WEBVTT - Journeys of Courage: Introducing J.R. Martinez 0:00:15.356 --> 0:00:25.796 Pushkin. Two days ago, we celebrated Memorial Day to honor 0:00:25.836 --> 0:00:29.236 and remember the US military personnel who died in service 0:00:29.236 --> 0:00:32.796 to the country. It's time to reflect on their courage 0:00:32.836 --> 0:00:36.196 and sacrifices, which is something we've been doing in this 0:00:36.276 --> 0:00:39.996 new season of Medal of Honor. The reason we make 0:00:40.036 --> 0:00:44.036 the show of Pushkin is simple, courage is contagious. These 0:00:44.076 --> 0:00:47.196 are stories we think everyone benefits from hearing, and we've 0:00:47.196 --> 0:00:49.716 got new stories for you coming up in the next 0:00:49.756 --> 0:00:53.196 few weeks, from Robert Blake, the first black sailor to 0:00:53.236 --> 0:00:55.796 be awarded the Medal, to Daniel Daily, one of only 0:00:55.876 --> 0:00:58.716 nineteen people to have received the Medal of Honor twice. 0:00:59.396 --> 0:01:02.996 These are stories about people who have distinguished themselves by 0:01:03.076 --> 0:01:05.756 acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty. 0:01:07.156 --> 0:01:09.196 You'll hear about what they did, what it meant, and 0:01:09.676 --> 0:01:12.356 what their stories tell us about the nature of courage 0:01:12.876 --> 0:01:16.236 and sacrifice. But before we get to our new stories, 0:01:16.276 --> 0:01:19.076 I wanted to kick off season two by introducing you 0:01:19.396 --> 0:01:23.996 to our new host, JR. Martinez Jr. Is a US 0:01:24.116 --> 0:01:27.596 Army veteran whose life changed forever when a roadside bomb 0:01:27.636 --> 0:01:32.396 exploded under his vehicle in Iraq in two thousand and three, 0:01:32.476 --> 0:01:36.236 after over thirty four surgeries for his severe burns, Jr. 0:01:36.276 --> 0:01:41.956 Discovered a profound purpose helping others by sharing his own story. 0:01:42.796 --> 0:01:45.676 I can't imagine anyone better suited to guide us through 0:01:45.676 --> 0:01:55.796 these powerful stories of valor and sacrifice. Hi Jr. Nice 0:01:55.796 --> 0:01:56.236 to meet you. 0:01:56.356 --> 0:01:58.276 Hello Malcolm, nice to meet you as well. 0:01:58.436 --> 0:02:01.476 Welcome. We are so happy to have you taking over 0:02:01.556 --> 0:02:05.436 as host of Medal of Honor, and you are such 0:02:05.476 --> 0:02:08.756 a step up for me. It's unbelievable you're actually a 0:02:08.836 --> 0:02:12.036 veteran as opposed to just someone who was pretending to 0:02:12.036 --> 0:02:12.796 know about the army. 0:02:12.916 --> 0:02:15.676 Well, thank you, Malcolm. But you know when you mentioned like, 0:02:15.716 --> 0:02:19.236 well you're actual veteran versus someone who's pretend, I think 0:02:19.276 --> 0:02:21.756 that's the beauty of what you've created and the team 0:02:21.836 --> 0:02:24.356 has put together in season one and now leading into 0:02:24.356 --> 0:02:26.876 season two. I think if we can have more people 0:02:26.916 --> 0:02:29.876 that have never worn the uniform, that have maybe no 0:02:29.996 --> 0:02:34.076 real connection to the military to come and learn, and 0:02:34.116 --> 0:02:37.436 then hopefully at the accumulation of each episode in the season, 0:02:38.156 --> 0:02:41.596 people are feeling that much more connected and attached to 0:02:41.676 --> 0:02:43.756 the stories. I think it goes both ways. I think 0:02:43.796 --> 0:02:45.836 it's nice to have yes somebody that has served in 0:02:45.876 --> 0:02:48.556 the military, and it maybe feels like there's some credibility, 0:02:48.756 --> 0:02:50.956 but man, as someone who's served and as someone who's 0:02:50.996 --> 0:02:54.076 been around the military for a long time. Season one, 0:02:54.116 --> 0:02:57.396 when I listened to it, I learned so much, so 0:02:57.556 --> 0:02:59.436 many things that I had no clue about. So I 0:02:59.516 --> 0:03:02.356 think we're all in this boat together, quite frankly, just 0:03:02.396 --> 0:03:07.196 going on this journey of really discovering what the human 0:03:07.516 --> 0:03:09.836 spirit is truly capable of. 0:03:10.916 --> 0:03:14.076 You know. The moment that Season one hit home for 0:03:14.196 --> 0:03:17.676 me was I was giving a talk in Orlando and 0:03:18.356 --> 0:03:20.316 somebody it was the Q and A, and someone asked 0:03:20.356 --> 0:03:23.716 me about Medal of Honor, and I was young, saying, 0:03:23.756 --> 0:03:24.996 I wo I wanted to do the show because I 0:03:24.996 --> 0:03:26.876 felt there were all these incredible stories that needed to 0:03:26.916 --> 0:03:30.756 be told, and that this was something going into twenty 0:03:30.796 --> 0:03:33.516 twenty six, which is the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary 0:03:33.516 --> 0:03:35.716 of this country's founding. I thought it was really important 0:03:35.756 --> 0:03:39.236 to tell stories that united us all. And then one 0:03:39.236 --> 0:03:43.116 by one throughout the audience, people started standing up and saying, 0:03:43.636 --> 0:03:46.716 I served in you know, Marine Corps for some I 0:03:46.916 --> 0:03:49.716 was in the Navy. And I listened to that show 0:03:49.756 --> 0:03:53.116 and I felt like I was finally being heard. Yeah, 0:03:53.516 --> 0:03:55.236 but what we did, what I was a part of, 0:03:55.396 --> 0:03:58.196 was fine. I just it was incredibly moving. It really 0:03:58.196 --> 0:04:01.316 made me think that there's something really important and lovely 0:04:01.356 --> 0:04:05.356 about Medal of Honor, this storytelling journey that we're on. 0:04:06.476 --> 0:04:12.996 I have always felt this level of uncomfort with imposter syndrome. Right. 0:04:13.316 --> 0:04:16.196 I was nineteen when I was injured, and I found 0:04:16.196 --> 0:04:19.556 myself sort of thrust into these different circles, and there's 0:04:19.716 --> 0:04:22.196 a lot of these conversations that are happening that I 0:04:22.236 --> 0:04:24.356 have no idea what people are talking about or truly 0:04:24.436 --> 0:04:29.036 understand them. But the more that I've traveled all over 0:04:29.076 --> 0:04:31.596 the world and have met such incredible people who have 0:04:31.636 --> 0:04:35.036 served in the military or have not, I guess it 0:04:35.156 --> 0:04:37.996 made me a little uncomfortable. When people would say, Jr. 0:04:38.076 --> 0:04:41.036 Look at what you've done. They would elevate me, and 0:04:41.116 --> 0:04:43.916 I just felt uncomfortable with that because I'm like, you 0:04:43.956 --> 0:04:47.916 have no idea. There are so many people out there 0:04:48.636 --> 0:04:53.396 that are walking amongst you in your community. When I 0:04:53.396 --> 0:04:56.196 get introduced, and I always asked for those that have 0:04:56.276 --> 0:04:59.396 served in the military or family members to please remain standing, 0:05:00.476 --> 0:05:03.876 and I challenge the audience. I say, look around at 0:05:03.876 --> 0:05:07.516 the people standing amongst you. Look at them. Do they 0:05:07.596 --> 0:05:12.316 look like me? Do they look like what most of 0:05:12.396 --> 0:05:16.276 us think of when we think of veterans, my scars 0:05:16.356 --> 0:05:18.236 and what my body's been through. And a lot of 0:05:18.236 --> 0:05:22.076 my friends who are missing limbs or have traumatic brain injuries, 0:05:22.196 --> 0:05:25.556 or just have something physically that you can immediately identify 0:05:25.596 --> 0:05:28.956 and say that person's been through something. But I can't 0:05:28.996 --> 0:05:31.116 tell you the amount of times, Malcolm, I've stood next 0:05:31.116 --> 0:05:33.796 to my friends who have served just as long as me, 0:05:34.436 --> 0:05:36.556 that have done a hell of a lot more than 0:05:36.596 --> 0:05:40.516 I did, have done multiple tours and people come right 0:05:40.596 --> 0:05:43.236 up to me and they say thank you, and they 0:05:43.276 --> 0:05:47.276 do it in the most sincere place from their heart, 0:05:47.316 --> 0:05:50.396 and I appreciate that. But it's about reframing that. And 0:05:50.436 --> 0:05:53.356 I think when you talk about how many people stand 0:05:53.436 --> 0:05:55.476 up and say, we feel seen and we feel heart 0:05:55.556 --> 0:05:58.956 and I think that's part of what this series has 0:05:59.076 --> 0:06:01.836 done and is hopefully going to continue to do, is 0:06:01.876 --> 0:06:05.196 allow people to tell these stories that need to be told. 0:06:05.436 --> 0:06:08.556 And this is a perfect opportunity where you and the 0:06:08.596 --> 0:06:11.036 team have created something that it just allows me to 0:06:11.636 --> 0:06:15.076 completely geek out on these badass human beings. 0:06:14.716 --> 0:06:15.836 And they are bad as bad. 0:06:15.836 --> 0:06:18.196 They are bad ass, man. And let me tell you 0:06:18.276 --> 0:06:21.316 something like, if we all just cared a little bit more, 0:06:21.476 --> 0:06:25.156 if you all just eliminated all the other things and 0:06:25.396 --> 0:06:28.476 just operated from this place of just pure humanity, what 0:06:28.556 --> 0:06:30.876 are the possibilities man? They're endless. 0:06:31.236 --> 0:06:34.036 Yeah, what did your family think about it when you 0:06:34.156 --> 0:06:34.796 signing up? 0:06:35.556 --> 0:06:37.796 My mother's from Central America as south of the Otto. 0:06:37.876 --> 0:06:40.716 My father's from Mexico. My mother came here as an 0:06:40.756 --> 0:06:45.876 undocumented immigrant and met my father here and about a 0:06:45.956 --> 0:06:48.196 year and a half later. I was born in Louisiana, 0:06:48.836 --> 0:06:50.476 and so I'm a Southern boy, and I grew up 0:06:50.476 --> 0:06:52.516 in Louisiana. I lived there for the first nine years, 0:06:52.556 --> 0:06:55.396 then moved to Arkansas, and then right before my senior 0:06:55.436 --> 0:06:59.116 year of high school, moved to Georgia. And listen, man, 0:06:59.156 --> 0:07:01.956 I was a kid that was I was struggling. There 0:07:02.036 --> 0:07:04.396 was a lot of things that I was having to navigate. 0:07:04.716 --> 0:07:07.316 Nine years old, I'm getting myself up for school by myself, 0:07:07.356 --> 0:07:09.916 getting myself to school. My mom worked at graveyard shift, 0:07:09.956 --> 0:07:14.676 so it was a lot of responsibility, and my father 0:07:14.756 --> 0:07:17.356 wasn't in my life. My mother was involved in some 0:07:17.396 --> 0:07:21.156 pretty abusive relationships when I was younger. Demographically, I was 0:07:21.196 --> 0:07:24.236 one of the first Hispanic kids in Arkansas, and I 0:07:24.276 --> 0:07:26.396 struggled with that, and I would get into trouble a lot, 0:07:26.476 --> 0:07:29.836 and academically like I didn't really excel because I would 0:07:29.876 --> 0:07:33.076 be suspended from school three five, seven days at a time. 0:07:34.276 --> 0:07:36.636 My defense mechanism was always to be like, well, this 0:07:36.676 --> 0:07:39.756 is dumb anyways, just be the funny guy. You don't 0:07:39.796 --> 0:07:42.276 really quite understand how those things are going to play 0:07:42.316 --> 0:07:45.836 into your life until later. And so I moved to 0:07:45.876 --> 0:07:48.956 Georgia my senior high school, and things got better because 0:07:49.236 --> 0:07:51.596 I felt like the community was different, and I started 0:07:51.596 --> 0:07:54.716 thinking about when I'm listening to Molly as a counselor 0:07:54.796 --> 0:07:57.476 to talk about the way she leans into her students. 0:07:57.676 --> 0:08:00.996 The counselor calls me to his office and he says, hey, 0:08:00.996 --> 0:08:03.116 you're a senior. I'm looking at your transcript. You're not 0:08:03.116 --> 0:08:05.676 going to graduate on time. You don't have enough credits, 0:08:05.716 --> 0:08:09.916 you don't have the grades. What's going on? Vividly remember 0:08:09.956 --> 0:08:11.996 that interaction with him, and I was taken back by 0:08:11.996 --> 0:08:14.396 that question, because if that's a simple question, but no 0:08:14.436 --> 0:08:17.676 one had ever asked me that question. And he says, 0:08:17.676 --> 0:08:19.436 do you want to graduate on time. I said I do, 0:08:19.676 --> 0:08:21.516 and he says, okay, well, let's put a plan together. 0:08:22.116 --> 0:08:26.196 And I started on this journey to graduate from high school. 0:08:26.916 --> 0:08:30.076 I had this vision, man, this really naive perspective, that 0:08:30.116 --> 0:08:31.836 I was going to go to college and play football 0:08:31.876 --> 0:08:35.556 because that's what I see on Sundays on ESPN. I 0:08:35.596 --> 0:08:37.156 went to the school and they told me that I 0:08:37.156 --> 0:08:39.076 could come to school there, but I would not be 0:08:39.116 --> 0:08:41.316 able to play sports at the college level for two 0:08:41.436 --> 0:08:45.476 years because of academics. So I was like, I'm not 0:08:45.516 --> 0:08:47.636 going to college then if I can't go to play football, 0:08:47.636 --> 0:08:50.196 because that's how we are. And as cliche as it 0:08:50.236 --> 0:08:52.996 may sound, I mean there's a reason they have them 0:08:53.036 --> 0:08:56.196 because to some degree it works. I was home one 0:08:56.276 --> 0:09:01.596 day watching TV and a commercial popped up about the 0:09:01.636 --> 0:09:06.436 military and it wasn't a brand new concept. Listen to 0:09:06.476 --> 0:09:08.516 the town that I graduated from high school. I mean, 0:09:08.516 --> 0:09:11.156 at recruiters had a presence at the school, as they 0:09:11.196 --> 0:09:14.116 do in most right, but this was probably an area 0:09:14.156 --> 0:09:15.876 you're really going to try to get some kids. They 0:09:15.916 --> 0:09:19.276 have no alternatives. And then one of my football coaches 0:09:19.276 --> 0:09:20.796 sad sir, so I was like, you know what, let 0:09:20.796 --> 0:09:23.036 me go down and talk to this recruiter and see 0:09:23.036 --> 0:09:24.996 what this is about. But I didn't tell my mother. 0:09:25.876 --> 0:09:28.316 So I go down to this recruiter. I go to 0:09:28.356 --> 0:09:30.516 all the branches, kind of skipped over the Navy. I 0:09:30.556 --> 0:09:32.036 was like, I don't think I see myself being on 0:09:32.076 --> 0:09:35.116 the ship. And then I went to the Marine Corps 0:09:35.156 --> 0:09:38.516 and they said four years, we watch you. Four years 0:09:38.636 --> 0:09:40.516 the minimum. And I was like trying to negotiate with 0:09:40.556 --> 0:09:42.676 the recruiter and I was like, what about three? No, 0:09:42.956 --> 0:09:43.636 four years? 0:09:43.716 --> 0:09:45.716 I don't think you negotiate with the marine corks. 0:09:46.436 --> 0:09:48.076 And so then I was like, let me go next 0:09:48.076 --> 0:09:49.356 door and I went to the arm In the arm 0:09:49.396 --> 0:09:50.916 I was like, we'll take it. Whatever you want to 0:09:50.956 --> 0:09:53.756 commit to, we'll take it. And he gave me all 0:09:53.796 --> 0:09:56.556 this information. He put it in the folder and I 0:09:56.676 --> 0:10:00.636 rushed home and I felt elated. I felt like I 0:10:00.636 --> 0:10:03.316 had found a solution for my life at this point. 0:10:03.476 --> 0:10:05.196 And I remember going into the house and saying to 0:10:05.236 --> 0:10:08.036 my mom, I figured it out. I know exactly what 0:10:08.076 --> 0:10:09.916 I'm going to do. I'm going to joined the Army. 0:10:10.636 --> 0:10:13.996 And my mom said absolutely not. Now, to give people 0:10:14.076 --> 0:10:18.076 context why she said no so quickly was in the 0:10:18.116 --> 0:10:21.156 early eighties, and I my lord, there was a civil 0:10:21.156 --> 0:10:24.316 war that was happening. So my mother understands what war 0:10:24.356 --> 0:10:28.876 does to people. My mother has experienced that. When I 0:10:28.916 --> 0:10:31.276 was three years old, one of my sisters passed away 0:10:31.316 --> 0:10:33.156 from an illness. She was born Wes, so my mother 0:10:33.196 --> 0:10:36.436 has lost a child. I graduated high school in two 0:10:36.476 --> 0:10:41.156 thousand and two, and we already had troops in Afghanistan. 0:10:41.236 --> 0:10:44.396 We as a country were at war already. So my mother, 0:10:44.556 --> 0:10:48.196 understanding that, understood that if I joined the military during 0:10:48.196 --> 0:10:50.556 this time of war, there's a good chance of her 0:10:50.636 --> 0:10:56.436 losing another child, her only son. Listen, as a parent, 0:10:56.916 --> 0:11:00.276 you know that fear kicks in and you're like, absolutely not. 0:11:00.516 --> 0:11:03.196 And here's one of the most incredible gifts my mother 0:11:03.276 --> 0:11:07.596 gave me that I don't think she intended. I think 0:11:07.636 --> 0:11:10.916 it was just how she was trying to show up 0:11:10.916 --> 0:11:15.236 for me. My mother, in the midst of her listening 0:11:15.276 --> 0:11:18.076 to her son talk about joining the military during a 0:11:18.156 --> 0:11:21.556 time of war, she pulled up a chair and sat 0:11:21.596 --> 0:11:24.876 down right in front of me and said, Okay, tell 0:11:24.916 --> 0:11:27.316 me why you believe this is the best thing for you. 0:11:28.756 --> 0:11:31.316 At the end of this two hour conversation, my mother said, 0:11:31.436 --> 0:11:33.196 if you want to join the military. If you believe 0:11:33.236 --> 0:11:36.396 that's what's best for you, I'll support you. And I 0:11:36.476 --> 0:11:39.076 just think about the courage. We talked about courage a 0:11:39.076 --> 0:11:43.156 lot right with Metal of Honor recipients, and you think 0:11:43.196 --> 0:11:45.756 about the courage it takes as a parent who has 0:11:45.956 --> 0:11:50.076 already experienced the worst thing that a parent can experience 0:11:50.316 --> 0:11:53.676 and yet to put that aside and say I'm there 0:11:53.716 --> 0:11:57.196 for you. Yeah, And so off I go. Man. Off, 0:11:57.196 --> 0:11:59.156 I go to the Army. I joined in the love 0:11:59.196 --> 0:12:01.396 and Bravo. So I'm an Infantryman. I go to Basy 0:12:01.436 --> 0:12:03.996 training for penning Georgia. I get a sign to my 0:12:04.156 --> 0:12:06.476 unit four months later, which was one hundred and first 0:12:06.476 --> 0:12:09.556 out of four Cambal Kentucky, which is just outside of Nashville. 0:12:10.276 --> 0:12:13.636 Nineteen years old. You know, young kid in this unit. 0:12:13.916 --> 0:12:16.276 I was one of the youngest. There was me and 0:12:16.356 --> 0:12:19.636 two other people that were the youngest. I was definitely 0:12:19.676 --> 0:12:22.836 treated lest here's this young guy. A lot of these 0:12:22.876 --> 0:12:26.636 guys had a lot of training and experience, and nineteen 0:12:26.716 --> 0:12:29.476 years old. You put him in a unit during a 0:12:29.516 --> 0:12:31.716 time of conflict, and for the most part, he's going 0:12:31.796 --> 0:12:35.676 to feel like incredibly naive, like nothing's gonna happen. And 0:12:35.756 --> 0:12:37.836 even though I raised my right hand and knew that 0:12:37.876 --> 0:12:40.236 war was a possibility, I never thought it would be 0:12:40.236 --> 0:12:44.996 my reality. And sure enough, one of my sergeants one 0:12:45.076 --> 0:12:46.956 day came and pulled me aside and said that I 0:12:46.996 --> 0:12:49.956 needed to be prepared because we would be deploying sometime soon. 0:12:50.356 --> 0:12:53.916 And my response to this man, my patuna sergeant who 0:12:53.996 --> 0:12:58.556 clearly outranks me by a decade and a half. My 0:12:58.636 --> 0:13:00.876 response to this man at the time was, Sergeant, I 0:13:00.916 --> 0:13:03.756 just got out of basic. I just got here relaxed. 0:13:04.036 --> 0:13:07.676 Imagine telling you're superior, it's just chill, bro, That's essentially 0:13:07.716 --> 0:13:08.236 what I did. 0:13:08.556 --> 0:13:10.276 Having met you now for half an hour, I can 0:13:10.356 --> 0:13:11.196 imagine you saying that. 0:13:14.196 --> 0:13:18.396 Thank you, that's a comple of it, and so and so. 0:13:18.436 --> 0:13:19.876 Of course, after I was doing to do a push 0:13:19.956 --> 0:13:21.876 ups and said I was for telling my superior to 0:13:21.916 --> 0:13:25.436 just relax, you know, it really set in that hey, 0:13:25.516 --> 0:13:28.116 he was trying to tell me that physically I was fine, 0:13:28.476 --> 0:13:31.476 Mentally I was not ready. And sure enough, a few 0:13:31.476 --> 0:13:34.156 weeks later I found myself on a plane heading over 0:13:34.516 --> 0:13:38.236 to war at the age of nineteen, going to Iraq. Yeah, 0:13:38.276 --> 0:13:41.076 it all happened fast. Will were you stationed in Iraq 0:13:41.636 --> 0:13:44.356 in Kuwait, like there was these little bases set up 0:13:44.796 --> 0:13:47.076 and there were Camp New York and Camp Pennsylvania, and 0:13:47.116 --> 0:13:49.956 I think it was Camp something else. And then once 0:13:49.996 --> 0:13:52.876 the conflict started, which was in March of two thousand 0:13:52.876 --> 0:13:55.436 and three, we crossed over into Iraq. But we were 0:13:55.516 --> 0:13:58.676 one of those units, at least my company was. We 0:13:58.676 --> 0:14:01.316 were just in this holding pattern. Just a lot of 0:14:01.356 --> 0:14:03.716 our gear was not even there because they were on 0:14:03.796 --> 0:14:07.716 ships still coming over. And our job early on was 0:14:07.756 --> 0:14:11.356 to escort different jobs in the military from point A 0:14:11.436 --> 0:14:13.196 to point B. So we were part of these big 0:14:13.276 --> 0:14:16.756 convoys of helping people in the medical field or supplies 0:14:16.996 --> 0:14:19.716 or you name it, just get from here to there. 0:14:19.956 --> 0:14:22.556 And I'm just kind of going through the motions, not 0:14:22.636 --> 0:14:28.436 quite sure I understood my purpose, my role, the agenda, 0:14:29.356 --> 0:14:31.756 just going through it, to be honest, and until one 0:14:31.756 --> 0:14:35.596 of my commanders one day introduced this concept of service. 0:14:36.036 --> 0:14:39.596 And after that I started to buy in and look 0:14:39.676 --> 0:14:42.436 around and say, I have a role. I might not 0:14:42.516 --> 0:14:45.236 be the biggest member of this team and the most experienced, 0:14:45.236 --> 0:14:48.836 but I'm part of this team. I started to then plot, man, 0:14:48.916 --> 0:14:50.516 I'm not going to do this for three years. That 0:14:50.716 --> 0:14:53.036 I originally thought I'm going to do this for twenty years. 0:14:53.516 --> 0:14:56.116 I could vividly remember nights where I'm sitting in a 0:14:56.196 --> 0:14:58.796 humvee in the middle of the desert and looking up 0:14:58.796 --> 0:15:02.516 at this big, beautiful, bright sky and I'm sitting there 0:15:02.676 --> 0:15:04.716 just thinking about when I come back to the States, 0:15:04.716 --> 0:15:06.036 I'm going to go to Pathrond, I'm going to go 0:15:06.076 --> 0:15:10.476 to Ranger. I'm going to like I'm nineteen. And then 0:15:10.596 --> 0:15:12.876 of course life decides we're going to kind of take 0:15:12.916 --> 0:15:15.316 you on a little bit of a journey here, my friend, 0:15:15.356 --> 0:15:18.676 and we're going to change all that. And it did. 0:15:18.916 --> 0:15:19.716 It changed a lot. 0:15:20.436 --> 0:15:22.316 When did you have your accident? You were how long 0:15:22.356 --> 0:15:24.876 into the army? 0:15:24.956 --> 0:15:28.796 It was seven months? Seven months and seven months. I 0:15:28.796 --> 0:15:30.236 want to make sure that they're listening. Is going to have 0:15:30.316 --> 0:15:32.996 to hit like the back button fifteen seconds to thirty 0:15:33.036 --> 0:15:34.876 seconds to be like, wait, did he say seven months 0:15:35.076 --> 0:15:39.636 he was in country? No. I enlisted in September. September 0:15:39.756 --> 0:15:42.436 December two thousand and two, was a basic and then 0:15:42.596 --> 0:15:46.956 January of three I arrived. March of three, I deployed 0:15:47.676 --> 0:15:51.676 April of three. I was injured, so just a few 0:15:51.756 --> 0:15:53.716 days shy of me being in country, a full month. 0:15:54.236 --> 0:15:57.356 I sustained my injury which I was driving a humby 0:15:57.396 --> 0:15:59.276 through the city called Carbala when the front left tire 0:15:59.276 --> 0:16:00.836 of the humby that I was driving run over a 0:16:00.916 --> 0:16:06.236 roadside bomb and I was chopped inside. And there were 0:16:06.236 --> 0:16:07.916 three other guys in a humvy with me, but they 0:16:07.916 --> 0:16:10.876 were thrown out of the vehicle and they all walked 0:16:10.916 --> 0:16:15.756 away with minor physical injuries. And it's important for me 0:16:15.876 --> 0:16:19.516 to emphasize that because although physically they were okay, emotionally 0:16:19.516 --> 0:16:23.396 and mentally they were not. I was trapped aside and 0:16:23.516 --> 0:16:27.316 this humvee caught on fire, and five minutes trapped aside 0:16:27.316 --> 0:16:29.796 of this UMV man fighting for your life, and you 0:16:29.916 --> 0:16:34.516 realize everything that you had been exposed to for nineteen 0:16:34.556 --> 0:16:37.196 years of your life has prepared you for that very 0:16:37.476 --> 0:16:42.956 moment to survive and to fight. And I kept telling 0:16:42.996 --> 0:16:46.556 myself while I was in that hum vy, there was 0:16:46.596 --> 0:16:48.516 no reason to believe that someone's going to come and 0:16:48.516 --> 0:16:51.076 pull you out. Because you talk to any individual military 0:16:51.156 --> 0:16:54.836 or not that has had a near death experience will 0:16:54.876 --> 0:16:57.276 tell you that whatever timeframe it was that there were 0:16:57.356 --> 0:17:01.116 experience in it, it feels like it's amplified by ten. Right, 0:17:01.836 --> 0:17:03.516 So even though it was five minutes, it felt like 0:17:03.556 --> 0:17:06.236 fifty minutes, right. It just feels like no one's coming 0:17:06.276 --> 0:17:12.156 to your aid until they finally two. But throughout that 0:17:12.236 --> 0:17:16.236 five minutes, I would almost trick my brain. I would 0:17:16.316 --> 0:17:18.836 talk to myself and trick my brain to believing that 0:17:18.956 --> 0:17:21.556 someone was coming. They were coming. Eventually two of my 0:17:21.596 --> 0:17:24.876 sergeants pulled me out, started the medevac process, and I 0:17:24.956 --> 0:17:26.716 ended up in San Antonio, Texas, and I was in 0:17:26.756 --> 0:17:29.676 the medical induced coma for three weeks. Oh wow. And 0:17:29.756 --> 0:17:31.716 woke up in Texas and the doctor's like, do you 0:17:31.716 --> 0:17:34.876 know where you are? I was like, this doesn't look 0:17:34.916 --> 0:17:37.476 like the last place I was in. Yeah, he says, 0:17:37.516 --> 0:17:51.116 you're in Texas and that's the burn center for the military. 0:18:01.036 --> 0:18:05.476 How much of your body was burned about thirty four percent. Yeah, 0:18:05.676 --> 0:18:07.236 it's almost if you look at my body or any 0:18:07.276 --> 0:18:09.676 burn survivors someone like looking at a map, like, it's 0:18:09.716 --> 0:18:12.876 just kind of the path and the structure and the patches. 0:18:13.236 --> 0:18:15.076 But the biggest thing at the time that was threatening 0:18:15.076 --> 0:18:16.756 whether I was going to survive or not, was not 0:18:16.796 --> 0:18:19.796 so much the burns to my body was the inhalation damage. 0:18:19.796 --> 0:18:21.276 Was smoke that I inhaled. 0:18:21.396 --> 0:18:22.716 Oh yeah, for. 0:18:22.676 --> 0:18:25.836 The five minutes I was trapped inside, I was inhaling 0:18:25.876 --> 0:18:29.596 all this smoke from the fire. So they weren't sure 0:18:29.596 --> 0:18:31.196 if I was gonna make it. This is two thousand 0:18:31.196 --> 0:18:32.836 and three. They were like, we don't know if he's 0:18:32.876 --> 0:18:35.356 gonna make it. And they told my mother, if he 0:18:35.476 --> 0:18:37.636 makes it, that was a lot of the language that 0:18:37.636 --> 0:18:38.436 we're using with her. 0:18:38.756 --> 0:18:41.476 Your mother's worth the nightmare, the very thing she feared. 0:18:41.156 --> 0:18:44.356 The very thing she feared. You know what's interesting, Malcolm, 0:18:44.476 --> 0:18:47.836 is I lived my life and some people, my wife 0:18:47.876 --> 0:18:50.516 would tell you you're probably one of the most fearless 0:18:50.556 --> 0:18:53.916 people that I know, and she's used the words at 0:18:53.956 --> 0:18:56.556 times maybe reckless. You just think nothing's going to happen. 0:18:56.596 --> 0:18:59.596 I was like, oh, that's debatable and subjective about reckless, 0:18:59.716 --> 0:19:03.516 you know, but the reason why, to some degree, I'm 0:19:04.076 --> 0:19:07.556 operate from this place of like just fearlessness, if you will. 0:19:07.996 --> 0:19:11.996 I'm deathly terrified of snakes. I'm scared of snakes. I 0:19:12.036 --> 0:19:14.716 don't like snakes. I don't know what it is. Never 0:19:14.756 --> 0:19:17.116 had a bad encounter with one, no one close to 0:19:17.156 --> 0:19:20.236 me has ever had one. But I just deathly terrified 0:19:20.236 --> 0:19:23.196 of snakes, and I remember when I came out of 0:19:23.236 --> 0:19:27.756 my medical induce coma and talking to my mother about 0:19:28.156 --> 0:19:31.836 a lot of these dreams, and a lot of it 0:19:31.956 --> 0:19:34.036 was the drugs as well, right, and a lot of 0:19:34.076 --> 0:19:38.676 these dreams that I had, hallucinations, whatever. And I remember 0:19:38.756 --> 0:19:44.516 vividly telling her I remember this dream that her and 0:19:44.596 --> 0:19:47.556 I were at some party. There were a lot of 0:19:47.596 --> 0:19:51.596 people there, and I'm sitting on the couch and all 0:19:51.596 --> 0:19:55.676 of a sudden, there's this snake that slithering through the room, 0:19:55.996 --> 0:20:00.716 coming right at me. And the snake just lunges and 0:20:00.916 --> 0:20:04.756 right at me and goes right into my mouth, and 0:20:04.796 --> 0:20:07.196 I fall on the ground and I'm trying to pull 0:20:07.196 --> 0:20:11.196 this snake out, and everyone that was in the room 0:20:11.596 --> 0:20:14.796 rushes over, and instead of trying to pull the snake out, 0:20:14.836 --> 0:20:19.116 they're pushing the snake in. And I'm looking at my mom, 0:20:19.116 --> 0:20:22.036 and my mom's standing over these people looking down on me, 0:20:22.116 --> 0:20:24.996 and she's just terrified and I'm terrified. And I was like, 0:20:25.076 --> 0:20:30.436 that makes absolutely no sense. And then the more I 0:20:30.436 --> 0:20:34.756 started talking about my experiences and things, then I started 0:20:34.796 --> 0:20:37.756 remembering throughout my entire training. When I found out that 0:20:37.796 --> 0:20:41.956 I was going to deploy, the one thing I was 0:20:42.196 --> 0:20:46.236 terrified of I wasn't terrified, believe it or not, that 0:20:46.316 --> 0:20:50.596 I would I could get shot, that I could get stabbed, 0:20:50.716 --> 0:20:52.916 that I could that I would die like that. The 0:20:52.956 --> 0:20:55.956 thing that I was terrified the most was a landmine. 0:20:56.196 --> 0:20:58.996 I was terrified of those. In our training, you have 0:20:59.116 --> 0:21:02.916 to learn how to spot them and then essentially diffuse them. 0:21:02.996 --> 0:21:06.836 And what was the thing that got me a landmine? 0:21:06.956 --> 0:21:09.716 The thing I feared the most. My mother had this fear. 0:21:09.916 --> 0:21:11.156 And what was the thing that happened? 0:21:11.316 --> 0:21:11.596 Snake? 0:21:11.796 --> 0:21:15.316 Right? What I later put together was that snake. What 0:21:15.396 --> 0:21:17.436 really was happening was that was when I was being 0:21:17.556 --> 0:21:22.996 intubated in country, because I met some people later that 0:21:23.036 --> 0:21:25.716 were part of a medical unit that treated me in country, 0:21:25.996 --> 0:21:27.876 and they said that I was fighting them off, that 0:21:27.916 --> 0:21:30.316 I was telling them I was okay, and clearly my 0:21:30.316 --> 0:21:33.116