January 2, 2024 • 42 mins
In our Season One finale, The Good Stuff host, Jacob Schick, takes a deep dive into his own story. Jake shares with us the details of that fateful day in Iraq when his life was forever changed.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Welcome to the Good Stuff. I'm Jacob Shick and I'm
joined by my co host and wife, Ashley Shick.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Jake is a third generation combat Marine and I'm a
gold Star granddaughter. We work together to serve military veterans,
first responders, frontline healthcare workers, and their families with mental
and emotional wellness through traditional and non traditional therapy. At
One Tribe Foundation, we believe everyone has.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
A story to tell, not only about the peaks, but
also the valleys they've been through to get them to
where they are today.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Each week, we invite a guest to tell us their story,
to share with us the lessons they've learned that shaped
who they are and what they're doing to pay it
forward and give back.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Our mission with this show is to dig deep in
our guest journey so that we can celebrate the hope
and inspiration their story has to offer.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
We are thrilled you're joining us again.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Welcome to the Good Stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Welcome to our season one finale. Thank you so much
for listening over the last thirty episodes. We are truly
grateful for your support and hope. This podcast has provided
inspiration and hope for each of you, like it has
for us, thanks for making this show what it is
and what it's growing into, and for those of you
that have been listening all along and learning about the
two of us over the course of season one. We
(01:28):
wanted to bring the podcast full circle an end where
we started with our own story.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I strongly second everything Ash said, because without you, guys,
there is no show. And really we're coming full circle
because today our guest is me telling my version of
the story of when I was severely injured while serving
this country. I do a lot of public speaking, and
this is a story I've told many many times, but
(01:53):
this recording is different because it's intimate. It's to my wife,
just two of us in a room, and I am
going to dig deep to go back to that day
in that place and remember it just the way I
remember it every single day, but on a much deeper level,
because I think that that's only fair because of what
our guest has given us, I think I owe it
(02:15):
to all of you to do the same.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
With that said, Jacob Schick, welcome to the season one
finale of The Good Stuff. Today we're going to hear
about the day you were injured while serving our country
in Iraq. Nearly twenty years ago. At the time, you
were twenty two years old on your first deployment in
the Sunni Triangle of Iraq.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
It was September twentieth, two thousand and four, about five am,
and I'm the leader of the reacting Reacting is very
similar to the QRF, which means quick Reaction Force. And
what happens is we get called when there's a threat
in IRIB operation that needs to be neutralized. And I
(03:00):
was sitting in the hum V next to Doc because
it was his turn to be on watch, and I
was debriefing with Doc about this high stress situation that
we just had with the Iraqi National Guard, and I
was still very much coming off my adrenaline high and
the guys had already betted down inside the tent. Once
(03:22):
that adrenaline dump wears off, Like you just knows dive,
there's always just super high highs and super low low
so there's very little in between. And so I remember
when I walked into the tent, you know, that's where
I find my moment of solace and sit down on
my cot trying to be quiet because I know the
guys need sleep. I kick the boots off, which is
(03:45):
like taking a deep breath, laying in your bed at
the end of a long day, knowing, Okay, whatever my
abnormal baseline is, I can get to it right now,
even for a minute. And I laid down on my
cot and within fifteen minutes a react got called, and
I remember just feeling bad for the guys because I
(04:06):
knew that everybody was tired and hungry, getting thirsty and miserable.
I just remember smiling because I was like, you know,
Murphy's law, it's just never ending. So I get up
and I put my boots on. I wake all the
guys up. And the way we do it is not
by rubbing their backs and whispering sweet nothing's in their ear.
(04:26):
You know, It's just not the way we do it
in the Marine Corps. And I got everybody up and
told them we got to react and get moving.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
And I know you've told me before. A react is
basically a response by your unit to a threat in
your area of operation.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
All the guys are rustling and growing and mumbling, and
as they should. We were exhausted. Everybody was exhausted. We
were tired. We weren't physically beaten up, but we were
pretty emotionally exhausted. The moment I breached the outside of
the tent, I felt it, and I knew we were
(05:03):
going to get hit.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Where did that feeling come from?
Speaker 1 (05:07):
I believe that that was a combination of God and
my grandfather talking to me from beyond the grave. And
I felt that it was so real and so convicting
that I knew whatever I feel from this point forward,
no matter what happens, I have to listen to it,
which is my gut. I remember stopping for a moment
(05:30):
and having a lot of nervousness come over me, and
I looked to my right and all nine of the
other Marines and the REACT team were walking to the
two humbies to get ready to go on this react.
I remember seeing a couple of them dragging their flack
jackets and having their boots unlaced, and because it was
(05:54):
just it's so the antithesis of what people think of,
most likely when they think of them.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Corps, right, because Marines are always so buttoned up and
squared away.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I remember looking at him and I felt this overwhelming
sense of love and respect for him, and I just
remember thinking to myself, like I am so freaking it
honored that those are my brothers. Right after that, I
look to my left and I see my commanding officers
HUMBE and I knew he had a bomb blanket and
(06:27):
somebody somewhere God my grandfather told me to go get
that bomb blanket.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
And a bomb blanket is that one more layer of
protection that you need in your vehicle should you get hit.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
So I went and opened the passenger door of his
HUMV and I take the bomb blanket out, and I
start walking to the two vehicles and I go to
the lead vehicle. The driver was in the driver's seat
and I told him scoot over. I got it. And
he looked at me. He's like, no, bro, I got it.
And I said, I'm not asking you, you know, kind
(07:00):
of irritated him because we were very close and I'd
never really given a direct order. And I remember he's
scooted over the passer seat known as the ay driver.
And I go to the reach back to the back
and grab the radio from radio man. It's between five
and six in the morning, it's like right before sun up.
(07:24):
And I remember telling the guys button up your shatter
proof goggles, your keV lar, your helmet and at this point.
I knew that the guys knew that something wasn't right.
I mean, when it's one hundred and thirty degrees and
you're wearing a ninety pound combat load, you don't need
help being uncomfortable. And they knew that I had a
(07:49):
feeling about something. And I remember getting in the driver's
seat after I put the bomb blanket down, and I
have the radio in my right hand because something told
me drive with your left, talk with your right, and
I punched it. And by the time we go around
(08:09):
this turn and I'm talking with the watchtower, we called
the react. It was trying to get us on target.
We're trying to walk us on target. And I knew
that I had to take this road because there was
one way in and one way out of this area
in do Live, Iraq. I just have to sail on
this road until I can make a turn to get
(08:30):
off the road and off the tracks to make a
beeline to wherever the thread is. And I came over
this hill. There was at least a twenty or thirty
meter area that was soft sand on this one road.
The rest of it was like compact, so compact it
was as hard as cement, but this one area that
(08:52):
was part of a dried up waddy or a dried
up riverbed had soft sand.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Why is soft sand dangerous?
Speaker 1 (09:00):
The thing is when you see the soft sand off
of a hard compact surface, you know that if there
is an a media threat in the form of a
bomb or an ied and provides a supposed device, it's
going to be there. Within hitting that soft sand, it
was maybe maybe two seconds and the front left tire
(09:23):
may contact the pressure plate. The way this works is
it was a triple stacked anti tank mine. The pressure
plate goes down and the lights of fuse and the
bombs go off, and that made the front left tire.
Once it made contact, it blew directly beneath me. So
(09:54):
many things happen before I'm ejected out of the hum V.
The firewall on the humbe folded so that broke my
right foot. A piece of shrapnel or a piece of
the hum vy went through the bottom of my left
arm that I was driving with and came out the top.
(10:17):
Then the steering wheel and the dashboard disengaged and hit
me in my chest, which is on the front of
our flat jackets is where we wear all of our magazines,
where we keep all of our AMMO for quick and
easy access, which made all my magazines explode, and it
also broke every one of my rips. In this process,
I had a piece of shrapnel go through the right
(10:37):
lens of my goggles. Then I was ejected. I was
blown thirty feet to the top of the humbe because
we operated in two door, soft top humb's, And I
remember being in the air knowing this is very, very bad.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Leave you remember all of these details on something that
happened in the blink of an eye, as if it
was in slow motion. We left you off, with you
literally mid air. After the explosion, I.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Ended up landing ways away from the reacting and I
stuck the landing with my head because I'm a marine
and we believe in good form. My ears were just
ringing and ringing, and it was just so loud, and
I smelt smoke fire. All the sand was still this
(11:35):
huge cloud. Because the sand is so fine, it's like
baby powder fine that it takes forever when there's an
explosion or even when you're driving for it to settle,
And it's not like dust on a dirt road, which
settles fairly quickly. I mean this stuff just it's like
it floats in the air. And so I still couldn't
see where the vehicles were, and I couldn't figure out
(11:58):
where I was. But then my age driver started yelling
check Chick, and I remember trying to immediately make my
way back to the lead vehicle, and I was going
towards the sound of his voice. And so I started
pulling myself with my right arm, and I was trying
(12:19):
to move my whole body and the only thing that
would function or even move was my right arm. So
as I'm pulling, I realized I don't have a weapon,
and so I start to move my left arm, which
was just flopping around, and I knew it was broken.
I didn't even have to look, but I was waiting
for my arm to hit metal at the rail system
(12:42):
of my sixteen, and I couldn't find it. And then
I looked down and I could see with my left
eye of it, I wasn't going anywhere. I was just
scooping sand. The whole time I'm hearing shack Hick. This
crush my soul is when he broke military protocol and
(13:04):
he just yelled my first name, and he just yelled Jacob,
and it was this blood curdling scream of desperosity just
to have any sign of me, because I'm sure when
he looks in the passenger seat and all these seas
(13:26):
or my rounds from my magazines and my blood, but
no me. I remember when he did that, and it
broke my heart. I couldn't get to him, and I
was trying hard, and it just crushed me because I
loved him so much and I wanted him to know, like,
hey man, I'm okay, and too, like stop yelling, because
(13:50):
you're making us a target. Stop yelling.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Why what were you afraid of?
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I didn't know if we were going to take on
small arms fire. I didn't know if there was going
to be a second attack. I didn't know. So at
that point, I realized, I'm not gonna be able to
get to where he is, and I need to do
a self assessment. And I remember looking down at my
left leg and starting my self assessment to see what
kind of aid I can render myself if I'm even
(14:16):
able to do that, and I saw my phibia, my tibia,
sticking out of my left leg, and my left leg
was wrapped around itself and my foot was inverted and
turned upside down. My boot was blown off, my combat boot,
and I remember thinking when I saw that two things.
One that's not supposed to be like that, and two
this was a significant amount of force to be able
(14:38):
to blow my combat boot off of my foot and
not take my foot with it. And I remember looking
at my right leg, which looked normal, and it hurt
like hell, and I knew it was broken, but it
looked normal. I worked my way up and got to
my left arm and saw daylight through my left arm.
(15:00):
It blew out five inches on out of my left arm,
my own the bone, and then part of my left hand,
probably gonna lose the left leg, lose the left arm.
And then I look at my right arm and I
just see s trapping, the wounds, a couple of minor burns.
I couldn't see my own face, but I felt trapping
alver my face and my chin and my neck, so
(15:21):
I knew I was really wounded. At this point, I
still hadn't taken a breath when I got hit by
the steering wheel and just collapsed my lungs. I wasn't
able to breathe laying there after my self assessment, and
I just remember telling God, all I ask is that
you don't take me in front of my brothers. Because
(15:41):
I knew I was dying. This was most likely going
to be my last day on the planet, and so
my hyper focus became not dying in front of my brothers.
And the deal I made with God was, as soon
as the bird gets here and those kids leave the deck,
I'm all yours. All I ask of you is to
(16:04):
not allow my family to watch me die. And I
became hyper focused on staying alive for as long as
that took. Little did I know it was going to
take as long as it did. But I was able
to really focus on that and dig into something that
I knew I had but I rarely had to tap into.
(16:26):
At which point I could hear a couple of the
guys coming up, and the majority of them are standing
around me, and you know, we got you, Shike, we
got you, brother, and I looked up and the first
thing I said, up, grace of God, I was able
to take a breath, and the first thing I said
was developed through sixty, which means set up a security perimeter.
(16:48):
And I remember the look on their faces like oh,
oh yeah, and I was like, yeah, we're at war,
and I don't feel like all of us getting shot.
Was you looking at me? Set up the three sixty,
several of them went up, set up the security perimmer.
A few of them picked me up and took me
to the second Humby that was not didn't take any
(17:09):
damage because at this point the pain didn't necessarily set
in yet. But I knew it was coming. And by
the time they got me in the vehicle in the
back of the second Humbye to take me to the
command post, and it started setting in. The more painful
it it became, the angrier I got. And I remember,
(17:29):
they get me to the command post and Doc straight
they're ready to go, ready to work on me. And
it was one of those moments that were surreal because
I was I felt like just minutes ago, I was
sitting with them and we were just talking and I
was trying to come down off this adrill on high
(17:50):
and yet here he is just straight up in work
mode and he's talking to me and I'm just yelling
at him. You hit me, Doc, hit me with the morphine,
and he did, and he hit me twice and that's
the only time he would hit me. And it was
putting a needle in your thigh and releasing some morphine
into you. And I was pissed because he had only
(18:14):
hit me twice and I knew he had more. And
I'm yelling at this guy who I love and I
respect and calling him a stingy bastard. At this point,
I'm in fight mode, fighting for my own life. You
had this other marine that was with Doc, that did
this additional training to help Doc with these situations where
he had a little more know how when it came
(18:35):
to providing medical care to the Marines and to the enemy,
which we did. This particular marine he stepped on my
left leg and obviously was an accident. He didn't mean
to do. It really pissed me off. The complete antithesis
of politely asking him to go away is what I
told him, And I remember him getting emotional, and I
(18:59):
remember that pissing me off more. And so if you
haven't picked up on it yet, anger is a very
high octane fuel for me that I've learned to utilize
over the years to help get me through the valleys
to the peak. And I've used it as a motivator
and a lot of bad but also in a lot
(19:19):
more good and I remember hearing my tuning commander given
talking over the net or the radio to our battalion
back at the base and alasade I distinctly remember him saying,
We've got to get the spreen out of here. He's
category four and he's rapidly approaching category five. Category four
means urg a surgery, Category five meaning expectant not going
(19:44):
to make it. And I knew he was right because
every minute that passed I felt life leaving my body,
and I knew I've just got to keep fighting, got
to keep fighting. And I was very, very very grateful
to be in the back of that hume Bee in
my right arm. It is just another reason I know
(20:05):
God's real because it wouldn't have worked if it was
my left. It had to be my right, my right arm.
Other than burns and shouting, the wounds to work fine,
I was able to hold my right hand up in
the back of this humb Every marine that I needed
to talk to, I got to talk to him and
hold their right hand and tell them how much I
(20:28):
love them and I respected them, and that they had
so much to do with me being the marine that
I am. And I remember telling the guys even the
guys that didn't want to look at me, and I
remember yelling at him to look at me and to
take a good look at me, because this is what
they want to do, and you have to fight forward,
(20:50):
you have to fight for me. I'm out of the fight.
And I remember when the guys were telling me, this
is your bird home, brother, it's your bird home, Jake.
Every time they said her to piss me off, because
I was home. Wherever they were was my home. That's
my family, and I to this day feel that way
(21:13):
strongly that they're my family.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
In that moment, what was it like to spend that
final bit of time with your family in your home.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
I remember, after talking to the guys and the marine
Bravado going out the door and just being completely vulnerable
and leading with love in this moment, because it was
I had already made peace with the fact that as
soon as I get on that bird, you know I'm done,
as that was a deal I may with God, and
(21:44):
I'm a manimal word. And I remember I'd had enough
of havingough being poked and prodded and bandaged up and
unbandaged and bandaged up, and yelling why don't I hear
rhotors again. Every second the past, I got a little
weaker and a little weaker and a little weaker, and
(22:04):
I was starting to worry that I wasn't going to
be able to make it to the bird. I was
so hyper focused and convicted and not dying in front
of them because I didn't want them the last thing
to see if me was my dead body, because I
love them and respect them too much for that, and
that's not how I want them to remember me. I
(22:26):
wanted them to remember me fighting and going out like
a gladiator like I am, and that's why I was
so convicted in it, and I didn't want to do
that to him. The last thing you ever want to
do is let one of them down. And I finally
remember hearing the roads of the helicopter and landing, and
they're carrying me to the bird. Right before the guys
(22:46):
loaded me, you know, Doc was having to put bandages
on me and then take them off and put them
on me because I was bleeding through these bandages. When
they were loading me on the bird, the rotor wash
from the black Hawk blew up the bandages, and the
sand being so fine, blewe into all my wounds. Like
I can't believe it just got worse, which is why
one of the sayings that I love to say is
(23:08):
that physical pain reminds you you're a live but mental
pain will test your will to stay that way. And
I'll never forget when Michael Toon Sargeant, I respected the
shit out of He called me Jack London because my
grandfather is Jack London chick, and uncle is Jacq London
shit jinner, and I guess Jake's is not that cool
of a name, so he called me Jack London all
(23:29):
the time. Got on the bird, he was the last
one on, and he kissed me on my forehead and
he was trying not to cry, and he said, we'll
see you's soon, Jack London, and I knew he was lying.
Remember when he got off the bird, look out to
(23:50):
my left and I see the guys looking up. And
that was the hardest part of all of it. I
was leaving then, what's clear I still struggle with So.
I mean, I felt this abundance of guilt about that.
That didn't leave me for a very long time. At
that point, I started to feel like I was hanging
(24:12):
on him by a thread and got the attention on
one of the litter crew. Here's this young kid. I'll
never forget how young he looked, which is not saying
a lot, because of jeurias of us over there were kids,
but I mean this kid, it was like he had
never even taken a razor to his face, and he
looked that young. And I remember him avoiding me like
(24:33):
the flag, almost like my near death was gonna rub
off on him. And I don't blame him at all
for that. I mean, until you've been in that situation,
you can't possibly understand it. But I got his attention
on my right hand. To his credit, he did not
hesitate coming over to me, and he leaned over me
and he pulled his left headset over his left ear,
(24:55):
pulled it off back behind his left ear, and put
his left ear right over my mouth. And he got
right up next to me, and I yelled, how long,
put it back over his ear, and he read it
up front of the captain, and he came back and
he yelled in my right ear, and he yelled twelve mics,
which means twelve minutes. And I remember thinking to myself,
(25:19):
you can do twelve more minutes. And I immediately talked
to guy again and I said, hey, big man, I'm
gonna have to renig on that original verbal agreement because
I think I got twelve more minutes in me as
if I had a choice. You know, it's not. I
don't think for the most part, it's up to us
when we get to make the call. But I remember
(25:42):
leaving the guys and looking down and seeing them, and
my will to fight to stay alive was all but
gone because I had already accepted this is it and
I was going out exactly the way I wanted to
go out as a warrior. But then here in twelve minutes,
(26:02):
I was like, how far can I push this thing?
Speaker 2 (26:11):
You talk about the hardest part of that day was
saying goodbye to your brothers. That's a bond that so
many people don't experience. What is that bond to you? Then?
And still eighteen years later.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Where I learned that there was nothing special about my
pain and suffering was a Marine Corps because regardless of
what I was going through, all I had to do
was look to my left and my right is they
were going through the same thing. There's not many people
you get to meet in life that would take a
bullet for you without hesitation. And the fact that I
(26:47):
know dozens and dozens and dozens at eighteen years later,
zero hesitation would die so I could live. You can't
put that into words.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
People just assume you tell your story and it's easy,
but it's never easy. I can see you go back
to that day you relive it. Why did you start
telling the story in the.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
First place, great question, And it was because my grandmother
told me to to a rotary club. It was the
first time I had to tell it, and because no
one tells their grandparents, no, And I remember I told
this story to a room full of people that were
forty or fifty years my senior. And it was horrible.
(27:32):
And I was still on drugs and it was all
I could do was think, think about getting high, and
I knew it was horrible, and I was sweating grenades
and I was so nervous. And I remember walking out
of the side door of this clubhouse area where her
rotary club was, and I remember walking out and I
(27:52):
went to go light a cigarette, and she walked out
and she put her hand on me and she said,
how do you feel. I looked at her and I
said lighter, and she said good. That was the point
and walked away, and I was like.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Okay, MEMI knows best.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
She's smarter than I am or ever will be.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Meme, he knows best. Married to a World War two warrior,
Talk to me about scars.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
The ones that are the most important to who you
are aren't visible, and you know to me, I've had
guys tell me like, I'm envious of your prosthetic and
your left leg and left arm because it's obvious, it's
obvious you were hurt. You can't see my scars, and
years and years and years ago, I used to take
(28:39):
offense because it's like, how dare you have no idea
what I've been through physically? But obviously, with time and
maturity and wisdom, I totally understand where they're coming from.
And I agree, I completely agree. It's the scars you
can't see that are the most debilitating your well being
if you let them be. People need to understand that
(29:00):
seeing is not always believing, and that's why you can't
judge a book by its cover, because none of us
know what we don't know. And it's like I tell
the tribe all the time, and treat everybody you meet
as if they have a broken heart, because you never
know love and be loved. That's it.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
You're one of the strongest people I know physically, and
there's so many words that are warrior esque that can
describe you and who you are. Talk to me about
mental strength.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
It's your beginning, your middle, and your end. You know,
the physicality is not always going to be there. If
people get hurt or injured, accidents happen, and those can
be repaired. It's like I had to have my right
foot cut off and now, you know, to be amputated
two or three more times, and now I have a prosthetic,
but it's a tool. There is no prosthetic for the brain.
(29:53):
You have the one you have. That's it. That happens
to be connected to your heart, which is connected to
your soul. And the brain is the most powerful weapon
any of us will ever possess. And I've done a
lot of work to make sure that mine can function
and operate at the highest ability that's even possible, especially
(30:15):
for someone who's diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and push
my e stress and for me, mental strength will carry
someone so much further than physical strength. And it's something
that I started working on as a little kid because
I had to. The only downfall to it is that
(30:35):
it can also be your worst asset, because stubbornness and
pride can take control of you and do a lot
of damage. And I've got a track record of that too.
I'm a firm believer in truly believing in who you
are and being comfortable inside your skin, regardless of what
(30:56):
it looks like or doesn't look like, because every breath
is a gift. That mental strength is going to carry
you through a lot of times that you wouldn't fathom
you would go through. But that's why you need to
be so convicted in who you are and why I've
done so much work to be convicted and who I
(31:16):
am and understand that I'm a moratal human being, just
like everybody else that was given a second shot. I'm
by no means perfect, but I'm going to fight like
hell until i can't fight like hell?
Speaker 2 (31:30):
What do you do to relax? Recharge?
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Not enough?
Speaker 2 (31:35):
That's true for all of us.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Though, right, Yeah, A lot of times I hear I'm
doing my best, and I'm like, are you explain that
to me?
Speaker 2 (31:41):
I've heard you say that to me about.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
I know, but it's like you when I hear that, yeah,
we're not meant to be one hundred miles an hour
all the time, and we're not meant we need to
slow down and be present and just listen. Listen to
the wind, be out in nature, watch a sunset, be
(32:05):
grateful for that because it is It is the small
things that we take for granted that ultimately, when you
do not have them, you realize how much you've missed
out on. And I learned that. I mean, I was
in the hospital for a long time and I didn't
see sunsets, and I didn't get to talk to people
(32:27):
I love all the time, and I didn't get to
know if my guys were okay, and I didn't get
to know if I was going to make it through
this twenty hour operation or this surgery or that surgery.
And so I mean, attitude of gratitude is easy to say,
you know, and it's catchy and it rhymes, but unless
(32:47):
it's something you put into practice every day, it's really
hard to grasp out of thin air. And so for me,
I find a relaxation and recharging is being with my family.
I mean being with you and the boys, my brothers,
and my nephew, my niece and yours and your family,
(33:10):
driving around a ranch and being out in nature, or
it's being present at a ballgame or just watching sports,
not allowing the societal noise to pierce that moment. Is
I find that to be very therapeutic to me. It's
I got a marine buddy that you know tells me
(33:34):
is like, I've Jacob, never met a human being like
you that you find therapy in every single thing you do.
I was forced to. I mean, I was so angry
for so long and so bitter for so long that
it was like, I need to stop wasting time. And
it's it's still a struggle.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
We all have, you know, our good days and our
bad days, and some days it's easier than others. But yeah,
time is our most precious commodity. We have to do
the best with what we've got and what we've got left.
Thinking back, is there one individual or organization that's made
a big impact on your life? I mean, I'm laughing
even asking you the question, because I know there's so many.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
But yeah, it's an ongoing list. It's longer than probably
everybody else's list. I mean, yeah, just thinking back to
my childhood, even it's my grandmother played such a pivotal
role and me understanding what it means to be an American,
(34:34):
instilling that in me at such a young age and
teaching me and showing me things that most four and
five year olds don't get to see because it's too much.
And I'm so grateful for that because she explained to
me the real world. She didn't put me in a
protective bubble and take the notion of what you know,
(34:54):
he'll figure it out when he figures it out. No,
she's the one that taught me to be the father
that I and you know, my father was didn't really
ride us growing up, and he would give his sound
advice and you listener, you don't. Then a lot of
the time we didn't. Then the world patched us in
the mouth, and then we learned. I mean so many
(35:17):
teachers that put up with my shit for so long,
and just so many coaches and even athletic trainers and
even friends' parents. And there's just such a long list
that if I named one, it would do so many
an injustice. I am where I am because of a
(35:40):
countless number of people and organizations, to include the Marine Corps,
because the hospital and VAMPSI or Samsea and San Antonio
and even March Air Force Base. My commanding officer that
medically retired me, such an inspirational human being, and he's
just a Marine's my first order, I mean, my gun.
(36:03):
I could just go on and on and on and on,
and just so many people that just their presence by
default makes you want to be a better human. And
I'm just fortunate in that fact that I know a
lot of those people, and I mean some that are
well known and some that aren't that are all equally
important to me.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
Yes, So my last question that you know, we agreed
we wanted to ask everyone we interviewed on the good stuff,
what feeds your soul?
Speaker 1 (36:33):
You the boys, the fact that I know I'm fundamentally flawed,
and then not only do I want to be better,
I need to be better for y'all and fighting like
hell to get to whatever that end goal is because
(36:56):
I know that I need to be at my best
if I'm gonna truly affect We help people, help people
who help people, and so on and so forth. I
mean that that's what feeds my soul and gives me
conviction to be better tomorrow than I was today, because
it's there's no subtle point, there's no point of like, Okay,
(37:18):
I'm good ever till I die, you know, as you know,
like I'm gonna I have an innate ability to push
people to the n degree because just like I tell you,
even when I feel like I can't give any more,
I know there's a lot more to give.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
And I think that's so important that we continue to
tap into it. Right, It's an everyday thing. It's not
a one time thing like you always teach me. This
is an ongoing evolution.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Yeah, of growing will die, eternal students.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
Of life exactly. I love you, I appreciate you. I'm
so grateful for you having the courage to tell this story,
to dig so deep and of this day, but also
for all of the work that you've done since.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
Then.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Clearly your story didn't end that day on the battlefield,
because you're here still fighting like hell to make this world,
make this country, make your family, make yourself better. And
I think it's such a beautiful thing. I'm so honored
and grateful to be your life partner.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
You're worth it, bid then you know we're worth it,
and everybody's worth it. It's an honor to do this
crazy thing called life with you, you know, because it's God.
It's just such a it's such a rarity to be
able to live with conviction and pure openness and to
(38:49):
be able to find victory and your vulnerability while refusing
to be oscious to your pride. I mean, it is
is demanding because you have to have you have to
let go of the fear of ridicule and judgment placed
in those categorical boxes so you can be defined. You know,
iron sharpens iron. So thank you.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
Absolutely, all boats rise right. Thank you for being a
guest on your own podcast. I know you didn't want to,
but I mean, I think it's important for people to
know our why, and our why is because of what
we've been through, what we've lived through, and how we
lean in every day and try to focus on gratitude
because it doesn't matter the person standing in front of you.
(39:33):
They've got a story. Everyone has a story.
Speaker 1 (39:37):
I think it's important for people to know two that
it's not that I didn't want to, because clearly I
do this all over the world. It's like I told
you this, it's not about me, you know, but I
do want people to understand this isn't for attention or
for people to know our name, or this is for
(39:58):
people to get a perspective to help them make it
through that valley in order to get to that peak
and understand that they're a myriad of modalities that you
can utilize on a daily basis to help you. If
you just wake up and just survive, that's okay. You're
not going to thrive every day that's your goal. But
(40:22):
if sometimes you just survive, that's okay. And that's the
point is that sometimes you just need a fresh perspective
to take the next.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
Step exactly, get busy getting better or just get busy.
Jacob Shick, thank you so much for being on the
Good Stuff.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
Ashley Shick, thank you for being on the Good Stuff.
As we wrapped this thirtieth episode of The Good Stuff,
we want to say a heartfelt thank you. Thank you
for listening, thank you for all the emails and reviews,
and for sharing with us how much this show has touched.
Speaker 2 (41:00):
Thank you to each of our guests who dug so
deep and shared with us their scars and let us
celebrate their victories. From our incredible producer, Nick Cassolini, From
Jacob and myself, thank you so much for listening. If
this episode touched you, please share it and be part
of making someone else's day better.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
Put on your bad ass capes and go be great today,
and remember you can't do epic stuff without epic people.
Thank you for listening to Season one of the Good Stuff.
The Good Stuff is executive produced by Ashley Schick, Jacob Schick,
Leah Pictures, and q Code Media, Hosted by Ashley Shick
(41:41):
and Jacob Shick, Produced by Nick Cassolini and Ryan Countshouse.
Post production Supervisor Will Tindy. Music by Will Tindy, sound
effects by Eric Aaron
Welcome to the Good Stuff. I'm Jacob Shick and I'm
joined by my co host and wife, Ashley Shick.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Jake is a third generation combat Marine and I'm a
gold Star granddaughter. We work together to serve military veterans,
first responders, frontline healthcare workers, and their families with mental
and emotional wellness through traditional and non traditional therapy. At
One Tribe Foundation, we believe everyone has.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
A story to tell, not only about the peaks, but
also the valleys they've been through to get them to
where they are today.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Each week, we invite a guest to tell us their story,
to share with us the lessons they've learned that shaped
who they are and what they're doing to pay it
forward and give back.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Our mission with this show is to dig deep in
our guest journey so that we can celebrate the hope
and inspiration their story has to offer.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
We are thrilled you're joining us again.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Welcome to the Good Stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Welcome to our season one finale. Thank you so much
for listening over the last thirty episodes. We are truly
grateful for your support and hope. This podcast has provided
inspiration and hope for each of you, like it has
for us, thanks for making this show what it is
and what it's growing into, and for those of you
that have been listening all along and learning about the
two of us over the course of season one. We
(01:28):
wanted to bring the podcast full circle an end where
we started with our own story.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I strongly second everything Ash said, because without you, guys,
there is no show. And really we're coming full circle
because today our guest is me telling my version of
the story of when I was severely injured while serving
this country. I do a lot of public speaking, and
this is a story I've told many many times, but
(01:53):
this recording is different because it's intimate. It's to my wife,
just two of us in a room, and I am
going to dig deep to go back to that day
in that place and remember it just the way I
remember it every single day, but on a much deeper level,
because I think that that's only fair because of what
our guest has given us, I think I owe it
(02:15):
to all of you to do the same.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
With that said, Jacob Schick, welcome to the season one
finale of The Good Stuff. Today we're going to hear
about the day you were injured while serving our country
in Iraq. Nearly twenty years ago. At the time, you
were twenty two years old on your first deployment in
the Sunni Triangle of Iraq.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
It was September twentieth, two thousand and four, about five am,
and I'm the leader of the reacting Reacting is very
similar to the QRF, which means quick Reaction Force. And
what happens is we get called when there's a threat
in IRIB operation that needs to be neutralized. And I
(03:00):
was sitting in the hum V next to Doc because
it was his turn to be on watch, and I
was debriefing with Doc about this high stress situation that
we just had with the Iraqi National Guard, and I
was still very much coming off my adrenaline high and
the guys had already betted down inside the tent. Once
(03:22):
that adrenaline dump wears off, Like you just knows dive,
there's always just super high highs and super low low
so there's very little in between. And so I remember
when I walked into the tent, you know, that's where
I find my moment of solace and sit down on
my cot trying to be quiet because I know the
guys need sleep. I kick the boots off, which is
(03:45):
like taking a deep breath, laying in your bed at
the end of a long day, knowing, Okay, whatever my
abnormal baseline is, I can get to it right now,
even for a minute. And I laid down on my
cot and within fifteen minutes a react got called, and
I remember just feeling bad for the guys because I
(04:06):
knew that everybody was tired and hungry, getting thirsty and miserable.
I just remember smiling because I was like, you know,
Murphy's law, it's just never ending. So I get up
and I put my boots on. I wake all the
guys up. And the way we do it is not
by rubbing their backs and whispering sweet nothing's in their ear.
(04:26):
You know, It's just not the way we do it
in the Marine Corps. And I got everybody up and
told them we got to react and get moving.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
And I know you've told me before. A react is
basically a response by your unit to a threat in
your area of operation.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
All the guys are rustling and growing and mumbling, and
as they should. We were exhausted. Everybody was exhausted. We
were tired. We weren't physically beaten up, but we were
pretty emotionally exhausted. The moment I breached the outside of
the tent, I felt it, and I knew we were
(05:03):
going to get hit.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Where did that feeling come from?
Speaker 1 (05:07):
I believe that that was a combination of God and
my grandfather talking to me from beyond the grave. And
I felt that it was so real and so convicting
that I knew whatever I feel from this point forward,
no matter what happens, I have to listen to it,
which is my gut. I remember stopping for a moment
(05:30):
and having a lot of nervousness come over me, and
I looked to my right and all nine of the
other Marines and the REACT team were walking to the
two humbies to get ready to go on this react.
I remember seeing a couple of them dragging their flack
jackets and having their boots unlaced, and because it was
(05:54):
just it's so the antithesis of what people think of,
most likely when they think of them.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Corps, right, because Marines are always so buttoned up and
squared away.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I remember looking at him and I felt this overwhelming
sense of love and respect for him, and I just
remember thinking to myself, like I am so freaking it
honored that those are my brothers. Right after that, I
look to my left and I see my commanding officers
HUMBE and I knew he had a bomb blanket and
(06:27):
somebody somewhere God my grandfather told me to go get
that bomb blanket.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
And a bomb blanket is that one more layer of
protection that you need in your vehicle should you get hit.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
So I went and opened the passenger door of his
HUMV and I take the bomb blanket out, and I
start walking to the two vehicles and I go to
the lead vehicle. The driver was in the driver's seat
and I told him scoot over. I got it. And
he looked at me. He's like, no, bro, I got it.
And I said, I'm not asking you, you know, kind
(07:00):
of irritated him because we were very close and I'd
never really given a direct order. And I remember he's
scooted over the passer seat known as the ay driver.
And I go to the reach back to the back
and grab the radio from radio man. It's between five
and six in the morning, it's like right before sun up.
(07:24):
And I remember telling the guys button up your shatter
proof goggles, your keV lar, your helmet and at this point.
I knew that the guys knew that something wasn't right.
I mean, when it's one hundred and thirty degrees and
you're wearing a ninety pound combat load, you don't need
help being uncomfortable. And they knew that I had a
(07:49):
feeling about something. And I remember getting in the driver's
seat after I put the bomb blanket down, and I
have the radio in my right hand because something told
me drive with your left, talk with your right, and
I punched it. And by the time we go around
(08:09):
this turn and I'm talking with the watchtower, we called
the react. It was trying to get us on target.
We're trying to walk us on target. And I knew
that I had to take this road because there was
one way in and one way out of this area
in do Live, Iraq. I just have to sail on
this road until I can make a turn to get
(08:30):
off the road and off the tracks to make a
beeline to wherever the thread is. And I came over
this hill. There was at least a twenty or thirty
meter area that was soft sand on this one road.
The rest of it was like compact, so compact it
was as hard as cement, but this one area that
(08:52):
was part of a dried up waddy or a dried
up riverbed had soft sand.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Why is soft sand dangerous?
Speaker 1 (09:00):
The thing is when you see the soft sand off
of a hard compact surface, you know that if there
is an a media threat in the form of a
bomb or an ied and provides a supposed device, it's
going to be there. Within hitting that soft sand, it
was maybe maybe two seconds and the front left tire
(09:23):
may contact the pressure plate. The way this works is
it was a triple stacked anti tank mine. The pressure
plate goes down and the lights of fuse and the
bombs go off, and that made the front left tire.
Once it made contact, it blew directly beneath me. So
(09:54):
many things happen before I'm ejected out of the hum V.
The firewall on the humbe folded so that broke my
right foot. A piece of shrapnel or a piece of
the hum vy went through the bottom of my left
arm that I was driving with and came out the top.
(10:17):
Then the steering wheel and the dashboard disengaged and hit
me in my chest, which is on the front of
our flat jackets is where we wear all of our magazines,
where we keep all of our AMMO for quick and
easy access, which made all my magazines explode, and it
also broke every one of my rips. In this process,
I had a piece of shrapnel go through the right
(10:37):
lens of my goggles. Then I was ejected. I was
blown thirty feet to the top of the humbe because
we operated in two door, soft top humb's, And I
remember being in the air knowing this is very, very bad.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Leave you remember all of these details on something that
happened in the blink of an eye, as if it
was in slow motion. We left you off, with you
literally mid air. After the explosion, I.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Ended up landing ways away from the reacting and I
stuck the landing with my head because I'm a marine
and we believe in good form. My ears were just
ringing and ringing, and it was just so loud, and
I smelt smoke fire. All the sand was still this
(11:35):
huge cloud. Because the sand is so fine, it's like
baby powder fine that it takes forever when there's an
explosion or even when you're driving for it to settle,
And it's not like dust on a dirt road, which
settles fairly quickly. I mean this stuff just it's like
it floats in the air. And so I still couldn't
see where the vehicles were, and I couldn't figure out
(11:58):
where I was. But then my age driver started yelling
check Chick, and I remember trying to immediately make my
way back to the lead vehicle, and I was going
towards the sound of his voice. And so I started
pulling myself with my right arm, and I was trying
(12:19):
to move my whole body and the only thing that
would function or even move was my right arm. So
as I'm pulling, I realized I don't have a weapon,
and so I start to move my left arm, which
was just flopping around, and I knew it was broken.
I didn't even have to look, but I was waiting
for my arm to hit metal at the rail system
(12:42):
of my sixteen, and I couldn't find it. And then
I looked down and I could see with my left
eye of it, I wasn't going anywhere. I was just
scooping sand. The whole time I'm hearing shack Hick. This
crush my soul is when he broke military protocol and
(13:04):
he just yelled my first name, and he just yelled Jacob,
and it was this blood curdling scream of desperosity just
to have any sign of me, because I'm sure when
he looks in the passenger seat and all these seas
(13:26):
or my rounds from my magazines and my blood, but
no me. I remember when he did that, and it
broke my heart. I couldn't get to him, and I
was trying hard, and it just crushed me because I
loved him so much and I wanted him to know, like,
hey man, I'm okay, and too, like stop yelling, because
(13:50):
you're making us a target. Stop yelling.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Why what were you afraid of?
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I didn't know if we were going to take on
small arms fire. I didn't know if there was going
to be a second attack. I didn't know. So at
that point, I realized, I'm not gonna be able to
get to where he is, and I need to do
a self assessment. And I remember looking down at my
left leg and starting my self assessment to see what
kind of aid I can render myself if I'm even
(14:16):
able to do that, and I saw my phibia, my tibia,
sticking out of my left leg, and my left leg
was wrapped around itself and my foot was inverted and
turned upside down. My boot was blown off, my combat boot,
and I remember thinking when I saw that two things.
One that's not supposed to be like that, and two
this was a significant amount of force to be able
(14:38):
to blow my combat boot off of my foot and
not take my foot with it. And I remember looking
at my right leg, which looked normal, and it hurt
like hell, and I knew it was broken, but it
looked normal. I worked my way up and got to
my left arm and saw daylight through my left arm.
(15:00):
It blew out five inches on out of my left arm,
my own the bone, and then part of my left hand,
probably gonna lose the left leg, lose the left arm.
And then I look at my right arm and I
just see s trapping, the wounds, a couple of minor burns.
I couldn't see my own face, but I felt trapping
alver my face and my chin and my neck, so
(15:21):
I knew I was really wounded. At this point, I
still hadn't taken a breath when I got hit by
the steering wheel and just collapsed my lungs. I wasn't
able to breathe laying there after my self assessment, and
I just remember telling God, all I ask is that
you don't take me in front of my brothers. Because
(15:41):
I knew I was dying. This was most likely going
to be my last day on the planet, and so
my hyper focus became not dying in front of my brothers.
And the deal I made with God was, as soon
as the bird gets here and those kids leave the deck,
I'm all yours. All I ask of you is to
(16:04):
not allow my family to watch me die. And I
became hyper focused on staying alive for as long as
that took. Little did I know it was going to
take as long as it did. But I was able
to really focus on that and dig into something that
I knew I had but I rarely had to tap into.
(16:26):
At which point I could hear a couple of the
guys coming up, and the majority of them are standing
around me, and you know, we got you, Shike, we
got you, brother, and I looked up and the first
thing I said, up, grace of God, I was able
to take a breath, and the first thing I said
was developed through sixty, which means set up a security perimeter.
(16:48):
And I remember the look on their faces like oh,
oh yeah, and I was like, yeah, we're at war,
and I don't feel like all of us getting shot.
Was you looking at me? Set up the three sixty,
several of them went up, set up the security perimmer.
A few of them picked me up and took me
to the second Humby that was not didn't take any
(17:09):
damage because at this point the pain didn't necessarily set
in yet. But I knew it was coming. And by
the time they got me in the vehicle in the
back of the second Humbye to take me to the
command post, and it started setting in. The more painful
it it became, the angrier I got. And I remember,
(17:29):
they get me to the command post and Doc straight
they're ready to go, ready to work on me. And
it was one of those moments that were surreal because
I was I felt like just minutes ago, I was
sitting with them and we were just talking and I
was trying to come down off this adrill on high
(17:50):
and yet here he is just straight up in work
mode and he's talking to me and I'm just yelling
at him. You hit me, Doc, hit me with the morphine,
and he did, and he hit me twice and that's
the only time he would hit me. And it was
putting a needle in your thigh and releasing some morphine
into you. And I was pissed because he had only
(18:14):
hit me twice and I knew he had more. And
I'm yelling at this guy who I love and I
respect and calling him a stingy bastard. At this point,
I'm in fight mode, fighting for my own life. You
had this other marine that was with Doc, that did
this additional training to help Doc with these situations where
he had a little more know how when it came
(18:35):
to providing medical care to the Marines and to the enemy,
which we did. This particular marine he stepped on my
left leg and obviously was an accident. He didn't mean
to do. It really pissed me off. The complete antithesis
of politely asking him to go away is what I
told him, And I remember him getting emotional, and I
(18:59):
remember that pissing me off more. And so if you
haven't picked up on it yet, anger is a very
high octane fuel for me that I've learned to utilize
over the years to help get me through the valleys
to the peak. And I've used it as a motivator
and a lot of bad but also in a lot
(19:19):
more good and I remember hearing my tuning commander given
talking over the net or the radio to our battalion
back at the base and alasade I distinctly remember him saying,
We've got to get the spreen out of here. He's
category four and he's rapidly approaching category five. Category four
means urg a surgery, Category five meaning expectant not going
(19:44):
to make it. And I knew he was right because
every minute that passed I felt life leaving my body,
and I knew I've just got to keep fighting, got
to keep fighting. And I was very, very very grateful
to be in the back of that hume Bee in
my right arm. It is just another reason I know
(20:05):
God's real because it wouldn't have worked if it was
my left. It had to be my right, my right arm.
Other than burns and shouting, the wounds to work fine,
I was able to hold my right hand up in
the back of this humb Every marine that I needed
to talk to, I got to talk to him and
hold their right hand and tell them how much I
(20:28):
love them and I respected them, and that they had
so much to do with me being the marine that
I am. And I remember telling the guys even the
guys that didn't want to look at me, and I
remember yelling at him to look at me and to
take a good look at me, because this is what
they want to do, and you have to fight forward,
(20:50):
you have to fight for me. I'm out of the fight.
And I remember when the guys were telling me, this
is your bird home, brother, it's your bird home, Jake.
Every time they said her to piss me off, because
I was home. Wherever they were was my home. That's
my family, and I to this day feel that way
(21:13):
strongly that they're my family.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
In that moment, what was it like to spend that
final bit of time with your family in your home.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
I remember, after talking to the guys and the marine
Bravado going out the door and just being completely vulnerable
and leading with love in this moment, because it was
I had already made peace with the fact that as
soon as I get on that bird, you know I'm done,
as that was a deal I may with God, and
(21:44):
I'm a manimal word. And I remember I'd had enough
of havingough being poked and prodded and bandaged up and
unbandaged and bandaged up, and yelling why don't I hear
rhotors again. Every second the past, I got a little
weaker and a little weaker and a little weaker, and
(22:04):
I was starting to worry that I wasn't going to
be able to make it to the bird. I was
so hyper focused and convicted and not dying in front
of them because I didn't want them the last thing
to see if me was my dead body, because I
love them and respect them too much for that, and
that's not how I want them to remember me. I
(22:26):
wanted them to remember me fighting and going out like
a gladiator like I am, and that's why I was
so convicted in it, and I didn't want to do
that to him. The last thing you ever want to
do is let one of them down. And I finally
remember hearing the roads of the helicopter and landing, and
they're carrying me to the bird. Right before the guys
(22:46):
loaded me, you know, Doc was having to put bandages
on me and then take them off and put them
on me because I was bleeding through these bandages. When
they were loading me on the bird, the rotor wash
from the black Hawk blew up the bandages, and the
sand being so fine, blewe into all my wounds. Like
I can't believe it just got worse, which is why
one of the sayings that I love to say is
(23:08):
that physical pain reminds you you're a live but mental
pain will test your will to stay that way. And
I'll never forget when Michael Toon Sargeant, I respected the
shit out of He called me Jack London because my
grandfather is Jack London chick, and uncle is Jacq London
shit jinner, and I guess Jake's is not that cool
of a name, so he called me Jack London all
(23:29):
the time. Got on the bird, he was the last
one on, and he kissed me on my forehead and
he was trying not to cry, and he said, we'll
see you's soon, Jack London, and I knew he was lying.
Remember when he got off the bird, look out to
(23:50):
my left and I see the guys looking up. And
that was the hardest part of all of it. I
was leaving then, what's clear I still struggle with So.
I mean, I felt this abundance of guilt about that.
That didn't leave me for a very long time. At
that point, I started to feel like I was hanging
(24:12):
on him by a thread and got the attention on
one of the litter crew. Here's this young kid. I'll
never forget how young he looked, which is not saying
a lot, because of jeurias of us over there were kids,
but I mean this kid, it was like he had
never even taken a razor to his face, and he
looked that young. And I remember him avoiding me like
(24:33):
the flag, almost like my near death was gonna rub
off on him. And I don't blame him at all
for that. I mean, until you've been in that situation,
you can't possibly understand it. But I got his attention
on my right hand. To his credit, he did not
hesitate coming over to me, and he leaned over me
and he pulled his left headset over his left ear,
(24:55):
pulled it off back behind his left ear, and put
his left ear right over my mouth. And he got
right up next to me, and I yelled, how long,
put it back over his ear, and he read it
up front of the captain, and he came back and
he yelled in my right ear, and he yelled twelve mics,
which means twelve minutes. And I remember thinking to myself,
(25:19):
you can do twelve more minutes. And I immediately talked
to guy again and I said, hey, big man, I'm
gonna have to renig on that original verbal agreement because
I think I got twelve more minutes in me as
if I had a choice. You know, it's not. I
don't think for the most part, it's up to us
when we get to make the call. But I remember
(25:42):
leaving the guys and looking down and seeing them, and
my will to fight to stay alive was all but
gone because I had already accepted this is it and
I was going out exactly the way I wanted to
go out as a warrior. But then here in twelve minutes,
(26:02):
I was like, how far can I push this thing?
Speaker 2 (26:11):
You talk about the hardest part of that day was
saying goodbye to your brothers. That's a bond that so
many people don't experience. What is that bond to you? Then?
And still eighteen years later.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Where I learned that there was nothing special about my
pain and suffering was a Marine Corps because regardless of
what I was going through, all I had to do
was look to my left and my right is they
were going through the same thing. There's not many people
you get to meet in life that would take a
bullet for you without hesitation. And the fact that I
(26:47):
know dozens and dozens and dozens at eighteen years later,
zero hesitation would die so I could live. You can't
put that into words.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
People just assume you tell your story and it's easy,
but it's never easy. I can see you go back
to that day you relive it. Why did you start
telling the story in the.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
First place, great question, And it was because my grandmother
told me to to a rotary club. It was the
first time I had to tell it, and because no
one tells their grandparents, no, And I remember I told
this story to a room full of people that were
forty or fifty years my senior. And it was horrible.
(27:32):
And I was still on drugs and it was all
I could do was think, think about getting high, and
I knew it was horrible, and I was sweating grenades
and I was so nervous. And I remember walking out
of the side door of this clubhouse area where her
rotary club was, and I remember walking out and I
(27:52):
went to go light a cigarette, and she walked out
and she put her hand on me and she said,
how do you feel. I looked at her and I
said lighter, and she said good. That was the point
and walked away, and I was like.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Okay, MEMI knows best.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
She's smarter than I am or ever will be.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Meme, he knows best. Married to a World War two warrior,
Talk to me about scars.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
The ones that are the most important to who you
are aren't visible, and you know to me, I've had
guys tell me like, I'm envious of your prosthetic and
your left leg and left arm because it's obvious, it's
obvious you were hurt. You can't see my scars, and
years and years and years ago, I used to take
(28:39):
offense because it's like, how dare you have no idea
what I've been through physically? But obviously, with time and
maturity and wisdom, I totally understand where they're coming from.
And I agree, I completely agree. It's the scars you
can't see that are the most debilitating your well being
if you let them be. People need to understand that
(29:00):
seeing is not always believing, and that's why you can't
judge a book by its cover, because none of us
know what we don't know. And it's like I tell
the tribe all the time, and treat everybody you meet
as if they have a broken heart, because you never
know love and be loved. That's it.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
You're one of the strongest people I know physically, and
there's so many words that are warrior esque that can
describe you and who you are. Talk to me about
mental strength.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
It's your beginning, your middle, and your end. You know,
the physicality is not always going to be there. If
people get hurt or injured, accidents happen, and those can
be repaired. It's like I had to have my right
foot cut off and now, you know, to be amputated
two or three more times, and now I have a prosthetic,
but it's a tool. There is no prosthetic for the brain.
(29:53):
You have the one you have. That's it. That happens
to be connected to your heart, which is connected to
your soul. And the brain is the most powerful weapon
any of us will ever possess. And I've done a
lot of work to make sure that mine can function
and operate at the highest ability that's even possible, especially
(30:15):
for someone who's diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and push
my e stress and for me, mental strength will carry
someone so much further than physical strength. And it's something
that I started working on as a little kid because
I had to. The only downfall to it is that
(30:35):
it can also be your worst asset, because stubbornness and
pride can take control of you and do a lot
of damage. And I've got a track record of that too.
I'm a firm believer in truly believing in who you
are and being comfortable inside your skin, regardless of what
(30:56):
it looks like or doesn't look like, because every breath
is a gift. That mental strength is going to carry
you through a lot of times that you wouldn't fathom
you would go through. But that's why you need to
be so convicted in who you are and why I've
done so much work to be convicted and who I
(31:16):
am and understand that I'm a moratal human being, just
like everybody else that was given a second shot. I'm
by no means perfect, but I'm going to fight like
hell until i can't fight like hell?
Speaker 2 (31:30):
What do you do to relax? Recharge?
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Not enough?
Speaker 2 (31:35):
That's true for all of us.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Though, right, Yeah, A lot of times I hear I'm
doing my best, and I'm like, are you explain that
to me?
Speaker 2 (31:41):
I've heard you say that to me about.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
I know, but it's like you when I hear that, yeah,
we're not meant to be one hundred miles an hour
all the time, and we're not meant we need to
slow down and be present and just listen. Listen to
the wind, be out in nature, watch a sunset, be
(32:05):
grateful for that because it is It is the small
things that we take for granted that ultimately, when you
do not have them, you realize how much you've missed
out on. And I learned that. I mean, I was
in the hospital for a long time and I didn't
see sunsets, and I didn't get to talk to people
(32:27):
I love all the time, and I didn't get to
know if my guys were okay, and I didn't get
to know if I was going to make it through
this twenty hour operation or this surgery or that surgery.
And so I mean, attitude of gratitude is easy to say,
you know, and it's catchy and it rhymes, but unless
(32:47):
it's something you put into practice every day, it's really
hard to grasp out of thin air. And so for me,
I find a relaxation and recharging is being with my family.
I mean being with you and the boys, my brothers,
and my nephew, my niece and yours and your family,
(33:10):
driving around a ranch and being out in nature, or
it's being present at a ballgame or just watching sports,
not allowing the societal noise to pierce that moment. Is
I find that to be very therapeutic to me. It's
I got a marine buddy that you know tells me
(33:34):
is like, I've Jacob, never met a human being like
you that you find therapy in every single thing you do.
I was forced to. I mean, I was so angry
for so long and so bitter for so long that
it was like, I need to stop wasting time. And
it's it's still a struggle.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
We all have, you know, our good days and our
bad days, and some days it's easier than others. But yeah,
time is our most precious commodity. We have to do
the best with what we've got and what we've got left.
Thinking back, is there one individual or organization that's made
a big impact on your life? I mean, I'm laughing
even asking you the question, because I know there's so many.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
But yeah, it's an ongoing list. It's longer than probably
everybody else's list. I mean, yeah, just thinking back to
my childhood, even it's my grandmother played such a pivotal
role and me understanding what it means to be an American,
(34:34):
instilling that in me at such a young age and
teaching me and showing me things that most four and
five year olds don't get to see because it's too much.
And I'm so grateful for that because she explained to
me the real world. She didn't put me in a
protective bubble and take the notion of what you know,
(34:54):
he'll figure it out when he figures it out. No,
she's the one that taught me to be the father
that I and you know, my father was didn't really
ride us growing up, and he would give his sound
advice and you listener, you don't. Then a lot of
the time we didn't. Then the world patched us in
the mouth, and then we learned. I mean so many
(35:17):
teachers that put up with my shit for so long,
and just so many coaches and even athletic trainers and
even friends' parents. And there's just such a long list
that if I named one, it would do so many
an injustice. I am where I am because of a
(35:40):
countless number of people and organizations, to include the Marine Corps,
because the hospital and VAMPSI or Samsea and San Antonio
and even March Air Force Base. My commanding officer that
medically retired me, such an inspirational human being, and he's
just a Marine's my first order, I mean, my gun.
(36:03):
I could just go on and on and on and on,
and just so many people that just their presence by
default makes you want to be a better human. And
I'm just fortunate in that fact that I know a
lot of those people, and I mean some that are
well known and some that aren't that are all equally
important to me.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
Yes, So my last question that you know, we agreed
we wanted to ask everyone we interviewed on the good stuff,
what feeds your soul?
Speaker 1 (36:33):
You the boys, the fact that I know I'm fundamentally flawed,
and then not only do I want to be better,
I need to be better for y'all and fighting like
hell to get to whatever that end goal is because
(36:56):
I know that I need to be at my best
if I'm gonna truly affect We help people, help people
who help people, and so on and so forth. I
mean that that's what feeds my soul and gives me
conviction to be better tomorrow than I was today, because
it's there's no subtle point, there's no point of like, Okay,
(37:18):
I'm good ever till I die, you know, as you know,
like I'm gonna I have an innate ability to push
people to the n degree because just like I tell you,
even when I feel like I can't give any more,
I know there's a lot more to give.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
And I think that's so important that we continue to
tap into it. Right, It's an everyday thing. It's not
a one time thing like you always teach me. This
is an ongoing evolution.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Yeah, of growing will die, eternal students.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
Of life exactly. I love you, I appreciate you. I'm
so grateful for you having the courage to tell this story,
to dig so deep and of this day, but also
for all of the work that you've done since.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
Then.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Clearly your story didn't end that day on the battlefield,
because you're here still fighting like hell to make this world,
make this country, make your family, make yourself better. And
I think it's such a beautiful thing. I'm so honored
and grateful to be your life partner.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
You're worth it, bid then you know we're worth it,
and everybody's worth it. It's an honor to do this
crazy thing called life with you, you know, because it's God.
It's just such a it's such a rarity to be
able to live with conviction and pure openness and to
(38:49):
be able to find victory and your vulnerability while refusing
to be oscious to your pride. I mean, it is
is demanding because you have to have you have to
let go of the fear of ridicule and judgment placed
in those categorical boxes so you can be defined. You know,
iron sharpens iron. So thank you.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
Absolutely, all boats rise right. Thank you for being a
guest on your own podcast. I know you didn't want to,
but I mean, I think it's important for people to
know our why, and our why is because of what
we've been through, what we've lived through, and how we
lean in every day and try to focus on gratitude
because it doesn't matter the person standing in front of you.
(39:33):
They've got a story. Everyone has a story.
Speaker 1 (39:37):
I think it's important for people to know two that
it's not that I didn't want to, because clearly I
do this all over the world. It's like I told
you this, it's not about me, you know, but I
do want people to understand this isn't for attention or
for people to know our name, or this is for
(39:58):
people to get a perspective to help them make it
through that valley in order to get to that peak
and understand that they're a myriad of modalities that you
can utilize on a daily basis to help you. If
you just wake up and just survive, that's okay. You're
not going to thrive every day that's your goal. But
(40:22):
if sometimes you just survive, that's okay. And that's the
point is that sometimes you just need a fresh perspective
to take the next.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
Step exactly, get busy getting better or just get busy.
Jacob Shick, thank you so much for being on the
Good Stuff.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
Ashley Shick, thank you for being on the Good Stuff.
As we wrapped this thirtieth episode of The Good Stuff,
we want to say a heartfelt thank you. Thank you
for listening, thank you for all the emails and reviews,
and for sharing with us how much this show has touched.
Speaker 2 (41:00):
Thank you to each of our guests who dug so
deep and shared with us their scars and let us
celebrate their victories. From our incredible producer, Nick Cassolini, From
Jacob and myself, thank you so much for listening. If
this episode touched you, please share it and be part
of making someone else's day better.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
Put on your bad ass capes and go be great today,
and remember you can't do epic stuff without epic people.
Thank you for listening to Season one of the Good Stuff.
The Good Stuff is executive produced by Ashley Schick, Jacob Schick,
Leah Pictures, and q Code Media, Hosted by Ashley Shick
(41:41):
and Jacob Shick, Produced by Nick Cassolini and Ryan Countshouse.
Post production Supervisor Will Tindy. Music by Will Tindy, sound
effects by Eric Aaron
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