after I was like, oh, I'm doing all these crazy things now, like oh you know, no, I was.

It was probably six seven years down the road after everything started revealing itself and I was like, okay, that's cool and okay, yeah, that's pretty cool. And I was able to do all those things because on social media, you know, people reached out and like you you should like me. Yeah exactly, yeah, like people are like and that's how I found a lot of these kids. Man.

It was people were sending me their articles and stuff and like reach out to these people, or people were sending my stuff to their parents, and their parents were reaching out to me, and I was saying, yes, let's go. So you know, you kind of start seeing it now and it's just like, I know he's not done and O there's more. There's something bigger than I need to do that that he still has his hand on me.

And I don't know what it is, but I mean, who knows, dude, And I hope that you continue to come on this podcast and update me on that mission that you're talking man. Of course, so I have I have a lot of times. I don't always have guests on here. When I do, it's somebody very special like you Banks man. But I open it up to questions from listeners. Yeah. So I have an email set up Granger Smith Podcast at gmail dot com, and I collect these emails from people, and I think it would be cool.

And what's crazy is so many ninety some of the questions aren't about music or anything I do. It's about life and struggling and moving forward and finding answers. And so I think it would be cool if you dove into one of these questions. Come on. And I decided this last night. I was like, man, I'm gonna let Crispy answer one of these questions, which on a side note, this morning, I was like, all right, I'm going to I'm going to see Crispy to my wife and she's like,

you can't call him that. She's like, you got to call him Normark And I was like, Babe, his Instagram that's Christy, Like that's obviously what he wants to be called. Yeah, man, so here's a little side story. So Jay, myself and a bunch of other guys that got wounded from our company and our battalion, we have, you know, the welcome back ceremony for for everybody in the unit. So we all flew back to Germany, and you know, we get back there and we had a body of ours name

Cashmere Waita and where I sorry? And he got injured And I say, all but he got hit with an ID and a piece of shrapnel went in from this side to the other side of his temple and he's blind. And I say, that's all that happened to him, but you know, his vision's gone. But it was a little piece of shrapnel that went in one side and the other and one completely blind. And we make our way back there, and you know, we're we're up there in our barracks. You know, I was on the third floor

and they were out there. I'm in my wheelchair and I'm talking. And I've always been the loud guy. Like you can ask any of my friends. I'm like, all attention on me, like everybody else shut up. So I'm talking to you know, to all the guys and whatnot. And he's in the other corner talking to his guys, and I'll hear him go. He goes, oh mare and I look over and I was like where it And he's like, come here. So I make my way over there and he's like, man, I heard what happened to you?

And I was like yeah, and he goes, so you're so you're pretty much crispy now, huh? And then I was like, dude, I like that. I was like that's awesome. So from there on, I stuck with it. I was like, yeah, so when people were like ask me, it's kind of an icebreaker, right cause people always like, hey, how you doing? And you know, it's kind of a little awkward when you shake my hand because it's not out there, and

then they're like, comes, like what's up? And I'm crispy and then they're like, oh okay, cool, So like they tend to like loosen up a little bit, and then you get into the conversation with somebody. So yeah, he's the one that gave me that name. And I mean it's stuck. Man. Like even my mom like shows, you know, she called and she's like, oh, marn I'm just like what, like, oh yeah, that's my name. Okay, cool. Wow, but yeah, that's good. That's good. All right, So I officially call

you Chrispy. Yeah, if you're listening, all right, I'm gonna we'll take a quick break and I'm gonna read this question with her, all right, all right. So last night I decided I was going to pull out these questions like I'm all always read questions and you're here, and so I wouldn't. But then I was like, man, actually this is actually my work out. Great, So I went to the the I gotta just a list here. I went to the first one on the list, and it's kind of ironic, so I think it would be perfect.

Says Hey Granger. I'm having a hard time with life right now. Just a little background on what's going on. July of twenty nineteen, I injured my back at my old job. This is a re injury. I have been seen by Workers' comp doc and they were completely useless. I had to sue the company to get medical treatment to get paid for back paid for my time off at work. And I love to work, but I can't work in that field anymore. I was an auto mechanic and I love taking things apart finding out what's wrong

with it. I've just been sitting around in pain and my back doctor can't do a damn thing. I've had several surgeries, so it seems like everything is going wrong in my life. When I found you, it seems like there's a light at the end of the tunnel. So my question is what keeps you going? And that is Joey.

I appreciate you emailing and this is a perfect question for Crispy, So it might be a little different, right, but keeps me going are those guys that that didn't come back right, And then it's kind of selfish for me to come home and not keep pushing forward and not continue to live my life to the best that I can, because any given moment, those guys would love to trade spaces with me. They'd be like, you know what, I'll take your injuries. I'll take that life, but I

get to hang out with my family and my kids. Yeah, I'm in cool. I'll trade spots with you right now. So that's kind of what keeps me going, man, And to be honest with you, I mean again, it's everybody in my corner that has inspired me to do better and has always constantly reminded me of the lives impact of what the stuff that we do and when we put out and the message that we give people. So it's hard. It's hard. I remember there was times where I just wanted to quit and just didn't want to

do anything. I was in so much pain. I didn't want to deal with it anymore. And I think we all find ourselves in that place. But there is a light at the end of the time, like Joey said, man, and it was and it's worth it, right. I mean, you got to go through those trials and tribulations before you can really wreak the benefits I guess of all the hard work that you're going to put in and

all the pain and everything that you go through. So my advice to him was just be like, man, keep at it, you know, keep finding You're going to find a doctor that's gonna take care of you, that's going to carry you in it. And might not be today or tomorrow, might take a couple of months, but eventually you're gonna pull through it, and you're gonna look back at it and be like, man, that almost broke me,

but I'm still here. And then you can share your story with someone else and inspire someone else and keep it going. And that's that's that's at the end of the day. That that's the goal, right, It's if I can put a seat and inspire one guy and that guy grows up to be I don't know, the next Tony Robbins or something, and he goes inspires more people,

and those people in Star War. At the end of the day, when I leave this earth, I want to look back and be like, you know what I figured with what I did, and I hope this was a lot better when I leave then what it was when I was here. Dude, Joey, that's uh, that's coming straight from the man. And I don't think there could be a better person to answer that question. You say you're sitting around in your pain. That just I think he

summed it up right there. There's there's a lot at the end of the tunnel, as you wrote, and it's not going to happen tonight. And that's the thing that's probably he's struggling with it is like, man, I want to work, I want to do my passion. It's not going to happen tonight. But that doesn't mean you quit for something that could happen in six months or a year, or hey, dude, ten years. Yeah it could be ten years. It could be, but you're sitting there with your grandkids

in thirty years, and you go, sure, I'm glad. I kept going, Yeah for sure, right, I mean again that they'll be gripping the benefits down the road. Yeah, dude, man, thank you for being on this podcast, Thanks for having my on my top of my list to get in this chair. I appreciate it. And I finally got to do it with you. We finally worked out a date, and then I hope we get to do more. If you're heading back north, come on sometimes. Yeah, of course,

all right, dude, I appreciate you, man. Brother m h m hm