WEBVTT - A Warrior Story:  Mike Spivey & A New Life

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<v Speaker 1>The Armstrong and Getty Show. One year, we asked for

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<v Speaker 1>money and we picked out really good cause like Warrior

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<v Speaker 1>Foundation Freedom Station. They are fantastic. We're trying to raise

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<v Speaker 1>a half a million dollars this week and we've been

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<v Speaker 1>explaining to you over the last couple of days what

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<v Speaker 1>Warrior Foundation Freedom Station is what they do. But what

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<v Speaker 1>better way than to talk to somebody who has benefited.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a pleasure to welcome Mike Spivey to the Armstrong

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<v Speaker 1>and to Getty Show. Mike, how are you, sir? I'm good.

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<v Speaker 1>How are you good? Good? It's great to talk to you. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>we're gonna just briefly tell your story so the folks

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<v Speaker 1>can understand how you came into contact with Warrior Foundation

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<v Speaker 1>Freedom Station go from there. But um, it was in

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<v Speaker 1>Afghanistan with the third Battalion, fifth Marines. Mike was leading

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<v Speaker 1>a foot patrol using a metal detector searching for I E.

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<v Speaker 1>D S. When Mike, you found one the hard way

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<v Speaker 1>it exploded. Mike was seriously injured, taking large amounts of

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<v Speaker 1>shrapnel to the legs and lower back, including several vertebrae,

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<v Speaker 1>extensive damage to his left arm, uh and and a

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<v Speaker 1>few weeks later, I had to make the incredibly difficult

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<v Speaker 1>decision to amputate the arm Uh. You should know. During

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<v Speaker 1>seven years of service before being medically retired due to

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<v Speaker 1>his injuries, Mike received the prestigious Purple Heart to Combat

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<v Speaker 1>Action Ribbons first time, both in Iraq and Afghanistan. So

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<v Speaker 1>there you are, Mike, uh, seriously injured, young, trying to

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<v Speaker 1>figure out where you're going in life. And was it

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<v Speaker 1>then that you connected with Warrior Foundation Freedom Station? Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it was. It was actually while I was at the hospital. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>there's actually like you know, and whenever the day I

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<v Speaker 1>first got there, um, they met my family, UM, helped

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<v Speaker 1>set them up in hotels and everything like that so

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<v Speaker 1>that they didn't have to worry about all the bills

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<v Speaker 1>while they were, you know, waiting for me to come

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<v Speaker 1>out of surgery. And then a couple of years or

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<v Speaker 1>a couple of weeks later actually, um, you know, as

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<v Speaker 1>I started to progress through my rehab, we were encouraged

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<v Speaker 1>to get out and do different activities, um, just to

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<v Speaker 1>get moving again and basically trying to figure out how

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<v Speaker 1>to maneuver our new lives with our disabilities. And that's

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<v Speaker 1>whenever I met Sandy and the Lady's Freedom Station fantastic.

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<v Speaker 1>So Joe and I have toured the Werior Foundation Freedom

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<v Speaker 1>Station a whole bunch of times. And if you've never

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<v Speaker 1>seen it, it's a these little cottages that are are

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<v Speaker 1>are together and a lot of the residents UM are

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<v Speaker 1>oftentimes from the same unit and are now wounded and

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<v Speaker 1>they're trying to figure out how to get their lives

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<v Speaker 1>back together and everything like that. Let me read a

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<v Speaker 1>quote from you and then you can add to it.

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<v Speaker 1>Whether it was having barbecues outside or getting together in

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<v Speaker 1>someone's cottage. We had dinner together almost every night. Many

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<v Speaker 1>of the residents were from the same unit. We fed

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<v Speaker 1>off each other's energy and pushed each other to do more.

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<v Speaker 1>Get in the gym, go golfing, get out of the house,

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<v Speaker 1>enjoy nature. That's that's awesome. The idea of UM, you're

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<v Speaker 1>injured and you're staring all this uncertainty in the face,

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<v Speaker 1>and rather than being in a in a hospital room

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<v Speaker 1>with nobody you know around, you're around you know guys

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<v Speaker 1>that can understand what you've been through. UM, explain a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit about how important this um ME it's it's

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<v Speaker 1>it's almost undescribable how important that is because I mean

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<v Speaker 1>whenever you're at the hospital, I mean you're literally in

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<v Speaker 1>a you're in a room you don't have, like you

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<v Speaker 1>have a bed and a closet and maybe a TV

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<v Speaker 1>or whatever, but you don't have your day to day

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<v Speaker 1>stuff that you know you're gonna need. You're gonna end

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<v Speaker 1>up having to figure out how to like work out

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<v Speaker 1>later on UM and so it kind of gives you

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<v Speaker 1>that um, that advantage instead of having a waiting wait

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<v Speaker 1>until you're you've left the hospital, left to services, and

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<v Speaker 1>then try to figure everything out. Now you're you're still

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<v Speaker 1>doing rehab, you can go back to the hospital, do

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<v Speaker 1>your therapy is there and like discuss everything with different amputees,

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<v Speaker 1>or while you're while you're at your cottage, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>if you're having trouble, you can go next door and

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<v Speaker 1>be like, hey, how are you doing this? Oh well,

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<v Speaker 1>I do it like this, or I do it like that,

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<v Speaker 1>or you know something like that. So, I mean, it's

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<v Speaker 1>it's it's incredible. Helps Wow, that's great. And you know,

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<v Speaker 1>one thing I think a lot of civilians don't understand

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<v Speaker 1>is how the transition like from being active duty being

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<v Speaker 1>militarily retired. How Rocky that can be whether it's getting

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<v Speaker 1>the benefits going or trying to figure out what to

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<v Speaker 1>do with your life. Plus you and and people like

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<v Speaker 1>you're generally very young. What was that experience like that transition? Um,

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<v Speaker 1>well it would have been it would have been a

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<v Speaker 1>lot worse had it had I not been within at

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<v Speaker 1>the Three Station at those times. Because whenever I got

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<v Speaker 1>retired from the Marine Corps and they transferred me over

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<v Speaker 1>to the v A and everything like that, it took

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<v Speaker 1>almost five months for me to get my my check

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<v Speaker 1>from the v A. So if if I hadn't have

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<v Speaker 1>been living at the Freedom Station, I probably, um, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I probably would have ended almost because I mean here

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<v Speaker 1>I am. I had a career. I just retired, and

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<v Speaker 1>you know that I didn't I had these injuries. I

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<v Speaker 1>couldn't like go straight into the workforce. Um. I had

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<v Speaker 1>no plans really because I was planning on doing another

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<v Speaker 1>thirteen years in the in the Marine Corps. So I

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't set up for it. So, like I said, if

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<v Speaker 1>it wasn't for the Freedom Station, I'd probably be living

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<v Speaker 1>in my truck. That's sorry, I I hear. It took

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<v Speaker 1>five months for we the people to get you your benefits.

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<v Speaker 1>It makes me crazy, but I know there are folks

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<v Speaker 1>working on that too, But thank god, Warrior Foundation Freedom

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<v Speaker 1>Station is there in the interim for guys and gals

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<v Speaker 1>like you. If you're liking this story, go to Armstrong

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<v Speaker 1>and Getty dot com. We've got a big banner there.

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<v Speaker 1>It's easy to see and donate any amount of money

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<v Speaker 1>we'll do and it adds up really fast. And we

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<v Speaker 1>always raise a lot of money because we've been around

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<v Speaker 1>enough of these um enough of these guys and and

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<v Speaker 1>toured enough times and heard enough stories that man, we

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<v Speaker 1>we couldn't be bigger believers. We appreciate you coming on

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<v Speaker 1>with us today. Thank you for having me. Yeah, thanks Mike.

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<v Speaker 1>Great to talk. I've known people that left the military

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<v Speaker 1>and we're trying to transition back into regular life without

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<v Speaker 1>the physical injuries. Were the emotional injuries These guys that

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<v Speaker 1>you know, you're missing a couple of legs or an

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<v Speaker 1>arm or whatever along with the emotional stuff, and you're

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<v Speaker 1>supposed to just okay, now, now, good luck out there

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<v Speaker 1>in the regular world. And you're young, you're not making

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<v Speaker 1>a bunch of money as a marine or a soldier,

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<v Speaker 1>and and and you gotta wait months and months and

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<v Speaker 1>months and months to get any of your benefits. You know, again,

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<v Speaker 1>it's a shame that it takes an organization like Warrior Foundation,

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<v Speaker 1>Freedom Station, but it's absolutely completely needed, really needed, and

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<v Speaker 1>thank god it's there, and thank you for your contributions.