BeTempered
BeTempered
BeTempered Episode 34 - Chris Roseberry's Journey: From Battlefield Challenges to Empowering Veterans
Journey with us as we explore the extraordinary life of Chris Roseberry, a retired First Sergeant with a story that embodies resilience and leadership. Chris joins co-hosts Dan Schmidt & Ben Spahr to share his miraculous story of triumph on this episode of the BeTempered podcast. Imagine choosing military service over a college football career, only to face unimaginable challenges, including a life-altering motorcycle accident that resulted in the loss of a limb. Yet, Chris's determination propelled him to not only return to active duty but also to take on new trials overseas, demonstrating an unwavering warrior mentality. Through Chris's experiences, gain insights into the sacrifices and fortitude required of those who serve, and the profound impact these experiences have on one's life.
Chris opens up about the pivotal decisions that shaped his path, from high school sports to surviving the rigors of military life and deployments across Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan. His story unfolds with personal anecdotes about overcoming physical and mental challenges, including the daunting recovery from severe injuries. Despite these adversities, Chris's journey is marked by the strength and support of his family, particularly his brother, who played a crucial role in his return to active service. Discover how Chris navigated these life-altering events with grit and the steadfast support of a community that rallied around him and his daughter during their time of need.
Explore the legacy Chris aims to create through storytelling, capturing memories and fostering connections for future generations. His current role at the Travis Mills Foundation highlights his ongoing commitment to supporting veterans and their families, turning his personal experiences into a source of inspiration and assistance for others. With gratitude, we share Chris's story, inviting listeners to reflect on the power of perseverance, the importance of community, and the enduring influence of leadership and resilience in the face of life's greatest challenges.
What's up everybody? Welcome to the Be Tempered Podcast, episode number 34. Moving right along, getting close to the holiday season.
Speaker 2:Yeah, got all your Christmas shopping done? No, yes, excuse me, does Kim have all the Christmas shopping done? Yes, yes, there. Yes, I just had to phrase it the proper way, that's right.
Speaker 1:Boy, do we have an unreal story today on the podcast. I had reached out to the Travis Mills Foundation, which you'll learn a bit about. Travis's story coming up in the next couple episodes, but the episode today, chris Roseberry how powerful is that?
Speaker 2:It was extremely powerful.
Speaker 1:I think when everybody hears this story of Chris and what he went through in the Army and his story growing up, goes into the Army and has a motorcycle accident and causes a loss of limb then he's where was he at, he was overseas and gets his foot wedged, his prosthesis wedged. After he goes through, loses his leg, comes through, gets back in the army.
Speaker 2:He's overseas serving his country, getting shot at yep, and they ducked in a cover or a bunker, yeah, and he said, two rocks were perfectly placed and his foot got stuck in it and his prosth got stuck in it.
Speaker 1:And his prosthesis rubbed his leg raw, rubbed the skin off of it and he has to take they take another four inches off his leg. I mean just unbelievable. And I think what you're going to hear as we go through this interview is is he just kind of glosses over it like it's no big deal? Right? You talk about a leader, you talk about pain, tolerance, you talk about resilience, and that's not even the biggest part of the story. And I'm not going to tell you what happens later on in his life with his family. But I just encourage you to listen this one through, because we've had some unbelievable guests on. That. Have some amazing stories about going through the fire, and Chris's story might be one of the top ones as far as perseverance, as far as grit, fortitude, pushing through, keeping going.
Speaker 2:Just an amazing story, yeah, and I just keep thinking you know soldiers go through so much. I mean you leave your families for a long period of time and then you throw in these big, ginormous, you know obstacles he keeps having to face and every time, like you said, he kind of glosses over it. I mean, it's just that warrior mentality of you know, god, keep moving on, god, keep moving on. And, like you said, you don't want to say the other thing that happened to him, but you know Evie's four and that's when he was talking about, you know, with his daughter Emma, just the conversation there. You know that really hit a hard string how that conversation would go with Evie and stuff like that from you know just me personally.
Speaker 1:You know what's hard for me in doing these podcasts and I've told some people that is, you get so engulfed in these stories when they're telling it and then I find myself like, okay, I've got to ask the next question. But I'm so engulfed in what they're talking about. And with Chris that's where I was at and I knew what was coming. I read his bio before and I had a conversation with him last week before he came on. But you know, just a brief thing about Chris is he's a retired first sergeant in the Army and he served all over the world and you know, through a couple different accidents and then the tragedy that happens here just a year ago, you know just unbelievable.
Speaker 1:But we came across Chris through the Travis Mills Foundation and he's the facilities director there and it's up in Maine and it's an amazing foundation which I encourage you all to check out. You know where they help service men and women and first responders get through difficulties, whether it's through the loss of a limb or it's through a PTSD or any. You know ailments that that you know these men and women may be facing because of the service that they provided to our country. So you know, enjoy this episode. Be sure to to share it with your friends and family and anybody out there who you might know, who have served our country, because it's a powerful one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree, and we can't thank everybody enough for all the support that you give us and we just hope you really enjoy this episode Go out and be tempered.
Speaker 3:Hi, my name is Allie Schmidt. This is my dad, Dan. He owns Cajun's Glass.
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Speaker 1:Welcome to the Be Tempered podcast, where we explore the art of finding balance in a chaotic world.
Speaker 2:Join us as we delve into insightful conversations, practical tips and inspiring stories to help you navigate life's ups and downs with grace and resilience.
Speaker 1:We're your hosts, Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr. Let's embark on a journey to live our best lives.
Speaker 2:This is Be Tempered.
Speaker 1:Welcome Chris Roseberry to the Be Tempered podcast. How you doing, man?
Speaker 5:Good, good. Thank you very much for having me. Definitely appreciate it. Good to talk to you guys and see if we can get out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm excited to have you. You know, I got on the Travis Mills Foundation website because I had heard Travis's story and then, through that connection on the website, I talked to Heather and Heather said hey, I got a guy who's got a story who I think needs to be told, because Travis is a busy man and you're a busy man. But she volunteered you to come on here and to tell your story, so I'm excited to hear it.
Speaker 5:Like I told you, we were talking the other day. Yes, I'm the token amputee when Travis is out on the road.
Speaker 1:It's awesome. So what we like to do is we like to start from the beginning, kind of tell your story growing up, where you grew up, and then what led you into the service.
Speaker 5:So let's see, I grew up in Lincoln, illinois, right in the middle of a cornfield country. My parents own a hardware store, a little shopping center, so I grew up around all the hardware type stuff and my dad's also a gun dealer so I got to shoot a lot. When I was a kid my grandparents had a farm so I was used to being around all kinds of black Angus cattle in that regard. So as much as people think I'm a city boy, I'm actually kind of a country boy, more, more or less. Maybe not for that much of my life, but long enough. Um, and from there, uh I said I moved from uh, illinois to ohio, uh, with my uh biological father, as you and I talked uh the other day, I consider my stepdad my father, but uh moved to ohio. Um, I went to school up there from I think I think it's eighth grade to through high school. So I graduated in Gallien, ohio. Through that.
Speaker 5:My brother is also in the military. He's a colonel and he had joined the military. I think I was in my junior year. You know, in my senior year I got all the hopes. I was going to play football for college. You know I'm this great quarterback. Everyone's going to want me type thing.
Speaker 5:And then, uh, kind of towards the end of my senior year, I was like, you know, I don't really know what I'm going to do, cause I got to pay for college. So my brother talked me into he's always good advice from him, he's the more mature guy, the I'm going to be smart and get A's in school and be in the band and be in all the school plays and stuff like that. And then I was the more jock of the person, a little more carefree, and didn't really stay on top of the whole A's type thing. I was more of a BC guy. But no, he'd talk me into enlisting in the military. You know, more or less.
Speaker 5:You know I was thinking college and I enlisted for four years in 1996. And then four years turned into eight years and then eight years turned into a career Figured. Once I hit eight years, no sense in getting out now because I'm, you know, 12 years from when I can actually retire. So, uh, so stuck with it and uh, like, my goal being in the military is always to be, you know, make it to first sergeant, which I did. Um, you know, with everything else that happened uh, in between those I'm sure we're going to cover uh actually being able to make that point uh in my career. Uh I was happy to when I retired, although I didn't want to, but you know I had to make some decisions. That's kind of kind of being a nutshell as far as from where I could walk to where I am now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so being an athlete in high school and then you sign up for the army, what was? What was it like going through boot camp, compared to maybe two days in football?
Speaker 5:totally different. Um, you know, when I, when I uh went through basic training, you know, we were still getting screamed at and bags being thrown everywhere and getting stepped on and, uh, a little more uh, physical as far as hands on than what we're, uh, what we do today. So, uh, it was, even though I knew what to expect from uh listening to my brother, it was definitely a very quick culture shock. From the time that, uh, what we used to call the cattle trailers, because it was just a little short semi-trailer with uh benches, um, and you're packed in like sardines. But from the time that, uh, that door opened and we're getting screamed at to get out and we're all falling off the stairs and tripping over each other and everything else, it opened my eyes. I mean, like, yep, this is different than what I'm going to be used to for sure. So it was definitely night and day, yeah.
Speaker 1:At any time when you were going.
Speaker 5:You're starting that early career in the Army did you ever say, man, wish I'd went and played college football? I wish I wish I would have went to college? Yeah, I mean that's, I mean obviously it's. I think anyone's uh, when you're in sports and high school's dream to to be able to uh, to keep doing that, um, so, yes, uh, there's always those moments. But then, uh, you know, once, once you start to you know form those bonds with uh, those year around it kind you start to you know, form those bonds with uh, those year around it kind of I don't know shifts your outlook on life. Um, so I'm kind of glad that, uh, you know, I obviously that, uh, the direction in life I took really worked out for me. But I'm glad, uh, at that young age I said, you know, let's stick with this, you know, is other than have to work hard and, um, you know, do what you do.
Speaker 5:As far as the military goes, I mean, you live for free, you ate for free. Um, you know you got to do some cool stuff, not so cool stuff. You got to go to different countries, usually for not the reason you want to go to different countries, but, uh, but it was, uh, it was, it was good. You know it's a glide path in life. I'm glad I stuck with.
Speaker 5:But yes, to answer your question, of course some of those times sitting on the couch was like, man, I wish I was in college, you know, playing sports and then of course all the other stuff that comes along with, uh, the fun in college. But uh, you kind of make up for that in the military too, as a young, a young soldier. So you still kind of get the, the, the party and frat type I, you know, vibe a little bit when you're young, but then, as you in your career, you kind of leave that behind for the most part. So you still kind of get the college vibe as far as having fun. But yeah, no, it would have been great to do that. But I was glad on the decisions I made.
Speaker 1:So at some point in time you get deployed, right.
Speaker 5:Yeah, so I'd see I was in Bosnia and kosovo with those 99 2000 time frame. Uh, then, pretty much after 9-11 kicked off, you know it's all training geared to uh deploy, uh, so then afghanistan is iraq first. Uh went to iraq, uh, first in 03, and then we did Afghanistan in 07, and then 2009, 2010. And then 2009,. 2010 was my last deployment overseas, you know, leading up to my retirement in 2016 with you know everything that happened between 2010, 2016 timeframe, which ultimately was my decision on why I ended up retiring. So, yeah, I deployed by the coast of Iraq and Afghanistan. The first two are night and day from the last two, obviously for different reasons, but you know, first half is peacekeeping and obviously Afghanistan and Iraq are a totally different beast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so talk about back up a little bit to 9-11. You know that's, that's one of those moments in history where I know exactly where I was at the day, the minute that I heard the news. I remember seeing the second plane hit the tower. But you know I was. I was building houses in Cincinnati. You, you're in the army. I was building houses in Cincinnati, you're in the Army.
Speaker 5:Talk about what that was like for you that day. So for me it was actually pretty strange. We didn't know what happened for about two, maybe two hours, two and a half hours after it happened. So I was actually at the JRTC in Fort Polk, louisiana. We were doing our train up to go over to Kosovo and we were out running some of our training missions.
Speaker 5:And it's kind of odd, you know, we were doing some patrols into some of the mock towns or whatnot, and we got to this one and everyone just kind of stopped. You know it was dead silence. All of our radio communication stopped. You know the OCs, the trainers that are out there certifying us and whatnot, you know kind of put us in a squat hold. You know we saw TVs turn off and radios turn off. Some of the out four were helping facilitate our training. Just kind of everything got quiet.
Speaker 5:So we went to a holding pattern for about two and a half hours before we knew what was going on and finally, now it's more for, uh, obviously we had soldiers or whatnot that had, you know, family that worked in the world trade center. So we didn't want to start, um, you know, getting everyone all spun up before we actually knew, you know what was going on. So, uh, once, once we were informed, they pulled us back um, briefed us on what was going on. Uh, we had, you know, pull all of our uh soldiers in and, you know, give them briefings, say this is what happened. We don't have any, no idea what's going on right now. Do we have any? You know, people have any relatives or friends or whatnot to work in the uh, the world trade center, um, so it was.
Speaker 5:It was, it was different um to go from a peacekeeping uh, uh frame of mind, uh, of training, to knowing what just happened um and our focus shifting to, you know, what turned into the global war on terrorism. So, you know, being over in coast for whatnot, uh doing a peacekeeping um, you wanted to be in a different fight um, and obviously we all ended up there. You know there was the beginning of what happened in Afghanistan, uh, you know it was all of our special operators who went in there and uh did what they had to do um, and then, you know, all of us, uh regular army, moved in and did our thing after they were done. So it was, it was definitely um very different on how we were notified, just you know, due to the fact of what we were actually training up for.
Speaker 1:So there's a really eerie feeling at first yeah, for sure, I think, eerie feeling for everybody. I mean, I just remember the, the shock, uh, of watching all that happen, and then you know thinking, holy cow, where do we go from here? And uh, as a country, and, um, you know, I just can't imagine being in the military at that time and, and you know, trying to figure out, okay, what's next.
Speaker 5:Yeah, and then my, my brother.
Speaker 5:My brother is actually a captain of Fort Polk, uh, with the 509th, which is the unit that actually facilitates the aggressors in our training, and they hadn't showed us any videos of the plane strike in the towers or whatnot right off the bat, and I happened to be with my brother and when my brother showed up and him and I were talking about everything, he actually first time I saw the plane strike the uh world trade center is when I was with him, um, because they'd withheld that, you know, from us for for quite some time.
Speaker 5:So even really, you know, giving the full effect of what happened, um other than us being told until you saw the videos, you know it's really when you know, when it really impacted you, like I said, my, you know, my brother was stationed the other time, which is how I got to, you know, see it prior to them actually releasing it to us.
Speaker 5:But uh, so, yeah, you know it's, having my brother there when something like this happened was just, you know, kind of a one in a million, but uh, you know, and he was, you know, an officer at that time. You know, I'm a young uh specialist in the military, so, you know, and he was an officer at that time, you know I'm a young uh specialist in the military, so you know, as always looking up to him, you know, getting a lot of the information from him, uh, you know, actually, you know, helped me a lot, uh, cause he could explain it better than, obviously, what I could. But, uh, so it was kind of comforting to have him there to actually show me everything that really happened before we actually got informed.
Speaker 1:So show me everything that really happened before we actually got informed. So, yeah, so moving ahead, there was a pretty significant event that happened in 2005 to you. Can you kind of explain what happened and what came from that?
Speaker 5:Yeah, so, um, all my initial injuries were actually from a motorcycle accident. Uh, I had a car that was coming at me head-on, went left to center. The irony of my accident I was actually doing everything correct and I was actually under the speed limit when I had my accident, but I swear to miss the car. The bike went off underneath me and threw me over the handlebars. When I hit the ground I had put my arm and leg up to block the bike from falling on me. Um, by doing that, uh, the back tire is always still spinning and my foot went in the back tire and it had taken my foot off. Um, from that point, obviously I don't remember anything else, you know, because all the shock, but it ended up shattering my upper arm, um, and then laid on me and pushed me into a fence post where I broke my c2 through c7 vertebrae in my neck, uh, so I was on walter reed medical center for probably about a year and a half, um, you know, recovering. But the most extensive injuries that I was recovering for is obviously my, uh, my neck break, um. So it was a.
Speaker 5:It was long process, you know, and I was a young staff sergeant at the time, um. So a lot of my thoughts were like, okay, what do I do now? Um, I got these injuries, I'm missing my leg. Um, how am I going to work? Is anybody going to allow me to work? So you know, you're dealing with all the other stuff while you're laying in the hospital bed, but then on the back end, it's like, well, what do I do now? All I know is the military. I'd been doing it for 10 years at that point, so it was not only with the accident, but not knowing what's going to come after.
Speaker 5:The accident was pretty scary. And I'd actually got lucky because the Army had just changed its policy for people like myself that we could stay in the military and we could still perform our own job. We could keep with it, and or they would find something that you could do if you could, you know, physically meet the requirements, like I still had to pass a pt test, which you know, which I did, um, and I was lucky. Uh, you know, continuing my job, I kept jumping out airplanes. I don't know if that's smart or not, but it was fun um, I still got to deploy. So it was. It was a long, you know. I talked through it fast. So it was, but it was a long recovery process.
Speaker 5:Coming back from the hospital, my unit was deploying to Afghanistan. So now my soldiers that were underneath me are going to deploy without me. So there was a lot of, you know, emotions going through through my head, you know, other than the accident, you know, coming back to Afghanistan, uh, for brag to see my people. You know my soldiers, you know, go off to afghanistan without me, um, which was very hard, uh, knowing I was gonna be on the ground with them, like it kind of. I guess I kind of fueled my, my after hospital recovery, uh, to to keep doing.
Speaker 5:You know what I love to do and what I you know the only thing I knew at that time so there was a mother. You know the accident was hard, but everything after the accident, I think, was even harder. Just, you know, try to keep my mind straight and stay focused and, you know, try to get the what do I do now? You know, out of my head and just, you know, go until somebody says, well, we have to go this route. But I didn't stop until someone told me you know, yay or nay, what I was doing. So I was blessed in a lot of regards as far as where I got to continue to go on my glide path for life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it sounds to me like you know you had all the physical difficulties, where you know they end up amputating your leg. You got broken bones, but would you say that maybe the mental was even harder than getting over the physical?
Speaker 5:I would say the mental was. You know, I know I don't think I ever let it drag me down, but more it's, you know, it scared me more than anything. Just pondering on it, I never had any ill will thought or anything like more it's, you know, it scared me more than anything. Uh, just pondering on it, um, I never had any ill will thought or anything like that, but I, you know, definitely would scare me, you know. Just, you know, especially when you're in a hospital, you mean, you're sitting sitting in a hospital bed and you know you can only watch so much TV and take your mind off of of, uh, you know, life, uh, in front of you, um, but it was it, it was scary, sitting back, uh, you know, trying to think on.
Speaker 5:You know what was next, um, and once again, you know, uh, I was blessed, cause my brother just happened to be stationed in Aberdeen uh proving grounds in uh, maryland, so my brother was literally two hours away from the hospital. So, once again, um, he was there for me and which obviously helped me a lot. Um, so, once again, you know, luck was on my side, kind of like with the, you know, when we're talking about nine, 11, uh, my brother's got me through a lot. You know I feel sorry for my brother too because he was my next of kin. On my phone call he got the. You know he got the phone call while I was in the hospital. You know I was in a coma for a few, you know, I think a week or so or whatnot.
Speaker 5:And when I came back through, I guess you know, subconsciously, I knew what had happened to me and I guess I became conscious for a little bit. I don't remember this, but I looked at my brother and kind of did you know a little sawing motion like that and pointed to my leg and you know he went through and told me and then, like four or five days later, when I actually came through, I put him through it again. He had explained to me again. So my brother had a lot of the hard parts of this accident too. You know he's with me from the beginning to the end in one way or another. So having him with me, I think, really kept me focused more, so I didn't ponder too much and let any of those demons kind of sneak up on me or whatnot. My brother was a big influence on my decision-making and motivation going forward.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he sounds like an amazing man and a very important man in your life, as are, I think, just like my brother and most brothers. But, um, you know, trying to get you through those times, you know, I'm sure were very, very difficult for him just to even have those conversations.
Speaker 5:Oh, yeah, him and I, uh, we joke about it now, but I probably started off as the first gray hair that he probably started getting just from what I put him through.
Speaker 5:But yeah, no, he was very instrumental during that time and really where I'm at now because he's the one that talked me into joining the military to begin with. To join the military to begin with, um, so I forgot to turn my ringer off. Sorry, um, but uh, he was very instrumental in, you know, life, just in, you know in general, to get me where I am now, um, whether it was, uh, you know, just being the older, mature brother you know, financially, teaching me how to, you know, work my money, especially once, you know, as a young person, obviously at the time we learned how to to write checks in between you know, pay periods, so they'd at least uh, the clear of the bank once, uh, when everything hit. But, uh, you know, as a young guy, financially you always get yourself in a bind. But he, you know, he was always there for stuff like that. You know he's, he was, uh, he was the, uh, the mentor I's at right now. So he's very much an influence in my life and still is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and at some point you recover from those injuries and you continue right, you continue back in the service. Kind of talk about how that looked and how that went.
Speaker 5:Well, I honestly think I kind of got lost in the uh in the paperwork shuffle because, uh, you know you go through the military process and you get hurt why not? There's a what they call a medical review board, um, and they, you know all your, your documented injuries or whatnot. They go up in front of a panel, um, and then this panel decides on you know where, you know you're good to stay in the army, what your disability rating is, um, and kind of things like that. Well, I was already back in my unit for two years before my med board even caught up with me, um, which I don't know how that happened. I guess there were so many people watching that time. I'm sure I slipped through the cracks somehow, but you know I was already, you know, back to you know, taking pt test and pass my pt test and go out to you know ranges and qualifying on all my weapons and jumping out airplanes and, uh, everything else by my uh. By the time my med board packet caught up with me, uh, to say whether I could stay in or couldn't stay in. So obviously they sent that back to waltree and it was back in about 24 hours saying I was good to go, um, but, uh, but yeah, I guess I think that one of the hardest things I, you know, I kind of thought about is how my subordinates and peers would look at me as far as being in leadership roles. Um, you know, being an amputee, um, you know, I told myself, uh, you know, once I was allowed to stay in I, you know, when it came to that point, point where I couldn't do the same thing, I was asking my soldiers to do a sign for me to check out, and I stuck with that. We'll cover here in a little bit, I'm sure.
Speaker 5:But when I had to have more surgery done, it came to that point, but there was a lot of obstacles. I was kind of nervous myself on how people look as which kept pushing me to do if they had to. You know, pre-injury, with all the training and you know, still keeping on airborne status and you know, doing all the jumps with my guys and just all the, you know, just all the training in general that kept me going. You know quite a, quite a bit. You know I kept trying to be, you know, better than that next person. Obviously my, uh, my two mile run time wasn't as good as used to be, but I was still staying around the 15, the 15 minute mark which I guess missing, uh, missing a leg, was really good, um, so, uh, so there was, uh, there was. You know, there was a lot of motivators in there that, uh, you know, um kept me going as far as continuing to do what I did prior to uh being injured.
Speaker 1:You kind of glossed over something there.
Speaker 5:I've never jumped out of a plane in my life. And uh.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to picture how you would land with a prosthetic. What was that like the first time?
Speaker 5:The first time I jumped, I laid on the ground and said, why in the hell am I still doing this? I hit the ground so hard. I was terrified because I was like, okay, how am I going to land? I can't go right or left because I don't have any motion in that right leg to where my knee will allow me to go right or left, so it's either go forward or fall backwards. Um, and you know, obviously I was thinking about my neck and my back hitting the ground. Uh, you know, was I going to mess something on that? Um, it, I was terrified, um, but I hit the ground so hard I was like, do I really want to do this? Um, but you know, you know, I walked away from, away from that jump, uh, kind of bruised up, but I, you know, I didn't show anybody that. Um, and uh, you know, I I learned to just place my body in position where I could do, where I could do, a rear landing fall. So you know, I usually it's like, you know, balls of your feet, calf thigh, buttocks and your shoulder, it might. I pretty much just went hills, butt and then just kind of rolled over, uh, the rest of my career, um, but, yeah, that first time was terrifying, um, and every time after that, uh, I think it was pretty much business as usual and it's funny because, um, not everybody on that jump knew I was missing a leg, which is kind of funny.
Speaker 5:But once you hit the ground you pack up your shoe and you're supposed to run off the drop zone. Either you're running just to get on where the trucks are at or you're running to turn in your shoes and then continue on with the mission. So the first time I jumped, I packed my stuff up and I wasn't really running, I was just kind of walking. I was a little sore and my leg was a little not on my leg properly where I could adjust it. So I was trying to get over there. Before I did any of that, I remember someone yelling at me hurry up, quit walking, quit running. And I kept walking. So then they were getting even more mad. So when I got over there I set it down. It was some major colonel. I, you know I set it down. It was some major colonel. I can't remember what it was, but I got over there, I pulled on my pant leg and he's like all right, you're good, you're good. And he grabbed my shoe and went and turned it in for me.
Speaker 5:So you know, we'd be sitting at the green ramp or in the pack sheds putting all our shoes and stuff on. You know, we jumped with all kinds of different units so obviously everyone within my unit, you know, knew I was missing a leg. Um, but, like when you're jumping with other units, they and I would kind of mess with people sometimes so I'd make sure people could see I was missing a leg as I'm getting my parachute on. Uh, just so I could, you know, see what their, their people watching eyes would do. Um, it was a lot of fun and we always talked about, you know, okay, well, if I jump this leg and break it, how am I going to jump with another leg? Do I, you know, do I strap it on the side of my rucksack or uh, you know things like that, and we jokingly do it sometimes and people look over, be like what the hell is this dude doing?
Speaker 5:Um, so I think a lot of people thought I was crazy. Well, I think some people thought I was crazy or just from jumping, but, um, but yeah, no, I mean uh, as far as uh, no, going back to doing anything before. I mean, there there was obviously there's trials and errors and, uh, sometimes the doubts, but uh, you know, I always had people on my right or left that would motivate me to keep going and be like hell, you're doing this better than we do. So I was like, okay, if you're telling me that, then I'll keep going. Um, like I said, I never had, uh, anyone look down on me as far as you know, whether I could keep doing what I did before, and obviously has a big motivator, uh, in itself.
Speaker 1:So so, yeah, so that's kind of from uh pre-injury to post-injury as far as in that that time frame, um, so, yeah, yeah, and then, uh, you also had to deal with a re-injury of that leg in 2015. Yeah, so talk about that.
Speaker 5:So in 2010 is actually when I injured it, um. So I was in afghanistan in uh, 2009, 2010, um, and we were on a mission this is right at the tail end of, uh, maybe we had a month and a half, uh before I retained back to the states um, and we got in a firefight and there was a bunch of, you know, rocket propeller grenades getting fired at us, uh, so my medic and I were like, hey, we should probably jump down in this, uh, ditch, so we don't get hit by something. So, so we jumped down in there and, uh, you know, wouldn't you know that there was these two perfectly placed rocks side by side, like that. So my prosthetic foot decides to go right in between those two perfectly placed rocks. So when they went in there, obviously my foot's not going to go anywhere. So my leg twisted inside the. So basically the. So this is the bottom of my leg. When we hit the ground, the end of my leg just twisted like that inside the socket, so it tore all the skin off the end of my prosthetic side. So it just took a long time for that to heal. So tore this into this, tore all the skin off the end of my my uh, my prosthetic side. So, um, it just took a long time for that to heal.
Speaker 5:I still didn't go back to the States. Um, I stayed there and, uh, bandaged it up until it healed enough where I could go back on a mission. But, um, so I got back to the States and just, uh, you know doing like I do like go out and say I ran two miles in one day or something like that. You know doing like I do like go out and say I ran two miles in one day or something like that, you know it'd be fine for for months. And then I do that one run where I tear it open and you know, then it, you know, lay me up for a week or so or get infected. Um, and it just got to the point to where I was doing it more often. So, uh, it happened.
Speaker 5:Uh, when we were doing a run um, I think it was, was, it would have been late 2014 I tore it open again. It's like, you know, I got to do something because it keeps slowing me down. You know I'm always limping around because I want to keep up with everybody else, but it's kind of hindering, you know, hindering what I uh, what I should be doing, um. So I went to waltz reed, uh at, uh, dr potter, who's one of the surgeons up there, look at it, he said. He said, you know, we can try to do this first and then you go back to Bragg, let's know, you know how that does. So I went back, had some more prosthetic work done. It just wouldn't stop, you know, tearing open.
Speaker 5:So finally I went back up there and they scheduled a time for me to, you know, to have a revision done on my my leg. So they ended up taking another four inches of my leg off in 2015. And you know, I figure, you know, I've already been an amputee for what that would have been 10 years at that point. So we're at 10 years at that point. So it's like you know what they're going to do the surgery In six months I'm going to have this prosthetic back on. Still be running circles around people, you know, etc. Etc. Um, but they did a surgery which went good, um, you know, going through the recovery process and I just started getting tons of nerve pain. So when they did the this revision surgery, you know, they don't know exactly where all the nerve endings are and your leg wants to do the surgery. So that's what. So I started walking on those nerve endings, uh, which is extremely, is extremely painful. So that set my recovery back and I'd go back in. You know, they put a dye in your, in your leg, and it kind of shows where the nerves are. So they go back in there and they tried to reroute the nerves. You're not walking on them. Long story short. Um, what I thought would take maybe six months ended being 13, 14 months long, and even once I left then I didn't feel like I was where I should be.
Speaker 5:It went back to Fort Bragg and I do some runs and stuff like that and it just it didn't. It wasn't like it was before. I wasn't being able to do as much as I was. I couldn't be as aggressive as it was before. I wasn't being able to do as much as I was. I couldn't be as aggressive as I was before. So, as I stated earlier, when we were talking, I always made it a point to remind myself that I would never tell my soldiers or subordinates what to do if I couldn't do it myself. So it came to that point. I had to make that decision that you know. It's time to drop the retirement pack and probably go find something a little less high impact to go do, which is what you know kind of led me here. When I retired We'll get into it, but there's more that led me here than that. But that's pretty much the decision that had me, you know, in my military career, which you know as much as I didn't want to, I'd already I'd made it to where I wanted to be when I first joined the military and then some. So I was as much as I.
Speaker 5:You know I missed the camaraderie and the getting up every morning at four in the morning, being in the office at five in the morning, like an hour and a half early, then we need to be there just because, and hanging out with everybody. I miss those times probably more than the military itself. You just form all those bonds. Everyone says you get up and do the same thing over and over again. It gets boring. But getting up in the morning time putting your uniform on and going to be with those others that are putting uniform on is, you know, it's a little different than just getting up every morning and doing the same thing over and over again.
Speaker 5:So if I can go back in? I probably would. I wouldn't be able to do much, but I'd probably go back in if they asked me to. I do miss, I really do miss. I don't miss all the you know kind of the uh for lack of better you know terms, all the BS that comes within a lot of that stuff, but uh, but I definitely miss the camaraderie and, uh, you know, being with people every day that are in uniform, so um, so yeah, but that's what led it to my retirement. Like I said, it was bittersweet but it was. It was what I had to do.
Speaker 1:Well, there's a lot there to unpack. I mean, you kind of glossed over a lot of things that were major impacts in your life. You know, you, you, you had the motorcycle accident. You lose a limb. You go back and you're jumping out of planes and you're a leader, um, you know, in the military, and then all of a sudden, you, you know you have this happen, uh, while you're deployed, and then they take another four inches off your leg. I mean these are all unbelievable things and and you know, you talk about it like it's nothing. I mean, you're an amazing man, you, you, you've got a must have an amazing, amazing tolerance of pain and perseverance. I mean it's awesome.
Speaker 5:Yeah, it's all perspective, I guess I'm sure I uh, I can cover up a lot of it a lot of times, but yeah, but I mean everyone's different.
Speaker 5:My motivation was, you know, to kind of, you know, overlook that stuff is one being competitive again, um, and just trying to continue to do all the things I did before, cause I didn't want to be that guy sitting on the sidelines. So, you know, you always push and persevere, um, when you set your mind to the, you know the things that motivate you, and that's that's kind of where I tried to keep my mindset. Just, there's always, there's always somebody that's having a worse day than you are. So I'm still able to walk from here to next week when some people can't walk, or there's some people that just can't do life and I'm still able to do everything I did before, maybe a little slower in some points, but that could be because of my leg, or it's because I'm getting older, but I don't have anything to complain. I'm still on this side of the dirt and for a million reasons I probably shouldn't be, but I'm still here and that's just motivation in itself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure it's pretty awesome. Can you share a memorable moment from your time as a leader that made you particularly proud of the soldiers under your command?
Speaker 5:Man, that's hard. Um, no, I don't know if I can, you know, pick just one. Um, I think, honestly, our last deployment to Afghanistan in 2009,. Uh, in 2010, was hell. I mean, uh, we were out of mission probably six days out of the seven days in the week and we were in firefights every single day, or, you know, we'd have people being injured, whether it's from direct or indirect fire, ieds. I honestly think I can't ever put it on one soldier, because it takes one soldier for the for the other soldier to do what they got to do.
Speaker 5:Um, the fact, the mere fact that they would just get up every morning and go do the same thing without hesitation, or um, crying about it, or, you know, just come with the reason why they couldn't go on mission. I, you know, seeing that in itself as a leader is motivating, for you know, myself just watching them, you know, do I mean they knew, you know the way it was for us? They knew at any moment in time that you know an ID could get us, or you know they could, it could be another firefight and that that may be it, um, but they woke up focused to do the mission, and I never heard any complaints and I honestly think this that last deployment was probably probably very eye opening on the the will and fortitude, that uh and just selfless service that you know our soldiers have. I mean, you know most of them are young, you know, probably in my mid thirties, you know, I got these young 20 year olds, some, some teens, doing what they know could keep them from waking up the next day and it's just, it's a very motivating thing for a leader to see, knowing that you're the one asking them to do it.
Speaker 5:Um, you know, nobody asked to go to afghanistan, iraq, we know that's what we signed up to do. But being one individual telling you know 30 other individuals that this is what you got to go do today and that's what we're going to go do, and them looking at you and being like, all right, let's, let's go do it, that's very humbling and I and I think just every soldier should just impress you every day and it's hard just to pick one and I don't think I could and I don't think it's fair to all those that I had underneath me to single out one individual, but soldiers in general are amazing, the fact that they'll go do what we do and most not complain. You always have your little .01%, but it's just motivating and that's what most people need to take away from what us 1% did.
Speaker 1:Well, I think, looking at you as a leader, I don't know how your soldiers couldn't be inspired. You know, knowing you and what you went through, and then to see you out there, you know, on the battlefield, you know it's an amazing. I can't thank you enough for your service. I mean, I've never, I've never been shot at, I've never had someone want to kill me. That I know of you know, but but to to hear you talk about this stuff again, just like it's, you know, like it's second nature, you know, when you lived it for however many years, it's truly amazing and and I think I hope that everybody that listens to this, um, you know, recognizes the freedoms that we have are because of men and women out there, just like you, with that mentality of hey, this is our mission, this is why we're here. We're here to protect our country and and protect our freedoms. Uh, it's an amazing thing.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I worked both ways though too. I mean all of us that have been part of the global war on terrorism. We were, you know, welcomed back with, you know hugs and you know honors and everything else. I mean that that's gratifying itself, that we know that we're doing. We're doing because of the people back here support us for doing it. Um, you know they're obviously, we know our Vietnam veterans. They get that same respect. World War II, we know, is different. The forgotten wars, the Korean War, was a little different, but knowing that we're doing what we do to protect those back here and continue to give us those rights and freedoms to be welcomed back to where we are. It's a two-way street, his rights and freedoms to be welcomed back the way we are. It's, you know, it's a two-way street and it's that's motivating itself, knowing you have people outside of the military that have your back at the same time.
Speaker 1:So yeah, so 2016,. You was 15 or 16, you decided to retire and talk about what was next for you in your life.
Speaker 5:So 2016,. December 1st was my actual retirement date, but I started terminal leave on September 16th. So between that time frame I met my wife, kelly, who is a head of doctor and physical therapy at Walter Reed. She was my physical therapist, I think I told you on the phone on the phone I was talking, uh, uh, talking about, uh, how we met Um, we. You know I'm going to start from there to answer your last question. That's probably a little easier that way.
Speaker 5:From retirement to now, so, um, so I met her, which was kind of a good, uh, a motivating factor to retire, to cause we talked, uh, after I'd left, you know the military, and we kept in touch, you know. You know what I'm gonna do, what I said I never do and uh, you know, like, seriously, date somebody and you'll possibly get married. I was never in my, my future from, if you'd asked me before that but uh, but yeah, uh, her and I started talking. Um, I went to her, her parents house, because her dad was a retired Army colonel and he used to take people from the hospital that didn't have anywhere to go or were just hanging out. So I went over there, him, and I started talking. Like I told you on the phone, him and I were in the same place at the same time, which was Kosovo at the time, and he knew that he'd had some of my soldiers uh, help. You know on some of their details that the aviation always needed help with um and, like I said, the running joke was uh, at that time you never thought that I was going to marry your 14 year old daughter when you and I were talking in kosovo. So it's kind of like the running joke now.
Speaker 5:But that had a lot of stuff. I had a lot of influence when I retired too. So my official retirement date was December 1st of 16. My term of leave started on September 16th of 16. So when I signed out I had my retirement rocking chair which it was actual rocking chair, that uh that they'd made me when I retired in the back of my truck and my uh, my gym bag and I drove to Bristol, tennessee. So my wife is a Virginia tech alum, um, and I always called it the battle of Bristol game at Bristol uh raceway and it was Tennessee and Virginia tech. So I I signed out on a term relief from brag, drove to uh uh, tennessee, watched the Bristol game and that's kind of like, that's kind of where my after retirement life started was from that drive there to to Bristol, uh, to watch that football game with Kelly and her parents. That's where retirement officially started and then, obviously from there, you know, met my wife. Like I say, we had her doctorate. Am I answering the question you asked or did I ramble on?
Speaker 1:You're doing good, You're good, but my question is she wasn't 14 in Bristol, was she?
Speaker 5:Nope, nope, she sure wasn't. Nope, there's an age gap there, but nope, she sure wasn't. She was 30. She was 30. That's 39. Yeah, so she was 30. That's better. Yeah, so we were good on that regard. I didn't have to worry about going to jail or anything, so we were good. I don't have to worry about going to jail or anything, so we were good. So that's where your relationship and your retirement start? Yep, that's where it started, and what kind of led me to Maine. So you want me to go into that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Talk about that. You know what happens next.
Speaker 5:Yeah. So, like I said, she worked at Walter Reed. She'd uh been there since 2010. Um, and she was, the entire time that I was, all you know, amputee focused Um, so she was surrounded by that stuff, you know, day in and day night her entire career. Um, so I moved up there. Her and I uh stayed there for a year, um before here, but she, uh, she became friends with Travis. She wasn't Travis's physical therapist, but she became friends with Travis and Kelsey, uh, while they're at Walter Reed. Um, and I didn't know Travis like personally.
Speaker 5:I knew of him because when I'd be running up down the road, people from 82nd uh airborne division would go. I'm like, hey, you know Travis Mills. I'm like, nope, I don't know him. But you know, someone told me, uh, he's a quadruple amputee, he's one of five surviving quadruple amputees of, uh, the global war on terrorism too. If people didn't know that. But, uh, but yeah, I'd be like, nope, I don't know him, but I know of him. So him and I started talking, uh, because he was trying to get her to leave walter re, which I still don't understand how he did it fully, because that was her passion. But one day he'd called me.
Speaker 5:I was like well, man, she's stuck in traffic right there on the Beltway so this might be a good time to call her and see how she's feeling about the DC Northern Virginia area. So he called her and she kind of made a decision there. She came home, we talked about it, called her and she kind of made a decision there. She came home, we talked about it and her and I weren't married at the time yet. I was here a little bit further ahead. But we were like, okay, so let's go up there.
Speaker 5:We went up there in November of 2016. We came up here and kind of did a tour of the area and what we'd be getting into or whatnot. So we had made a decision to come up here. We moved up here in june of 2017, which was literally five days before the grand opening of the uh the foundation, um. So we moved up here. Um, my wife I didn't come over the job either, by the way, I was gonna. I was trying to find a job, uh, stocking shelves or something at Target. It's a little more upclass in Walmart, so I figured I'd go with Target.
Speaker 5:But, no, I was trying to. I was trying to find, you know, find a job. I'd been looking before we moved up here but she came up here. She was the programs director. So basically she's the one that would set up all the events, uh, that the veterans and their families would do while we're up here. You know whether it was, you know, waterfront or archery or you know everything else we'd up here. You know, as far as uh ropes course, things like that, um, so that's what she came up here to do and she was. She was kind of starting that. She worked part time for the foundation prior to us moving up here to do everything, uh, you know, over zoom or email or whatnot, uh lining up, uh programming stuff for them to start doing before we decided to move up here. So she was kind of giving a playbook, uh prior to the decision, um, so she came up here to do that.
Speaker 5:Um, I just happened to start working my tail off helping them get things all put away and stacked and getting things out of the way for people to see visually or whatnot. And you know, travis and his uh father-in-law said, you know, asked me, like hey, doing a job was like, yep, I'll take one. So pretty much I was the uh mowing the lawns and uh doing all the maintenance and stuff like that, um, which was easy because we had, you know, three buildings at that time and it was only supposed to be seven to ten weeks a year and we surpassed that the first year and way past that, as we're at now. So that's how we're doing there. Since then. I have a four-year-old daughter, emma. My wife and son unfortunately passed away, uh, 13 months ago during a delivery complications, um, which obviously put a, obviously a big loss in my life, but a big loss, uh, for the foundation as well, and we're still reeling from that. Obviously I'm still reeling from that personally. But that's kind of how we ended up here and you know, my four-year-old daughter and I are going to stop doing what she pretty much built. I mean she was the. I always say and I'm not biased because pretty much I'm going to tell you she's the one that pushed Travis and Craig to get us where this foundation is right now. She was definitely the main artery. She's the one that forced those two to get on the road and raise money for us to put ourselves on the map where we are now.
Speaker 5:I mean, I started with 29 acres and three buildings, 54 acres and 11 buildings. Where we're at now the building I'm sitting in right now is our health and wellness center, and this was, you know, we kept one ad week so we wanted to be year round. But you know, we were limited as far as resources that we could do as far as expanding the program. So my wife's like well, if you want to go year-round, then we need to add more so I can make programming expand. So we ended up building this health and wellness center which has a swimming pool in it and a full-size gym, arts and crafts room and stuff like that.
Speaker 5:So this was going to be my wife's baby. Unfortunately, she only got to be in it for six months. Be my wife's baby. Unfortunately, she, uh, only got to be in this for six months. But, uh, but this is pretty much what put us on the map to to be able to go year-round and service our veterans and our, our family members, and whether it's uh, you know, being on the ground physically or doing our online, uh, virtual stuff we do, or the stuff we do in Atlanta with the uh aquarium, um, so so it's kind of where I am right now in, you know, in life, and, like I said, you know, my daughter and I are still around from the half of my wife and son. But uh, like everything else, we're going to keep pushing on and, you know, do what she wants to do.
Speaker 1:Chris, you're an amazing man and, um, you know, I read your bio when, when, uh, heather had sent it to me or Molly sent it to me, and you know I'm reading through you know all the things that you did in the army and then, um, you know the difficulties that you face with your, with your leg, and then I, I got to the, to the part of, of your wife and your child, and, um, you know I'm a father of five kids and, um, my question to you is what keeps you going, man? What keeps you going every day?
Speaker 5:Uh, right now, my four-year-old girl, she's's the one that's uh. I always tell her when she's got me through this that, not the other way around. So you know we'll keep doing everything I'm gonna live through you know her. Uh, everyone else gonna live through my daughter. I mean kelly's in there every day everyone sees that um, but at the end of the day, you know this is my wife left.
Speaker 5:You know her job at Waltree to continue to help. You know our veterans and our families to progress. You know build those bonds of. You know family members again, and you know doing a lot of those first times again with their kids. You know riding bikes or you know archery, or you know just a handful of things that they hadn't done. You know, since injury, and that's what she would want us to do, you know we're not going to. We're going to carry on what she, what she helped build like she'd want us to, and that's kind of like that's a motivation itself. You know she, she wouldn't want us to stop Um. I know she wanted us to do. We're just going to keep keep doing that. I mean it wouldn't be fair to her if we stopped um, something she'll build um. Until you know I can't do anymore. We're going to keep doing it.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. You know I was looking for some quotes today because I, I, you know that's amazing. You know I was looking for some quotes today because I, you know, knowing your story, and I came across one from Margaret Thatcher and the quote is you may have to fight a battle more than once to win it. And when I think about that and I think about you and what you've been through you've fought one battle more than once with your leg and then now dealing with the tragedy of your wife and child I'm in awe, man. I'm in awe by your strength, I'm in awe by your resilience, I'm in awe that you keep going and I know when you lay your head down at night, I'm sure that there's always questions of why am I the guy going through this, why did you choose me?
Speaker 1:And I just want you to know, from a farm kid in rural Ohio, where you're an Ohio boy you're an inspiration man and you're an inspiration to, I'm sure, everybody who comes to the Travis Mills Foundation and you know, gets to go through all those awesome programs. And to, you know, I was watching some videos on YouTube and I saw the facilities and the pool and all I mean. That's amazing. It's a beautiful facility and and to hear you say you know that was part of your wife's vision, uh, for the foundation and uh, just, you're an amazing man.
Speaker 5:Yeah, like I said, I think it's. I'm like anybody else, I'm not gonna be like ah, thank you, type things. No, it's, it's, it's everybody, though. I mean. Like, maine's a small village and, without you know, her family, my family and the thousands of people here in Maine that, uh, you know, felt myself and my daughter out, that's, that's, that's, you know, kind of got us to to where we're at right now, as far as you know, continue to do what we know she'd want us to do and, uh, you know, trying to. I mean, you're never going to push what happened out of the forefront, but at least when you're doing what she wants to do, it gives you something else to think on. So, you know, it's one of those things, you know, I don't really know how to talk about it. What I do know is that this is what she wants to do about it. What I do know is that this is what she wants to do and until you know, I can't do anymore, until the foundation. If it ever comes to the point where I can't do anymore, um, this is what I'll do or be a part of, until you know, until my end. Um, my daughter's always going to be part of that too.
Speaker 5:You know we're we're really lucky uh with this job because there's tons of video of us doing stuff. Uh, her mom you know all kinds of, you know speeches and podcasts and the thousands of pictures. So she's gonna obviously not physically grow up with her mom but, uh, there's tons of a role and b role of how she can grow up with her. You know, I got the the freemio picture thing at the house right now. So every time something pops up on my time hop or something like that, we're throwing it up on there. So she's she'll stand there and look at, uh, you know, watch the video.
Speaker 5:She, I mean she, she was what three? She just turned three when, uh, right, she just turned three and we lost Kelly, noah, um, and she, like she knows they're not coming home, um, I don't think she fully understands why, but uh, you know, she, you know, says bye to him and good night and she loves him, everything every night and she's, uh, somehow correlated the moon, um with heaven. So you know, we said there in heaven, she'll go outside and talk to the moon, because that's where she thinks, uh, you know, kelly and her brother are. And of course, you know, within that that year time frame too. You know, I end up losing my service dog.
Speaker 5:Uh, like two months after we lost kelly, no, and then, uh, you know, five months later we lose kelly's dog. So she's been uh really resilient um in this, um, in this past. You know, 13 months, everything that's uh gone. So as far as me, um, watching her get through all this, you know I don't say make it makes it easier for me, but uh, I guess I don't wanna say easy, but it helps me process everything as well, cause I got a four year old girl that knows that there's four family members not coming home and she, uh, she still gets up and runs around and laughs, and you, know, everything like that.
Speaker 5:So that's she's my motivation.
Speaker 1:Yes, for sure, you know. You talk about, uh, being able to see Kelly on these podcasts. I actually, when I was doing some research and watching some YouTubes, I watched a podcast with her and Travis and I'm not sure the other guy that was in in the room, travis must know him really well Uh, he was giving him a hard time and it was. It was pretty comical, but just just to watch that and that's what I was thinking and that's is, you know, hey, you're going to be able to go back and she's going to be able to see her mom and see the type of person that she was. And that's really one of the big motivating factors for us to start this podcast.
Speaker 1:Because I had two grandfathers who were in World War II and I don't really know a whole lot about them. I don't really know a whole lot about their story Going through the war. My, my grandpa, schmidt, was a um. He was part of the flying tigers battalion. He was an aircraft mechanic for them. Um, I'm sure he's got some unreal stories, you know, but he passed away when I was in fourth grade and um, so for me, when we decided to do this podcast, it was like you know what. What's going to be kind of cool is my grandkids, my great grandkids, whoever down the road, are going to be able to look back and see what their grandpa or great grandpa was like, and and same thing for you, you know, um, and for everybody that we have on there.
Speaker 1:You can. You can see what the kind of person they were and they can tell their story. It's documented. You can see the emotion, um, and the pain and and, and the smiles, you know, and I I think it's just a, it's a. It's a cool thing that that you know. Podcasts and videos and just just the um. The world that we're in right now is is a unique thing for kids down the road. That you know you and.
Speaker 1:I are essentially the same age.
Speaker 5:We didn't have that growing up, you know we don't.
Speaker 1:we don't have it, unless you got an old VHS tape of somebody made um beta. Yeah, yeah, so closing this thing out, yeah, it's been awesome, but I want to ask you a question. We like to end these, um ask you is there any quote? Is there a Bible verse? Is there a motto, anything that you, you live by on a daily basis, you know when things are tough. Is there something that you'd fall back on and you say you know, this is the, I know your daughter, this is what keeps you going? But is there any quotes that you can leave our listeners?
Speaker 5:I've always kind of look at you know, just kind of just lead by example, I mean, uh, you know life isn't about, you know, flow charts or pats on the backs or you know things like that. It's. You know it's helping somebody find that path for them to strive for greatness. And if you can be a motivator for someone I've always been that person that you should be fighting for the person's job that's above you, not in a mean way, but that's what you should strive to do as a leader. You have the responsibility if you're as a leader, you have the responsibility if you're if you're being late being a leader, to ensure that you put that individual on the path for success.
Speaker 5:Um, and that's that's kind of why I've looked at life forever. You know it's like I said, it's not about flow charts or getting the patch on the backs. It's about, you know, putting somebody on that path to lead to greatness. And that's kind of. That's kind of how I've always led my life, as far as you know, trying to be a better person, um, to ensure somebody else can be better than me.
Speaker 1:Great advice, chris. I mean you're, you're an amazing man. You've been through some some things that, uh, you know are just unbelievable, but you, you continue to persevere, you continue to be a leader. Um, I again thank you for your service. I thank you for you know all that you do to this day. I know the Travis Mills foundation and we're going to interview Heather here in a little bit for the next episode and she'll get kind of get more into the details of what the foundation does, um, and it's just an awesome thing. It's an awesome thing for me to learn about Um and it's just an awesome thing. It's an awesome thing for me to learn about um and and to hear your story. So, uh, super thankful for you taking the time to to come and be on the be tempered podcast.
Speaker 5:No, I know, Thank you. I appreciate you guys having me, Like I told you on the phone, I mean it's good for individuals like yourself to to this stuff. So we continue to spread the word, um know, because anymore today everything seems like it's by social media. Kind of like us, we don't pay for advertising, that's all word of mouth. So people like yourself that do these types of podcasts, you know, help us reach out to that community that we need to get in there and help. So thank you guys for doing what you do.
Speaker 1:For sure, for sure. If somebody wants to find you, how can they find you on social media?
Speaker 5:Uh, hit me up on Facebook or Instagram or what's the other one threads and of course I'm on. I'm on X, I mean, yeah, just type the old, the old name in there, chris Roseberry, and I'm on there. Um, leave a note, and especially if you listen to this podcast, and I'll hit you back.
Speaker 1:Awesome man. Well again, thank you, I'll grab my email.
Speaker 5:If it's a veteran or someone needs to reach out and wants to know about the foundation, just it's chris at travismillsfoundationorg. So by all means, throw it out there to your viewers and if they need something from us, we'll do what we can, whether it's for the foundation or if they just need guidance or other outlets that they may need help with, you know, send them to us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure, and we'll put all those links and socials and everything up on the website and it'll be on the YouTube and all that good stuff. So, man, thank you again for your time and for sharing your story. And you know, just keep doing what you're doing. You're a good man.
Speaker 5:No, absolutely. Thank you guys very much. I appreciate your time. All right, thanks, chris, take care. All right guys.
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