Childhood was broken bone free;although I had growing pains from shin splints due to over-active pituitary gland;I finally topped out at 6ft 8inches...average for rest of family is 5ft 11 inch men, 5ft 6 inch women. Oh, at 5,had infectious hepatitis "B". When I was working as Head lifeguard,at the county swimming pool,I was trying to throw out a guy,who sucker-punched me in the nose,resulting in a deviated septum and a busted nose....the guy had both shoulders separated and a busted wrist-forearm combo.
I spent 24 years in the military and had a few,well several, accidents during my tenure. During a rapid loss of elevation that exceeded established nominal operational envelope requirements,while aboard a Comanchee Helo,(AAA hit to rear turbine rotor and we dropped like a stone from 4Kft) I suffered from broken RIGHT tib/fib/femur;pelvis;wrist/forearm/humerus and three cracked ribs. I had to learn to walk again after many months of surgeries and rehabs. Driving along in the middle of Nowhere,SW Asia,at about 45 mph,our HMMVR passenger rear wheel caught a land mine;caused us to flip twice and forward momentum slammed us into this rock wall that seems to be ever-so-present in the mountains...I didn't walk away from that one either. Fractured RIGHT tib/fib/knee,2 cracked ribs,dislocated shoulder,collarbone and cheek bone. I had 17% coverage 3rd degree burns from land mine diesel fuel fire. I didn't walk away from that one either and had to learn to walk again for third time. Was considering quitting the military at this point...but I re-enlisted. Two years later,while on a training mission in Thailand,the C-130 developed a double catastrophic engine failure and that rapid descent thing happened again. It was 4 days before rescue teams got me and three others out. We were deep in tropical forest in rather inaccessible area. There were 26 aboard originally.
During Operation Desert Shield/Storm,five of us on a fire team were pinned down in an adobe house,just 6 Km from Kuwait City center,when a RPG hit just one foot in front of the threshold of the front door. The resultant fire blast and shrapnel cut through my upper left arm/elbow;my right wrist was nearly severed clean off-hanging by a tendon and some skin. More gashes and 3rd degree burns. I still set off the metal alarms at airports from the embedded shrapnel. First "Wrong Place-Wrong Time" medal awarded. Fourteen months later,on a Presidential-directed operational mission in some Central American country,after a gut-wrenching HALO jumo,while I was 'hot-sticking' a three-pot for Mission Essential Power (MEP),in the wee hours of the morning,I was hit in the left shin,by a sniper,with a large caliber weapon,lost balance after my leg was now broken,fell into phase at 660 VAC unlimited current,fell off the utility pole,unfortunately luck wasn't with me because I hit the ground,hard I might note here and all all of this kind of ruined my day;if you know what I mean.
So,I was laying there,in a philosophical,meta-physical frame of mind,considering if I should just take it easy and take a permanent snooze when the wall of pain hit me? Or not. It is really difficult to put in words...any way,back to life and the living! The end result was internal third degree burns,from point of contact (palm-RIGHT hand), through arm to elbow,across lower abdomen down left leg stopping at the bullet wound. The bullet wound burn site never did heal nor did the compound fracture,infection set in. I developed osteomyelitis,which is a chronic bone marrow infection. This went on for 11 year and the had the leg amputated in the end. Suffice to say I had many injuries,18 fractures in all and had learned that I had a spiral fracture on my right ankle from the parachute jump before I got shot! This was my second award of the "Wrong Place-Wrong Time" medal. After this accident,I was "asked" to retire. These past 15 years I'm happily married own my slice of paradise and I farm for fun!
In retrospective,if given the choice of whether to serve the country or not,even if I knew all of this would happen to me...I'd do it all over again! Where do I sign up!!! There's no better place on earth and there has never been in all of history! It's worth every drop!
All Y'all take care!
