July 9, 2025 • 48 mins
Kelly Elmlinger was a three-sport athlete in high school. She excelled in cross country, basketball, and track. After considering military service, she decided to keep playing sports at the next level, but she quickly decided college was not for her. That's when she joined the Army and became a combat medic, eventually with the 82nd Airborne Division, serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Later, she became a nurse and then a cancer patient herself. Yet even after losing a leg, Elmlinger persevered and represented the U.S. at the Paralympic Games just a few years later.
In this edition of Veterans Chronicles Elmlinger shares how the 9/11 attacks changed the trajectory of her military service and how her combat medic training suddenly became much more real. She also describes her service in Afghanistan, meeting and connecting with the Afghan women, and what the Afghan men thought about her.
Then she explains how different and how much harder the same job was in Iraq, why there was often little combat medics could do to help, and the painstaking efforts she and her teammates took to to find some personal effect to present to the families of every fallen service member.
Elmlinger then recounts her decision to become a nurse and work with wounded veterans in San Antonio and how that work helped to prepare her to be a patient there as she battled cancer in her leg. And finally, she updates us on how she became an elite adaptive sports athlete - representing the U.S. at the 2021 Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo. And she'll do it again this summer in Paris!
In this edition of Veterans Chronicles Elmlinger shares how the 9/11 attacks changed the trajectory of her military service and how her combat medic training suddenly became much more real. She also describes her service in Afghanistan, meeting and connecting with the Afghan women, and what the Afghan men thought about her.
Then she explains how different and how much harder the same job was in Iraq, why there was often little combat medics could do to help, and the painstaking efforts she and her teammates took to to find some personal effect to present to the families of every fallen service member.
Elmlinger then recounts her decision to become a nurse and work with wounded veterans in San Antonio and how that work helped to prepare her to be a patient there as she battled cancer in her leg. And finally, she updates us on how she became an elite adaptive sports athlete - representing the U.S. at the 2021 Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo. And she'll do it again this summer in Paris!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Welcome to Veterans' Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in
this edition is retired US Army Captain Kelly Elmlinger. She
served as a combat medic the eighty second Airborne Division
in Iraq, and she achieved jump master status in the
eighty second Airborne. She also spent time caring for wounded warriors,
(00:32):
and that experience perhaps provided an excellent background for when
she became one herself as a result of cancer in
her leg. She is now a Paralympian and as a
great inspiration to many who know her story. And Kelly,
thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Where
were you born and raised?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
I was born and raised outside of Cleveland, Ohio.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Was there a history of military service in your family?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
There were some. My grandfather who I never met, he
had served, and I heard quite a few stories regarding that.
But I just had kind of an affinity after seeing
a lot of the Desert Storm, and I feel like
that was the first time for me there was a
lot of live action, you know, with the military, and
(01:19):
it really just kind of captured some spirit, I think,
just some interest. And then when it came time for
high school, I actually had a few cousins towards the
end of high school who had gotten out of the military,
and both of them were females. Both of them were
were successful, and I just felt like, if they can
do it, I can too. And then you combine that with,
(01:41):
you know, that the captiveness of Desert Storm, and it's
where the story went.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
What agere are you during Desert Storm? At you?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Or so?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
I was eleven or twelve, So it was, you know,
on like that cusp of the you know, inspirational kind
of just really just kind of left a mark, you know,
in me for the next like several years of like
that was patriotism, that was bravery, that was courage. It
was also physical and it also seemed like that's something
(02:12):
that I would do.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
So you joined the US Army, the eighty second Airborne
in nineteen ninety eight. What method did you use to
join the service?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
So I actually went to college for a year. I
got a little cold feet, thinking I can't live my
life without sports. So I back to when the military
went to college and I realized this was not for me.
So I showed up at the recruiter's office and I
just said, I'm dropping everything. I'm going in. So I
went in as enlisted. I initially went to school college
(02:42):
for law enforcement, but I just said I want something
completely different. And again, my few cousins that were in,
one of them was a medic, and I just saw
a lot of the job offers and I said, I
think that would be good. I like helping people. I'm
a fixer, you know, nurturer, and it just seemed like
that was something that I wanted to give a try,
and it was a great fit for me.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
What sport did you initially pursue before you joined that?
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So I was a three sport athlete. I ran cross country,
played basketball, and also ran track in high school and college.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
You could sign up to be a combat medic or
did they steer you in that direction or how did
that work?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
No, they tried to steer me in a bunch of
different directions other than being a medic. But I was
pretty set on having something completely different other than law enforcement,
which is what they really wanted me to be in
because I started that you know, collegiate kind of background
with that, I just wanted something completely different. Nothing against
law enforcement, but I just think that time in my life,
(03:38):
it just it wasn't a good fit for me, and
I felt like I wanted to clean slate. So I
went to the MEP station on a number of occasions,
and I left on a number of occasions because I said,
until I get what I want, I'm not going to
sign up. Eventually they gave in.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Once you finally did Were you signed to the eighty
second right away or did that come later?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Not right away? I did not have Airborne in my orders,
so I was fortunate to have some leadership that I
spoke with had a good track history with, you know,
being physically fit, and they said, hey, we think we
can do some things, and they sent me to Fort Bragg.
I volunteered for airborne school at that point, and that's
(04:19):
when I was able to go to airborne school. And
then it came back and went to eighty second because
at the time when I was there at Fort Bragg,
eighty second Airborne Division only took paratroopers. Once nine to
eleven happened and we had a few deployments, then you know,
of course they need soldiers to fill those slots, so
then it was a little bit more than just airborne qualified.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
What was jump school? Like?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I loved it that, I mean that's the kind of
stuff that just gets me going. I you know, I'm
an adrenaline junkie, but not necessarily. You know, it doesn't
have to be jumping out of airplanes or you know,
some people think of like riding motorcycles and skydiving and
things like that. I just anything that's just fun, it's new,
(05:03):
mentally engaging. It was just one of those things where
I'm like, yes, like I cannot wait to do this.
And of course at the time, there's not a lot
of females. I don't really play a big emphasis on
like males or females. But also it's nice to be
a representative of, you know, a gender that just didn't
have a lot of paratroopers.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
So when you made that first jump, was there anything
particularly you remember going through your mind.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
I was actually my first jump. I was the first jumper,
So I don't know exactly what had going in my
mind other than the fact that being able to see
outside the door and just being an aircraft and know
that I'm about to jump out, you know, over top
all that, it was kind of a surreal moment, but
it was also very exciting. I don't recall a whole
(05:51):
lot after that other than the fact that I was
ready to go do it again.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
That's what I keep hearing from everybody that loves skydiving,
is the radio opens, you can't wait to do it.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
B Yeah, So you mentioned.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Nine to eleven. Where were you that day and how
did you hear the news and how did it change
what you were doing?
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Sure? So nine to eleven, I was at the aid
station and had to take some packets to the hospital
because I was a liaison for our eye surgery. I
was getting ready to go drop off some packets to
the hospital. In between leaving the aid station and getting
to the hospital, which was maybe about ten minute drive,
that's I think when a lot of things started unfolding
(06:28):
in terms of the news being pushed out, in getting
a grasp of what's happening. I wasn't able to go
into the hospital because they had barricaded everything. They couldn't
really tell me why other than the fact that dude said,
you need to go back to your unit. So I
went back to the unit and even trying to get
in your own parking lot, you know, they were like, no,
we have to see IDs all this other stuff, and
I'm like, something big has happened. I don't know what
(06:52):
there were cell phones, but you know, obviously we didn't
have internet on the cell phones. Once I got back in,
we were pretty much all around in our kind of
conference room that we had and that's why I had
a television, and I just knew at that moment, like
our lives were, they were changed, and being part of
(07:16):
the eighty second Airborne Division, you knew that it was
our time was going to come sooner than later. And
I think looking around that room and seeing my brothers
and sisters, it's just kind of being fearful that if
we go somewhere, are we all going to come home?
(07:36):
And of course extreme amounts of sadness for what was
unfolding in New York City, because it's everyday people go
into their job and you have something as devastating and
catastrophic as that, and then you see all these healthcare workers,
fire department, police, all these individuals that are trained to
(07:59):
go save walking into what we now know is, you know,
even more disaster, hopelessness, but a lot of a lot
of heartbreak. I mean, of course there's some fear because
that's what we signed up to do. I wasn't fearful
of deploying. I was just fearful of not coming home
(08:21):
with all my friends.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
How did it change what your assignment was in the
short term.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
I mean, we went from jumps and airborne operations kind
of being our big scale field, that kind of environment
that those were the things that we planned for, we
executed on, and now we're getting ready for deployment. We
(08:50):
talk about real world, but I think until like the
real world actually happens, you don't know what that's like,
so you know, when you're inventoring supplies and things like that.
Not that we let like big things slide, because again
there's still operations that we need to be prepared for.
(09:11):
But it just came to a whole nother level of
we cannot mess this up. So I think details, you know, details,
And it was just a lot of kind of anxiety
on my part because at the time, you know, I
was the one that was in charge, So it was
more of like need to get this right because we
(09:32):
can't go over there and not be right. Just again,
you don't know what you're walking into. So quite a
bit of anxiety on that. But I just think the
preparation level and the mindfulness of it was at a
much higher degree.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I mean a little bit about your combat medic training.
Obviously post nine to eleven, that's a much more real
expertise you're going to need most likely. So what did
it consists of? What were you specific they trained to
do in combat?
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I actually feel like we were pretty fortunate. So we
had several providers, three for doctors that they all kind
of have their own different like skill sets, but they
helped us out in terms of being able to criike individuals,
which is, you know, essentially making an incision in someone's
(10:22):
throat and being able to put a tube down throat
in case there's so much mouth trauma and you need
to give some sort of airway, chest tubes, a lot
of things that you would typically see in the emergency room.
Obviously did a lot of stuff with tourniquets and just
kind of talking through situations. Uh, there's a little bit
(10:44):
more now where you have you know, training with kind
of like the moolage and you have you know, the
the plastic mannequins that they can bleed now you know
they can kind of give feedback. We didn't have all that,
so ended up being you know a lot more like
one on one talking through situations. Obviously, you know, we
(11:07):
we did as much as we could what was available
at that time. So I think that's what it was,
was just a lot more as most realistic training that
we could get. You know, we were able to do
a few things with some cadavers. Obviously, go out and
practice on some goats, cause that's kind of, you know,
a big thing at the time. That was the closest
to you know, a live hidden a visual.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
But the goats cooperate, and.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
They co operated enough. There you okay enough. I mean
I think it went from we took care. We you know,
we did sit call in the morning, so if you
had a cold, if a lot of people have, you know,
problems with toenails, fingernails, and you got to take those out,
and you know, every now and then you got to
give an IV because someone's dehydrated. So it kind of
(11:56):
went from like your your sit call clinic cold and
call type too. We have a transition to saving lives.
And it's not that we abandoned the colden cough, but
you know, the emphasis really kind of went to saving lives.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
It seems like the role has expanded. We've talked with
World War Two and Korean medics and basically you're doing
tourniquets and morphine pretty much at that time. Sounds like, yeah,
the job was much more involved by the.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Time you were absolutely, and I don't I mean, obviously
the time has changed between World War Two, Vietnam and
you know, leading up to I mean even Desert Storm
and then leading up to you know, post nine eleven.
But I think the basics of probably how everybody approached
their job in terms of the medical field was probably
pretty similar.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
That's retired US Army Captain Kelly Elmlinger, who served as
a combat medic with the eighty second Airborne Division. Up next,
Captain Elmlinger shares her story of service in Afghanistan, and
later on we'll hear how things were much different in
our plus her battle with cancer and becoming a paralympian.
(13:05):
I'm Greg Corumbus and this is Veterans Chronicles Sixty Seconds
of Service.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
This sixty Seconds of Service is presented by T Mobile.
T Mobile offers exclusive discounts for a veteran and military
families and are proud supporters of the National Defense Network.
Visit tmobile dot com slash military to learn more about
how they support our military community from Bimidgi, Minnesota. After
one hundred years, the Bamidgi Chapter of Disabled American Veterans
is still serving the community, going out on cold mornings
(13:33):
and collecting donations that help veterans in need and their families.
Founded in nineteen twenty four as the seventh chapter in
the state, the organization's presence is most visible through its
drop off boxes, bright green metal containers that can be
found outside of grocery stores and on street corners that
collect donations of clothes, shoes, and household items. Twice a
(13:54):
week in the early hours of the morning. Members of
the DAV often veterans themselves, collect the items and bring
them back to the chapter's headquarters on the edge of town,
where they are met by another team of volunteers. For
more great veteran stories, just go to National Defense Network
dot com.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
This is Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in
this edition is retired US Army captain and combat medic
Kelly Elmlinger. Still to come, we'll hear all about Elmlinger's
very difficult service in Iraq, and then she will share
her battle with cancer in her leg the difficult but
liberating decision to amputate that leg, and how she quickly
(14:32):
became an elite adaptive sports athlete and paralympian. But first,
Kelly Elmlinger goes to war in Afghanistan and she explains
to us what life was like for her there, what
she found most rewarding about the deployment, and how the
locals there viewed a woman in her role.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Fairly shortly after nine to eleven, that's when the Hunt
and First they were actually activated for us, and then
we tag teamed out with them. I was with the
Aviation Unit, part of eighty second Aviation, So when we
got to Afghanistan, there was a lot of the Hunter
First there and we kind of shadowed them for a
(15:14):
little bit in terms of the medics, the crew chiefs,
the pilots. So we were there early two thousand and two,
and I would to say about four or five months
prior to that, so you know, I would say early. Actually,
I'm sorry, we were there late two thousand and two.
So early two thousand and two is when we found
out that we were going to go Afghanistan. I mean,
(15:35):
looking back on it, it's hard to compare Afghanistan and Iraq.
I mean, Iraq was extremely traumatic in terms of the
things that we took care of. It wasn't that Afghanistan
wasn't It was just a mission was a lot different.
The terrain was a lot different. I think it was
more individuals and a lot of times the individuals in
(15:57):
terms of enemy it was hard for them to kind
of mount some of the attacks that they did in
comparison to what happened in Iraq. We did a lot
of flying, so we accompanied a lot of the infantry units,
so there's a chinook fole of ent treatment. We'd always
make sure we had a medic on there, and a
lot of times it was flying to whatever mountaintop and
(16:19):
kind of letting them off, and a lot of times
in the mountaintops there's not a lot of other individuals
up there. Of course, you had the occasional ID that
would come through, but quite honestly, we saw a lot
more you know, local nationals, and a lot of them
was accidents or they would come across an ID and
you know, they lost a limb or you know, some
of the children were you know, had some traumatic amputations.
(16:42):
So we end up helping them out quite a bit.
Did a lot of kind of like peacekeeping. So being
the only female actually went out and we did a
lot of kind of like community work. So they would
gather all the females, there was a female translate, and
then I would sit with them and that was like
(17:04):
I enjoyed Afghanistan for that is, being able to sit
down and talk to them, and just like they were.
They wanted to touch my hair, They wanted to see
how my hair was, they wanted to touch my clothes.
They were just so interested in how I, as a
female in America, was considered way more of an equal
(17:26):
than what they were, you know. So we were in
a building, we were closed and there were no males
in there, and that's where we were at and that's
where I spend the time. So for me, it was
kind of eye opening because we don't go in buildings,
you know, we're allowed to be you know, genders combined
and things like that. So, I mean, I had a
really good time, though being able to go out and
(17:47):
do some medical work. It was a little unfortunate because
you know, you don't have preventive care. There were a
lot of situations where it's just like you need to
go to the hospital, you need surgery, and a lot
of people just can't. They can't get there, they can't
afford it. You know, they're going to ask for money
things like that. So I mean, I think we are
our presence helped, we are able to do some good work,
(18:10):
but at the same time, it was also a little
frustrating in our end because it's like, you want to help,
you want to get these people, but you know, there's
only so much that we can do out of the
back of a vehicle.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
What was it like as a woman in that setting,
not only just the opportunity to talk to their women,
but in a society where things are so different towards you.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
I mean, obviously there was a lot of when we
go to places like this, male local nationals. You know,
it was just a lot of eyes on and I
think it was disbelief, a little like this is not
our norms. We're not accustomed to this, you know, like
anything else, it's it's just different, and you know they're interested.
(18:49):
I mean, we're interested in different trying to figure out
how that works, and you know how people engage like that.
I would just say that it was really I mean, again,
I go back to the kind of like eye opening,
and you know, until you're in that kind of situation,
you see really truly like you can hear. Yeah, they segregate.
Women can't be out, you know, unless they're covered. In
(19:10):
terms of speaking with men, you just don't speak to men.
I think the thing for me is like when we
would go and we'd meet and you'd see these women
and then we would get behind closed doors. It was
completely different women, you know, and then they were just
they were talking. They pulled down their veils, you were
able to see their face, and you know, they wanted
to do my hair, tea, you know, bring all sorts
(19:32):
of just kind of like the foods that you would
just share, you know, how we would have like you know,
a coffee and a croissant or something similar. You know,
it was that where it was just like we just
want to break bread, we want to discuss things, we
want a social and just kind of appreciate, you know,
your presence. Again, Like I enjoyed it because I'd never
(19:52):
experienced something like that, and I like getting to know people.
I like talking to people. I like different culture. You know,
a little bit was kind of sad because these were
very intriguing women, and I just kind of feel like,
you know, they they had such a low ceiling on
them in terms of what they were able to do,
(20:13):
you know, in their country.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
That's retired US Army Captain Kelly Elmlinger, who served as
a combat medic with the eighty second Airborne Division in
both Iraq and Afghanistan. Coming up in our conversation, Captain
Elmlinger shares her difficult battle with cancer that would ultimately
result in an amputation, but before long she was representing
the United States at the Paralympics. In a moment, Elmlinger
(20:38):
ships her story of service from Afghanistan to Iraq and
explains why that deployment was very different and much harder.
I'm Greg Corumbus and this is Veterans Chronicles. This is
Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbas. Our guest is retired US
Army captain and combat medic Kelly Elmlinger. In just a
(21:00):
few minutes, you'll hear about her difficult battle with cancer
and how her life in and around the military prepared
her for that battle. We've already discussed Elmlinger's service in Afghanistan,
but before long she would be serving with the eighty
second Airborne Division in Iraq, and she says it was
immediately clear that things would be very different on this deployment.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
So we were west of Fallujah, and in terms of
like the medical we I mean, we were pretty much
it and you know, we're not close to a Level
one at all. You know, we're the basics, and there
were a lot of things that came our way that
(21:43):
were not basic. We were next to the euphrates, so
a lot of movement in terms of infantry, not just
our unit, but just a lot of different units. So
if they were out that way and something happened, I mean,
we were kind of like the first people, so a
lot of mass cows. We were also aviation, so our
(22:04):
mission kind of evolved into down to aircraft rescue team.
And I think it was a little naive based off
our experiences in Afghanistan, thinking it was going to be similar.
However it wasn't. And you know, I think within the
first couple of months there was a moment where I
(22:27):
really kind of had a hard time getting grips on
the situation because you know, the guy's just like, we
ran out of body bags, and I'm like, we didn't
use one in Afghanistan. And I think that's kind of
when things really kind of hit me. It's just like,
we're barely into this deployment and we've ran out of
body bags and you don't think about like reordering things
(22:47):
like that, and when I did, it's just like, I
can't believe this is actually, you know, what we're doing.
We're actually using these bags, and you know, we're using
them on mostly US service members. And I also think
that I was a little naive going out to some
of these down to aircraft, thinking, you know, we're going
(23:12):
to find all these survivors and we're going to help them,
when in fact, most of the time there were no survivors,
you know, and it was what can we find to
bring back for the family, And it's extremely important and
I felt it was extremely important that we do that,
(23:33):
but it was also very very humbling because that's not
what you want to do. And I think, you know,
me and a couple of the guys were medics. We
want to go out, we want to fix, and when
there's nothing to fix, you kind of feel like you
weren't able to do your job. And you know, we
felt that, you know, I'm not going to say they
(23:54):
felt like a failure. But that's probably like the closest
in terms of word to articulate that. And then I
think as time went on, and it took me many
years to kind of feel proud because when you go
to some of those crash heights and you can't help
(24:19):
I think I let that feeling overshadow the good things
that we did in terms of I know, those men
and women were treated with dignity and respect, and we
made sure that whatever parts and pieces and whatever dog
(24:40):
tags and whatever other personal elements we collected as much
as we could to get that back to them. And
you know, there were some times where it was it
was pretty sketchy because there's still some enemy in the area.
But I think for me, it's like, I know this
is what I would want, so I don't care. You know,
I don't care if enemies in the area. I don't
(25:03):
care if it X.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Y Z.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
You know, maybe I should have cared, but at the time,
you know, I didn't. It was just more of like,
how can we do right by these individuals? And you know, sometimes,
you know, the best thing we can do is collect,
you know, whatever it is for their family members.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Did you ever hear back from those family members.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
A couple. Ironically, one of my good friends used to
be in the unit. She got out before nine to eleven.
And what I didn't know was on one of those
missions there was a female who was deceased, and I
just remember when we went around to identify them and
(25:53):
I saw her ID card and I saw her picture
and I saw how vibrant and colorful she was and
then kind of put it next to her body. It
just it stuck with me. I mean it made me
mad too, because I'm just like, like, they're doing this
to us, and she's stuck in my mind. And I
(26:16):
didn't know why until several years later. I got in
contact with my friend and we were having a conversation
and again I hadn't spoke to her in many years,
and somehow we got on that topic and she said
her name, and I was like, oh my gosh, like
I was there, you know, when she passed away. And
(26:39):
what's ironic is that particular aircraft that was shot down
was actually headed to I'm not sure exactly where, but
basically dropping them off somewhere so that they could go
home on leave. So they were planning a party for her,
expecting her to be home in however many year hours,
you know, to throw a party. She's on Lee you
(27:00):
see all these families and friends, and unfortunately that party
turned into, you know, a funeral, and I just think
that I was meant to have her image and although
I didn't talk to the family, but you know, my
friend was a close friend her, but just kind of
(27:22):
be able to tell her like here's how it was, like,
here's how we took her off. She was able to
get into the helicopter and there was just nothing that
we could do. So I don't I don't know if
that gave them closure, but being able to share that,
(27:44):
I mean, that's kind of my hope. Is I thought
about that a lot, and that's one of the reasons
why I went into nursing and you know, chose to
want to take care of wound new warriors because there
was just a lot of times where I'm like, I
don't have closure myself, and how can these families have
closure when they don't know? So, I mean, that's that's
my hope in that particular instances, you know, there was
(28:08):
some sort of closure or just to be able to say, hey,
someone was there with her and you know, we know
it and hopefully that helped, you know, kind of ease
a little bit of their pain.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
After your deployments to Iraq, I believe you then served
at San Antonio with wounded warriors. Was that a Brook
Army medical that was?
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (28:30):
What was your job specifically there and what impact did
that have on you?
Speaker 2 (28:34):
So I it was kind of torn if I wanted
to go to PA school and nursing school, and I
a couple of diferent reasons. Our PA's were deploying, and
I was like, I just I just need to out
of this cycle. And I also liked connecting with patients,
so that's why I chose nursing. So end up going
to UNC. It was close to close to Port Bragg,
so did the commute for a little bit, and I
(28:56):
just I wanted something different. I wanted a larger hospital. Obviously,
I rack in Afghanistan, those deployments were still happening, and
I had done quite a few medical schools and just
different things down in San Antonio, so I knew that
I liked the area, and I was like, let's give
it a try. At the time, shoot, my daughter was young,
(29:19):
I mean, I don't even know she was quite a toddler,
you know, one two years old. When we got down
to San Antonio and it's it's just very family friendly,
you know, big city, but a small town field. And
in my mind it was I wanted to go. I
wanted to take care of wounded warriors. It happened to
be an impatient ORTHO floor because I had these deployments,
(29:40):
I had these experiences, and I felt that I was
going to be able to relate and I had all
these things that I could, you know, felt like I
could give back to these individuals, and I think I did.
I hope I did, but you know, hindsight, it's always
twenty twenty. And I learned so much from them in
terms of like mindset. A lot of people who did
(30:02):
limb salvage, a lot of people had traumatic computations, a
lot of people who you know, end up having infections,
and it was like, we have to take you know,
the foot, the arm, whatever the case may be. And
you know, I really talked to them a lot in
terms of the emotional aspect to connect to them and
just ask them how you feel about this choice. I
don't know why, but that just felt very important for
(30:24):
me to be on that level with them, and in reality,
they were giving me the blueprint of how to go
through my medical issues. So here I am thinking I
have all this stuff to give back, but I think
they gave back to me more than I gave to them.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
How soon after that did you discover the cancer in
your leg?
Speaker 2 (30:49):
So I was diagnosed in March of twenty thirteen, but
towards the end of twenty twelve, I was having some
issues and we just didn't exactly know why, so it
took some time. It was also misdiagnosed, you know how
it is with the medical field, you kind of have
to There were no huge red flags. That was the
other thing for me. Mine was very atypical in terms
(31:10):
of presentation. So I was only at San Antonio for
a little over two years. Two and a half years
before that's when I started having my you know, own
medical issues and talking with multiple providers, you know, from
my orthorne coologists to functional medicine to all sorts. Like
(31:31):
I didn't really have any signs and symptoms until I
got back from that Afghanistan deployment and then just in
recent years with the Packed Act. My particular sarcoma is
on that list so years ago, a lot of providers
had said, we really truly think it's due to exposure
in Afghanistan, because I was okay and then I just
(31:53):
had this painful spot on my leg. But I was
still able to jump high airplanes and run and do
all those other things. So again, it wasn't this big
glaring thing.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Yeah, living with us for a decade, a.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Decade which this particular tumor does not do that on
a normal basis. So there's a lot of things about
it that was very different. But I also think fortunate
for me in my situation. So a lot of people
have said, oh, I'd be extremely upset, and I'm like,
I'm not. You know, I'm not mad, I'm not sorry.
(32:27):
This is it was meant to me. And you know,
at this point where I'm at in life, I honestly
truly feel like this is how my life was supposed
to always be, and I'm okay with it. I have
a great life.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
So, given the mindset that you learned about at Brook,
when you when it happens to you, I would assume
initially it's still a shock and very emotional in many
different ways. Do you feel like that helped you focus
sooner than you would have absolutely otherwise.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
So, you know, my Orthlone coologist. I still remember today
him talking to one of the residents when he said,
we just need to go in there and kind of
see what's going on. And they really thought that I
had an injection, and they thought that the solution and
that injection is what was causing some of the problems.
So nowhere on this list was cancer, tumor sarcoma bad.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
It was just like, you just got this weird thing
that we need to go in and figure out. And
I remember him telling me in the pack, you you know,
it's a synovial sarcoma. I had this really heavy feeling
but still being groggy, I'm like, I just I can't
put two and two together. And it wasn't till one
of the nurses that I know just said, hey, you know,
(33:39):
I'm glad to be here with you, but I'm so
sorry it's cancer. And that's kind of when I was
just like, oh my gosh, I knew right then and
there that burning desire to go down to San Antonio.
That was why being on the floor and working with
who I was working with, you know that was why
it kind of felt like a lot of the things
(33:59):
and reason why I wanted to be in San Antonio
came full circle. I knew right away. I was like,
this is gonna be a very hard road. I knew
that because I saw that and I saw, you know,
some of the same patients make repeated visits, you know,
over the course of a year, a couple of years,
just with you know, some of the complications that they have.
But I also knew that, you know, I go back
(34:21):
to the whole blueprint, like I know how to do.
This doesn't make it any easier, but I knew what
was to come. I knew kind of some of the
things that I could expect. I knew some of the
complications you know that can arise from these things. Again,
(34:41):
I just but I was also fortunate. I think that's
the other thing too. Also felt very fortunate to be
where I was at because the only Orthorne College is
at the time in d d was the one that
I worked for. And now I just became his patient.
And I was a patient of my own floor. So
my friends took care of me, and you know, here
I am, you know, in San Antonio's one of the
(35:04):
better med centers in the DoD So there's a lot
of things that I was just the right place for
my situation.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
How did you finally decide that amputation was the right decision?
Speaker 2 (35:17):
So again, initially I did the limb salvage, and I
had a lot of complications. So it was roughly all
of like twenty thirteen initially trying to figure out what's
going on, the diagnosis, treatment, complications, more surgeries, and then
finally February March of twenty fourteen, I was able to
(35:39):
bear some weight and get back into rehab and try
to figure some things out. But I knew pretty quickly,
and I would say by the end of that year
that my life was about as good as it was
going to get with my leg and like it may
have looked somewhat same on the outside, but there was
(36:00):
so much that was taken. I had a lot of
pain from radiation, just a lot of pain from surgeries.
I had a large graph site taken out of my
left arm that was put into my leg, so there's
a lot of rearranging. I had a lot of nerve
issues with my arm and also with my leg, and
I think the biggest thing is I'm a very active person,
(36:21):
and I like to have options. I like to go
and do, and I wasn't able to do that stuff.
The turning point for me was somewhere in twenty fifteen,
and it's time now. My daughter is six seven. We're
kicking a soccer ball back and forth, and again she's
just going through the sports and we're trying to learn things,
(36:42):
and I was getting so frustrated with her because the
ball wasn't coming to me and I didn't have the agility.
I didn't have just kind of that same activeness, and
I was hurting. I was tired, I was mentally just drained,
and I can remember getting extremely upset with her and
(37:02):
then feeling very guilty. And that's when I just kind
of set back and I'm like, why am I so mad?
Why am I so upset? And I was just frustrated
with my life. I'm like, I can't live my life
the way I want to live it, Like I feel
like this ceiling is so low on me. And that's
when I started talking to some people, and that's when
I started really kind of thinking, Okay, you know some
(37:25):
of these mental hurdles again, I'm like, we took a
large portion of my left arm to put my leg
and I'm like, I can't cut my leg off because
we did all this stuff with my arm, and I'm like,
is that worth it? You know? Is it worth to
live this kind of crumbing life that I would consider?
And that's when I was just like, all right, we
need to work on getting over this some of these hurdles.
We need to think about how would life be, you know,
(37:46):
if you're an amputee. I went out and started talking
to people. When I would do adaptive sporting events, I
would find those people that did loom salvage. I would find,
you know, a lot of more men and I got
great stuff. But there's not a lot of female ill
mothers that did the limb salvage amputation. So that was
kind of the target audience I found them. I saw
(38:07):
a lot of them being successful and still able to
get out there and do it. And I don't know,
I just think we all have our own process, you know,
to kind of come to that conclusion. And then I
was like, Okay, I'm ready to make this decision. It's
not that I wasn't okay with it before because I
had told my surgeon. Initially, I was like you do
whatever you got to do. I was like, I need
to be a mother, like I need to be there
(38:29):
for my kid. I've been a single parent since she
was born, so I didn't care, you know, about the amputation.
I just didn't want to go through more surgeries and
have to take those steps back and then, you know,
but like anything in life, you know, sometimes you have
taken a couple steps back before we can really make
(38:49):
those big, you know, journeys forward. I asked my surgeon
one day. It's probably one of the most anxiety for
provoking conversations because I'm very much a realist and I
he was very supportive. I had no reason for him
to tell me no. But in my mind, I'm like,
he can say no, he can say no, and I
kind of grew that he can say no into like
a big monster. But I was like, I have to
(39:10):
ask him. I have to ask him. I didn't even
to ask him, and he finally was just like, I
think you're getting to the point of, you know, wanting
an amputation, and I said, yeah, that's the direction I
want to go. And it was a lot of happy
tears because I just felt like I think I can
get my life back. I don't regret the choices that
(39:30):
I made, but amputation is definitely by far the better
choice for me.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
That's retired US Army Captain Kelly Elmlinger, who served as
a combat medic with the eighty second Airborne Division in
both Iraq and Afghanistan. Coming up. Elmlinger not only survives
cancer and an amputation, but she thrives and becomes an
elite athlete representing our nation at the Paralympics. That's next.
(39:56):
I'm Greg Corumbus and this is Veterans Chronicles. This is
Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in this edition
is retired US Army captain and combat medic Kelly Elmlinger,
who served with the eighty second Airborne Division in both
Iraq and Afghanistan. You just heard Elmlinger's emotional story of
(40:17):
battling cancer in her leg and finally determining that amputation
would give her the best chance at a normal life.
But it quickly went from normal to extraordinary as she
immediately dove into the world of adaptive sports.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
I mean, I was thinking about adapta sports even after
my initial diagnosis, and I was very heavily involved in
DAPTA Sports, but I wasn't able to run because I
wasn't able to wait. Bear In actually had quite a
bit of my tibia taken out, so just walking sometimes
how we get stress fractures. Unfortunately, after the imputation, I
had more complications. So my journey to get into like
(40:54):
a prosthetic full time is not the normal one. I
ended up needing kind of another significant surgery, and that
was towards the end of twenty seventeen. And after that one,
that's when I was able to really heavily get into
wearing a prosthetic every day, walking, starting to get into
all purpose legs, starting to get into a run leg,
(41:15):
you know, starting to okay, I can get on a
bike now and work towards making legs specifically for you know,
those events. It was May of twenty eighteen when I
did my first I would say sprint triathlon because I
had done a couple of trathlons that were adaptive sporting events,
but first sprint triathlon, and three weeks prior to that,
(41:36):
I had an all purpose leg that you could run in,
and I contacted the program manager at USA Paratrathlon. I said,
if I do this race, you know, and I get
a qualifying time for nationals will account She said, yeah, Will,
and I did. And I went on to nationals a
couple months later and did very well, and they were like, hey,
we need to get you onto the international level. And
(41:58):
end of twenty eighteen, that's where I was at. I
was racing international level and here we are to take
your first year doing it an elite. I don't. Yeah,
I mean that again, that is not the traditional pathway.
There was just you know, a few things that worked
out in someone was retiring and I had a slot
and I said, yes, I'll take it, I'll jump in. So,
you know, May of that year, I'm in an all
(42:21):
purpose leg. In September of that year, you know, I'm
racing in you know, the World Trathlon over in Australia.
It was it was crazy, but I mean I was
so tired of being on the sidelines that they could
have asked me anything, my answer was going to be yes.
I was like, I don't care. I'm getting out there.
I'm getting it a go. Like, I know that I'm
(42:42):
not in shape for this where I want to be.
I know that have way more you know, potential, but
at the same time, everybody's got to start somewhere.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
Uh, and soon they're talking about you as a paralympian.
Speaker 3 (42:53):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
Perhaps the year delayed due to COVID gave you even
more time to prepare properly. But talk about getting that
opportunity and doing really well there.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
Yeah, so it was. It was a little frustrating and
disappointing because my category was not selected for the Tokyo Paralympics,
but they said my category was allowed to race up
into a women's category that, for all intents and purposes,
have more ability than me. And again, I'm like, it's
an opportunity. I'm going for it, like I don't care,
(43:22):
Like making the Games would be the equivalent to a
gold medal for me, especially when it's not my category.
And quite honestly, not a lot of people thought that
I was gonna be able to do it because I'm
so new into the sport, really didn't have a basis
for points and just experience. COVID definitely helped because it
gave me that extra year. It definitely did help. I
(43:43):
would prefer we not have COVID, but sure, you know,
I mean, it was a little bit of a silver
lining for me and ended up making the team. You know,
I ended up making the team and was able to
race in Tokyo. I end up getting seventh in a
category that's not even mine. It was great experience. I think,
you know, most people, we have some really good experiences,
(44:04):
we have some really good memories, and then there's these
handful of memories, you know, that we kind of put
in this really kind of special box. And that's definitely
up there for me. And I understand why people go
another four years because it's so hard to describe that feeling.
(44:26):
But I just knew that I want that feeling again.
And fortunately for me, they announced that my category will
be a metal event in Paris. In this last race
that I did a little over a month, a little
over a month ago, I was able to get an
automatic qualifying spot for Paris. So you're in, I am,
I'm in. What you that triathlon?
Speaker 1 (44:47):
Well we're just about have time, unfortunately, Kelly. But you
have persevered in ways that ought to inspire everyone. So
for anyone who has that horrifying diagnose or wonders if
they can, you know, live fully as they once did
or whatever their situation is, even if it's not exactly
(45:08):
like yours, What would you encourage them to think about?
And uh and take from your story?
Speaker 2 (45:13):
You know, one of the things that all my deployments
is how can we how can I kind of take
this really dark situation and turn some light into it.
And it was like how do I make my friends proud?
And for me it was like I'm here and I can.
So that's one of the things I hung on to
for a while. And then I think with my medical stuff,
(45:36):
I still kept that same, but then for me it
became its ability, not disability. And I think that's the
thing is there's so many people out there who have
we all have a disability, you know what I mean,
maybe it's just financial disability, you know, your car disability.
Mind's a little bit more obvious in terms of the
(45:57):
leg you know, and then you have you know, you're
you're hidden disability. But we all as people have so
much more ability. And I think for me, I wished
we as a society focused more on the ability versus
the disability. So that's one of the things that I
think about, like, I have so much ability and I
(46:18):
can still be very productive in my community as a mother,
in triathlons with my friends, with my families, and it
took me a while to get to that point. You know,
it's not easy to get to that point. But I
think that's one of the things that I would I
would share is you know, you may have this heavy
(46:40):
medical issue, you may have this heavy situation in life,
but there's still a lot of things around you, you know,
that are good, that you can still tap into. And
again it goes back to, you know, have this quality
of life, you know, make it into too, whatever it
is you want. Again, this is not something that I
(47:03):
thought about, however, being able to accept it, accept the
new me like, I'm very, very content and very happy
with the direction of how things have gone for me.
Speaker 1 (47:15):
I can tell just in how you tell your story,
and that's awesome in and of itself. So it's clear
that you were inspired by all the folks, absolutely the
wounded warriors down in San Antonio, and I have no
doubt that there are many people inspired by watching you
what you did in Tokyo, and I know you'll be
representing us well in Paris as well. Thank you, so Kelly,
Thank you so much for your time and especially for
your service to our country. We appreciate it. Thank you
(47:37):
Kelly Elmlinger, retired to you as captain from the eighty
second Airborne Division, served as a combat medic and she
is now about to be a two time Paralympian after
running in Tokyo in twenty twenty one, will be in
Paris in twenty twenty four. I'm Greg Corumbus and this
is Veterans Chronicles. Hi, this is Greg Corumbus and thanks
(48:06):
for listening to Veterans Chronicles, a presentation of the American
Veterans Center. For more information, please visit American Veteranscenter dot org.
You can also follow the American Veterans Center on Facebook
and on Twitter. We're at AVC update. Subscribe to the
American Veterans Center YouTube channel for full oral histories and
(48:28):
special features, and of course, please subscribe to the Veterans
Chronicles podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks again for listening,
and please join us next time for Veterans Chronicles.
Welcome to Veterans' Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in
this edition is retired US Army Captain Kelly Elmlinger. She
served as a combat medic the eighty second Airborne Division
in Iraq, and she achieved jump master status in the
eighty second Airborne. She also spent time caring for wounded warriors,
(00:32):
and that experience perhaps provided an excellent background for when
she became one herself as a result of cancer in
her leg. She is now a Paralympian and as a
great inspiration to many who know her story. And Kelly,
thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Where
were you born and raised?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
I was born and raised outside of Cleveland, Ohio.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Was there a history of military service in your family?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
There were some. My grandfather who I never met, he
had served, and I heard quite a few stories regarding that.
But I just had kind of an affinity after seeing
a lot of the Desert Storm, and I feel like
that was the first time for me there was a
lot of live action, you know, with the military, and
(01:19):
it really just kind of captured some spirit, I think,
just some interest. And then when it came time for
high school, I actually had a few cousins towards the
end of high school who had gotten out of the military,
and both of them were females. Both of them were
were successful, and I just felt like, if they can
do it, I can too. And then you combine that with,
(01:41):
you know, that the captiveness of Desert Storm, and it's
where the story went.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
What agere are you during Desert Storm? At you?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Or so?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
I was eleven or twelve, So it was, you know,
on like that cusp of the you know, inspirational kind
of just really just kind of left a mark, you know,
in me for the next like several years of like
that was patriotism, that was bravery, that was courage. It
was also physical and it also seemed like that's something
(02:12):
that I would do.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
So you joined the US Army, the eighty second Airborne
in nineteen ninety eight. What method did you use to
join the service?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
So I actually went to college for a year. I
got a little cold feet, thinking I can't live my
life without sports. So I back to when the military
went to college and I realized this was not for me.
So I showed up at the recruiter's office and I
just said, I'm dropping everything. I'm going in. So I
went in as enlisted. I initially went to school college
(02:42):
for law enforcement, but I just said I want something
completely different. And again, my few cousins that were in,
one of them was a medic, and I just saw
a lot of the job offers and I said, I
think that would be good. I like helping people. I'm
a fixer, you know, nurturer, and it just seemed like
that was something that I wanted to give a try,
and it was a great fit for me.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
What sport did you initially pursue before you joined that?
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So I was a three sport athlete. I ran cross country,
played basketball, and also ran track in high school and college.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
You could sign up to be a combat medic or
did they steer you in that direction or how did
that work?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
No, they tried to steer me in a bunch of
different directions other than being a medic. But I was
pretty set on having something completely different other than law enforcement,
which is what they really wanted me to be in
because I started that you know, collegiate kind of background
with that, I just wanted something completely different. Nothing against
law enforcement, but I just think that time in my life,
(03:38):
it just it wasn't a good fit for me, and
I felt like I wanted to clean slate. So I
went to the MEP station on a number of occasions,
and I left on a number of occasions because I said,
until I get what I want, I'm not going to
sign up. Eventually they gave in.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Once you finally did Were you signed to the eighty
second right away or did that come later?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Not right away? I did not have Airborne in my orders,
so I was fortunate to have some leadership that I
spoke with had a good track history with, you know,
being physically fit, and they said, hey, we think we
can do some things, and they sent me to Fort Bragg.
I volunteered for airborne school at that point, and that's
(04:19):
when I was able to go to airborne school. And
then it came back and went to eighty second because
at the time when I was there at Fort Bragg,
eighty second Airborne Division only took paratroopers. Once nine to
eleven happened and we had a few deployments, then you know,
of course they need soldiers to fill those slots, so
then it was a little bit more than just airborne qualified.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
What was jump school? Like?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I loved it that, I mean that's the kind of
stuff that just gets me going. I you know, I'm
an adrenaline junkie, but not necessarily. You know, it doesn't
have to be jumping out of airplanes or you know,
some people think of like riding motorcycles and skydiving and
things like that. I just anything that's just fun, it's new,
(05:03):
mentally engaging. It was just one of those things where
I'm like, yes, like I cannot wait to do this.
And of course at the time, there's not a lot
of females. I don't really play a big emphasis on
like males or females. But also it's nice to be
a representative of, you know, a gender that just didn't
have a lot of paratroopers.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
So when you made that first jump, was there anything
particularly you remember going through your mind.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
I was actually my first jump. I was the first jumper,
So I don't know exactly what had going in my
mind other than the fact that being able to see
outside the door and just being an aircraft and know
that I'm about to jump out, you know, over top
all that, it was kind of a surreal moment, but
it was also very exciting. I don't recall a whole
(05:51):
lot after that other than the fact that I was
ready to go do it again.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
That's what I keep hearing from everybody that loves skydiving,
is the radio opens, you can't wait to do it.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
B Yeah, So you mentioned.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Nine to eleven. Where were you that day and how
did you hear the news and how did it change
what you were doing?
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Sure? So nine to eleven, I was at the aid
station and had to take some packets to the hospital
because I was a liaison for our eye surgery. I
was getting ready to go drop off some packets to
the hospital. In between leaving the aid station and getting
to the hospital, which was maybe about ten minute drive,
that's I think when a lot of things started unfolding
(06:28):
in terms of the news being pushed out, in getting
a grasp of what's happening. I wasn't able to go
into the hospital because they had barricaded everything. They couldn't
really tell me why other than the fact that dude said,
you need to go back to your unit. So I
went back to the unit and even trying to get
in your own parking lot, you know, they were like, no,
we have to see IDs all this other stuff, and
I'm like, something big has happened. I don't know what
(06:52):
there were cell phones, but you know, obviously we didn't
have internet on the cell phones. Once I got back in,
we were pretty much all around in our kind of
conference room that we had and that's why I had
a television, and I just knew at that moment, like
our lives were, they were changed, and being part of
(07:16):
the eighty second Airborne Division, you knew that it was
our time was going to come sooner than later. And
I think looking around that room and seeing my brothers
and sisters, it's just kind of being fearful that if
we go somewhere, are we all going to come home?
(07:36):
And of course extreme amounts of sadness for what was
unfolding in New York City, because it's everyday people go
into their job and you have something as devastating and
catastrophic as that, and then you see all these healthcare workers,
fire department, police, all these individuals that are trained to
(07:59):
go save walking into what we now know is, you know,
even more disaster, hopelessness, but a lot of a lot
of heartbreak. I mean, of course there's some fear because
that's what we signed up to do. I wasn't fearful
of deploying. I was just fearful of not coming home
(08:21):
with all my friends.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
How did it change what your assignment was in the
short term.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
I mean, we went from jumps and airborne operations kind
of being our big scale field, that kind of environment
that those were the things that we planned for, we
executed on, and now we're getting ready for deployment. We
(08:50):
talk about real world, but I think until like the
real world actually happens, you don't know what that's like,
so you know, when you're inventoring supplies and things like that.
Not that we let like big things slide, because again
there's still operations that we need to be prepared for.
(09:11):
But it just came to a whole nother level of
we cannot mess this up. So I think details, you know, details,
And it was just a lot of kind of anxiety
on my part because at the time, you know, I
was the one that was in charge, So it was
more of like need to get this right because we
(09:32):
can't go over there and not be right. Just again,
you don't know what you're walking into. So quite a
bit of anxiety on that. But I just think the
preparation level and the mindfulness of it was at a
much higher degree.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I mean a little bit about your combat medic training.
Obviously post nine to eleven, that's a much more real
expertise you're going to need most likely. So what did
it consists of? What were you specific they trained to
do in combat?
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I actually feel like we were pretty fortunate. So we
had several providers, three for doctors that they all kind
of have their own different like skill sets, but they
helped us out in terms of being able to criike individuals,
which is, you know, essentially making an incision in someone's
(10:22):
throat and being able to put a tube down throat
in case there's so much mouth trauma and you need
to give some sort of airway, chest tubes, a lot
of things that you would typically see in the emergency room.
Obviously did a lot of stuff with tourniquets and just
kind of talking through situations. Uh, there's a little bit
(10:44):
more now where you have you know, training with kind
of like the moolage and you have you know, the
the plastic mannequins that they can bleed now you know
they can kind of give feedback. We didn't have all that,
so ended up being you know a lot more like
one on one talking through situations. Obviously, you know, we
(11:07):
we did as much as we could what was available
at that time. So I think that's what it was,
was just a lot more as most realistic training that
we could get. You know, we were able to do
a few things with some cadavers. Obviously, go out and
practice on some goats, cause that's kind of, you know,
a big thing at the time. That was the closest
to you know, a live hidden a visual.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
But the goats cooperate, and.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
They co operated enough. There you okay enough. I mean
I think it went from we took care. We you know,
we did sit call in the morning, so if you
had a cold, if a lot of people have, you know,
problems with toenails, fingernails, and you got to take those out,
and you know, every now and then you got to
give an IV because someone's dehydrated. So it kind of
(11:56):
went from like your your sit call clinic cold and
call type too. We have a transition to saving lives.
And it's not that we abandoned the colden cough, but
you know, the emphasis really kind of went to saving lives.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
It seems like the role has expanded. We've talked with
World War Two and Korean medics and basically you're doing
tourniquets and morphine pretty much at that time. Sounds like, yeah,
the job was much more involved by the.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Time you were absolutely, and I don't I mean, obviously
the time has changed between World War Two, Vietnam and
you know, leading up to I mean even Desert Storm
and then leading up to you know, post nine eleven.
But I think the basics of probably how everybody approached
their job in terms of the medical field was probably
pretty similar.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
That's retired US Army Captain Kelly Elmlinger, who served as
a combat medic with the eighty second Airborne Division. Up next,
Captain Elmlinger shares her story of service in Afghanistan, and
later on we'll hear how things were much different in
our plus her battle with cancer and becoming a paralympian.
(13:05):
I'm Greg Corumbus and this is Veterans Chronicles Sixty Seconds
of Service.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
This sixty Seconds of Service is presented by T Mobile.
T Mobile offers exclusive discounts for a veteran and military
families and are proud supporters of the National Defense Network.
Visit tmobile dot com slash military to learn more about
how they support our military community from Bimidgi, Minnesota. After
one hundred years, the Bamidgi Chapter of Disabled American Veterans
is still serving the community, going out on cold mornings
(13:33):
and collecting donations that help veterans in need and their families.
Founded in nineteen twenty four as the seventh chapter in
the state, the organization's presence is most visible through its
drop off boxes, bright green metal containers that can be
found outside of grocery stores and on street corners that
collect donations of clothes, shoes, and household items. Twice a
(13:54):
week in the early hours of the morning. Members of
the DAV often veterans themselves, collect the items and bring
them back to the chapter's headquarters on the edge of town,
where they are met by another team of volunteers. For
more great veteran stories, just go to National Defense Network
dot com.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
This is Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in
this edition is retired US Army captain and combat medic
Kelly Elmlinger. Still to come, we'll hear all about Elmlinger's
very difficult service in Iraq, and then she will share
her battle with cancer in her leg the difficult but
liberating decision to amputate that leg, and how she quickly
(14:32):
became an elite adaptive sports athlete and paralympian. But first,
Kelly Elmlinger goes to war in Afghanistan and she explains
to us what life was like for her there, what
she found most rewarding about the deployment, and how the
locals there viewed a woman in her role.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Fairly shortly after nine to eleven, that's when the Hunt
and First they were actually activated for us, and then
we tag teamed out with them. I was with the
Aviation Unit, part of eighty second Aviation, So when we
got to Afghanistan, there was a lot of the Hunter
First there and we kind of shadowed them for a
(15:14):
little bit in terms of the medics, the crew chiefs,
the pilots. So we were there early two thousand and two,
and I would to say about four or five months
prior to that, so you know, I would say early. Actually,
I'm sorry, we were there late two thousand and two.
So early two thousand and two is when we found
out that we were going to go Afghanistan. I mean,
(15:35):
looking back on it, it's hard to compare Afghanistan and Iraq.
I mean, Iraq was extremely traumatic in terms of the
things that we took care of. It wasn't that Afghanistan
wasn't It was just a mission was a lot different.
The terrain was a lot different. I think it was
more individuals and a lot of times the individuals in
(15:57):
terms of enemy it was hard for them to kind
of mount some of the attacks that they did in
comparison to what happened in Iraq. We did a lot
of flying, so we accompanied a lot of the infantry units,
so there's a chinook fole of ent treatment. We'd always
make sure we had a medic on there, and a
lot of times it was flying to whatever mountaintop and
(16:19):
kind of letting them off, and a lot of times
in the mountaintops there's not a lot of other individuals
up there. Of course, you had the occasional ID that
would come through, but quite honestly, we saw a lot
more you know, local nationals, and a lot of them
was accidents or they would come across an ID and
you know, they lost a limb or you know, some
of the children were you know, had some traumatic amputations.
(16:42):
So we end up helping them out quite a bit.
Did a lot of kind of like peacekeeping. So being
the only female actually went out and we did a
lot of kind of like community work. So they would
gather all the females, there was a female translate, and
then I would sit with them and that was like
(17:04):
I enjoyed Afghanistan for that is, being able to sit
down and talk to them, and just like they were.
They wanted to touch my hair, They wanted to see
how my hair was, they wanted to touch my clothes.
They were just so interested in how I, as a
female in America, was considered way more of an equal
(17:26):
than what they were, you know. So we were in
a building, we were closed and there were no males
in there, and that's where we were at and that's
where I spend the time. So for me, it was
kind of eye opening because we don't go in buildings,
you know, we're allowed to be you know, genders combined
and things like that. So, I mean, I had a
really good time, though being able to go out and
(17:47):
do some medical work. It was a little unfortunate because
you know, you don't have preventive care. There were a
lot of situations where it's just like you need to
go to the hospital, you need surgery, and a lot
of people just can't. They can't get there, they can't
afford it. You know, they're going to ask for money
things like that. So I mean, I think we are
our presence helped, we are able to do some good work,
(18:10):
but at the same time, it was also a little
frustrating in our end because it's like, you want to help,
you want to get these people, but you know, there's
only so much that we can do out of the
back of a vehicle.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
What was it like as a woman in that setting,
not only just the opportunity to talk to their women,
but in a society where things are so different towards you.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
I mean, obviously there was a lot of when we
go to places like this, male local nationals. You know,
it was just a lot of eyes on and I
think it was disbelief, a little like this is not
our norms. We're not accustomed to this, you know, like
anything else, it's it's just different, and you know they're interested.
(18:49):
I mean, we're interested in different trying to figure out
how that works, and you know how people engage like that.
I would just say that it was really I mean, again,
I go back to the kind of like eye opening,
and you know, until you're in that kind of situation,
you see really truly like you can hear. Yeah, they segregate.
Women can't be out, you know, unless they're covered. In
(19:10):
terms of speaking with men, you just don't speak to men.
I think the thing for me is like when we
would go and we'd meet and you'd see these women
and then we would get behind closed doors. It was
completely different women, you know, and then they were just
they were talking. They pulled down their veils, you were
able to see their face, and you know, they wanted
to do my hair, tea, you know, bring all sorts
(19:32):
of just kind of like the foods that you would
just share, you know, how we would have like you know,
a coffee and a croissant or something similar. You know,
it was that where it was just like we just
want to break bread, we want to discuss things, we
want a social and just kind of appreciate, you know,
your presence. Again, Like I enjoyed it because I'd never
(19:52):
experienced something like that, and I like getting to know people.
I like talking to people. I like different culture. You know,
a little bit was kind of sad because these were
very intriguing women, and I just kind of feel like,
you know, they they had such a low ceiling on
them in terms of what they were able to do,
(20:13):
you know, in their country.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
That's retired US Army Captain Kelly Elmlinger, who served as
a combat medic with the eighty second Airborne Division in
both Iraq and Afghanistan. Coming up in our conversation, Captain
Elmlinger shares her difficult battle with cancer that would ultimately
result in an amputation, but before long she was representing
the United States at the Paralympics. In a moment, Elmlinger
(20:38):
ships her story of service from Afghanistan to Iraq and
explains why that deployment was very different and much harder.
I'm Greg Corumbus and this is Veterans Chronicles. This is
Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbas. Our guest is retired US
Army captain and combat medic Kelly Elmlinger. In just a
(21:00):
few minutes, you'll hear about her difficult battle with cancer
and how her life in and around the military prepared
her for that battle. We've already discussed Elmlinger's service in Afghanistan,
but before long she would be serving with the eighty
second Airborne Division in Iraq, and she says it was
immediately clear that things would be very different on this deployment.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
So we were west of Fallujah, and in terms of
like the medical we I mean, we were pretty much
it and you know, we're not close to a Level
one at all. You know, we're the basics, and there
were a lot of things that came our way that
(21:43):
were not basic. We were next to the euphrates, so
a lot of movement in terms of infantry, not just
our unit, but just a lot of different units. So
if they were out that way and something happened, I mean,
we were kind of like the first people, so a
lot of mass cows. We were also aviation, so our
(22:04):
mission kind of evolved into down to aircraft rescue team.
And I think it was a little naive based off
our experiences in Afghanistan, thinking it was going to be similar.
However it wasn't. And you know, I think within the
first couple of months there was a moment where I
(22:27):
really kind of had a hard time getting grips on
the situation because you know, the guy's just like, we
ran out of body bags, and I'm like, we didn't
use one in Afghanistan. And I think that's kind of
when things really kind of hit me. It's just like,
we're barely into this deployment and we've ran out of
body bags and you don't think about like reordering things
(22:47):
like that, and when I did, it's just like, I
can't believe this is actually, you know, what we're doing.
We're actually using these bags, and you know, we're using
them on mostly US service members. And I also think
that I was a little naive going out to some
of these down to aircraft, thinking, you know, we're going
(23:12):
to find all these survivors and we're going to help them,
when in fact, most of the time there were no survivors,
you know, and it was what can we find to
bring back for the family, And it's extremely important and
I felt it was extremely important that we do that,
(23:33):
but it was also very very humbling because that's not
what you want to do. And I think, you know,
me and a couple of the guys were medics. We
want to go out, we want to fix, and when
there's nothing to fix, you kind of feel like you
weren't able to do your job. And you know, we
felt that, you know, I'm not going to say they
(23:54):
felt like a failure. But that's probably like the closest
in terms of word to articulate that. And then I
think as time went on, and it took me many
years to kind of feel proud because when you go
to some of those crash heights and you can't help
(24:19):
I think I let that feeling overshadow the good things
that we did in terms of I know, those men
and women were treated with dignity and respect, and we
made sure that whatever parts and pieces and whatever dog
(24:40):
tags and whatever other personal elements we collected as much
as we could to get that back to them. And
you know, there were some times where it was it
was pretty sketchy because there's still some enemy in the area.
But I think for me, it's like, I know this
is what I would want, so I don't care. You know,
I don't care if enemies in the area. I don't
(25:03):
care if it X.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Y Z.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
You know, maybe I should have cared, but at the time,
you know, I didn't. It was just more of like,
how can we do right by these individuals? And you know, sometimes,
you know, the best thing we can do is collect,
you know, whatever it is for their family members.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Did you ever hear back from those family members.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
A couple. Ironically, one of my good friends used to
be in the unit. She got out before nine to eleven.
And what I didn't know was on one of those
missions there was a female who was deceased, and I
just remember when we went around to identify them and
(25:53):
I saw her ID card and I saw her picture
and I saw how vibrant and colorful she was and
then kind of put it next to her body. It
just it stuck with me. I mean it made me
mad too, because I'm just like, like, they're doing this
to us, and she's stuck in my mind. And I
(26:16):
didn't know why until several years later. I got in
contact with my friend and we were having a conversation
and again I hadn't spoke to her in many years,
and somehow we got on that topic and she said
her name, and I was like, oh my gosh, like
I was there, you know, when she passed away. And
(26:39):
what's ironic is that particular aircraft that was shot down
was actually headed to I'm not sure exactly where, but
basically dropping them off somewhere so that they could go
home on leave. So they were planning a party for her,
expecting her to be home in however many year hours,
you know, to throw a party. She's on Lee you
(27:00):
see all these families and friends, and unfortunately that party
turned into, you know, a funeral, and I just think
that I was meant to have her image and although
I didn't talk to the family, but you know, my
friend was a close friend her, but just kind of
(27:22):
be able to tell her like here's how it was, like,
here's how we took her off. She was able to
get into the helicopter and there was just nothing that
we could do. So I don't I don't know if
that gave them closure, but being able to share that,
(27:44):
I mean, that's kind of my hope. Is I thought
about that a lot, and that's one of the reasons
why I went into nursing and you know, chose to
want to take care of wound new warriors because there
was just a lot of times where I'm like, I
don't have closure myself, and how can these families have
closure when they don't know? So, I mean, that's that's
my hope in that particular instances, you know, there was
(28:08):
some sort of closure or just to be able to say, hey,
someone was there with her and you know, we know
it and hopefully that helped, you know, kind of ease
a little bit of their pain.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
After your deployments to Iraq, I believe you then served
at San Antonio with wounded warriors. Was that a Brook
Army medical that was?
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (28:30):
What was your job specifically there and what impact did
that have on you?
Speaker 2 (28:34):
So I it was kind of torn if I wanted
to go to PA school and nursing school, and I
a couple of diferent reasons. Our PA's were deploying, and
I was like, I just I just need to out
of this cycle. And I also liked connecting with patients,
so that's why I chose nursing. So end up going
to UNC. It was close to close to Port Bragg,
so did the commute for a little bit, and I
(28:56):
just I wanted something different. I wanted a larger hospital. Obviously,
I rack in Afghanistan, those deployments were still happening, and
I had done quite a few medical schools and just
different things down in San Antonio, so I knew that
I liked the area, and I was like, let's give
it a try. At the time, shoot, my daughter was young,
(29:19):
I mean, I don't even know she was quite a toddler,
you know, one two years old. When we got down
to San Antonio and it's it's just very family friendly,
you know, big city, but a small town field. And
in my mind it was I wanted to go. I
wanted to take care of wounded warriors. It happened to
be an impatient ORTHO floor because I had these deployments,
(29:40):
I had these experiences, and I felt that I was
going to be able to relate and I had all
these things that I could, you know, felt like I
could give back to these individuals, and I think I did.
I hope I did, but you know, hindsight, it's always
twenty twenty. And I learned so much from them in
terms of like mindset. A lot of people who did
(30:02):
limb salvage, a lot of people had traumatic computations, a
lot of people who you know, end up having infections,
and it was like, we have to take you know,
the foot, the arm, whatever the case may be. And
you know, I really talked to them a lot in
terms of the emotional aspect to connect to them and
just ask them how you feel about this choice. I
don't know why, but that just felt very important for
(30:24):
me to be on that level with them, and in reality,
they were giving me the blueprint of how to go
through my medical issues. So here I am thinking I
have all this stuff to give back, but I think
they gave back to me more than I gave to them.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
How soon after that did you discover the cancer in
your leg?
Speaker 2 (30:49):
So I was diagnosed in March of twenty thirteen, but
towards the end of twenty twelve, I was having some
issues and we just didn't exactly know why, so it
took some time. It was also misdiagnosed, you know how
it is with the medical field, you kind of have
to There were no huge red flags. That was the
other thing for me. Mine was very atypical in terms
(31:10):
of presentation. So I was only at San Antonio for
a little over two years. Two and a half years
before that's when I started having my you know, own
medical issues and talking with multiple providers, you know, from
my orthorne coologists to functional medicine to all sorts. Like
(31:31):
I didn't really have any signs and symptoms until I
got back from that Afghanistan deployment and then just in
recent years with the Packed Act. My particular sarcoma is
on that list so years ago, a lot of providers
had said, we really truly think it's due to exposure
in Afghanistan, because I was okay and then I just
(31:53):
had this painful spot on my leg. But I was
still able to jump high airplanes and run and do
all those other things. So again, it wasn't this big
glaring thing.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Yeah, living with us for a decade, a.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Decade which this particular tumor does not do that on
a normal basis. So there's a lot of things about
it that was very different. But I also think fortunate
for me in my situation. So a lot of people
have said, oh, I'd be extremely upset, and I'm like,
I'm not. You know, I'm not mad, I'm not sorry.
(32:27):
This is it was meant to me. And you know,
at this point where I'm at in life, I honestly
truly feel like this is how my life was supposed
to always be, and I'm okay with it. I have
a great life.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
So, given the mindset that you learned about at Brook,
when you when it happens to you, I would assume
initially it's still a shock and very emotional in many
different ways. Do you feel like that helped you focus
sooner than you would have absolutely otherwise.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
So, you know, my Orthlone coologist. I still remember today
him talking to one of the residents when he said,
we just need to go in there and kind of
see what's going on. And they really thought that I
had an injection, and they thought that the solution and
that injection is what was causing some of the problems.
So nowhere on this list was cancer, tumor sarcoma bad.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
It was just like, you just got this weird thing
that we need to go in and figure out. And
I remember him telling me in the pack, you you know,
it's a synovial sarcoma. I had this really heavy feeling
but still being groggy, I'm like, I just I can't
put two and two together. And it wasn't till one
of the nurses that I know just said, hey, you know,
(33:39):
I'm glad to be here with you, but I'm so
sorry it's cancer. And that's kind of when I was
just like, oh my gosh, I knew right then and
there that burning desire to go down to San Antonio.
That was why being on the floor and working with
who I was working with, you know that was why
it kind of felt like a lot of the things
(33:59):
and reason why I wanted to be in San Antonio
came full circle. I knew right away. I was like,
this is gonna be a very hard road. I knew
that because I saw that and I saw, you know,
some of the same patients make repeated visits, you know,
over the course of a year, a couple of years,
just with you know, some of the complications that they have.
But I also knew that, you know, I go back
(34:21):
to the whole blueprint, like I know how to do.
This doesn't make it any easier, but I knew what
was to come. I knew kind of some of the
things that I could expect. I knew some of the
complications you know that can arise from these things. Again,
(34:41):
I just but I was also fortunate. I think that's
the other thing too. Also felt very fortunate to be
where I was at because the only Orthorne College is
at the time in d d was the one that
I worked for. And now I just became his patient.
And I was a patient of my own floor. So
my friends took care of me, and you know, here
I am, you know, in San Antonio's one of the
(35:04):
better med centers in the DoD So there's a lot
of things that I was just the right place for
my situation.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
How did you finally decide that amputation was the right decision?
Speaker 2 (35:17):
So again, initially I did the limb salvage, and I
had a lot of complications. So it was roughly all
of like twenty thirteen initially trying to figure out what's
going on, the diagnosis, treatment, complications, more surgeries, and then
finally February March of twenty fourteen, I was able to
(35:39):
bear some weight and get back into rehab and try
to figure some things out. But I knew pretty quickly,
and I would say by the end of that year
that my life was about as good as it was
going to get with my leg and like it may
have looked somewhat same on the outside, but there was
(36:00):
so much that was taken. I had a lot of
pain from radiation, just a lot of pain from surgeries.
I had a large graph site taken out of my
left arm that was put into my leg, so there's
a lot of rearranging. I had a lot of nerve
issues with my arm and also with my leg, and
I think the biggest thing is I'm a very active person,
(36:21):
and I like to have options. I like to go
and do, and I wasn't able to do that stuff.
The turning point for me was somewhere in twenty fifteen,
and it's time now. My daughter is six seven. We're
kicking a soccer ball back and forth, and again she's
just going through the sports and we're trying to learn things,
(36:42):
and I was getting so frustrated with her because the
ball wasn't coming to me and I didn't have the agility.
I didn't have just kind of that same activeness, and
I was hurting. I was tired, I was mentally just drained,
and I can remember getting extremely upset with her and
(37:02):
then feeling very guilty. And that's when I just kind
of set back and I'm like, why am I so mad?
Why am I so upset? And I was just frustrated
with my life. I'm like, I can't live my life
the way I want to live it, Like I feel
like this ceiling is so low on me. And that's
when I started talking to some people, and that's when
I started really kind of thinking, Okay, you know some
(37:25):
of these mental hurdles again, I'm like, we took a
large portion of my left arm to put my leg
and I'm like, I can't cut my leg off because
we did all this stuff with my arm, and I'm like,
is that worth it? You know? Is it worth to
live this kind of crumbing life that I would consider?
And that's when I was just like, all right, we
need to work on getting over this some of these hurdles.
We need to think about how would life be, you know,
(37:46):
if you're an amputee. I went out and started talking
to people. When I would do adaptive sporting events, I
would find those people that did loom salvage. I would find,
you know, a lot of more men and I got
great stuff. But there's not a lot of female ill
mothers that did the limb salvage amputation. So that was
kind of the target audience I found them. I saw
(38:07):
a lot of them being successful and still able to
get out there and do it. And I don't know,
I just think we all have our own process, you know,
to kind of come to that conclusion. And then I
was like, Okay, I'm ready to make this decision. It's
not that I wasn't okay with it before because I
had told my surgeon. Initially, I was like you do
whatever you got to do. I was like, I need
to be a mother, like I need to be there
(38:29):
for my kid. I've been a single parent since she
was born, so I didn't care, you know, about the amputation.
I just didn't want to go through more surgeries and
have to take those steps back and then, you know,
but like anything in life, you know, sometimes you have
taken a couple steps back before we can really make
(38:49):
those big, you know, journeys forward. I asked my surgeon
one day. It's probably one of the most anxiety for
provoking conversations because I'm very much a realist and I
he was very supportive. I had no reason for him
to tell me no. But in my mind, I'm like,
he can say no, he can say no, and I
kind of grew that he can say no into like
a big monster. But I was like, I have to
(39:10):
ask him. I have to ask him. I didn't even
to ask him, and he finally was just like, I
think you're getting to the point of, you know, wanting
an amputation, and I said, yeah, that's the direction I
want to go. And it was a lot of happy
tears because I just felt like I think I can
get my life back. I don't regret the choices that
(39:30):
I made, but amputation is definitely by far the better
choice for me.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
That's retired US Army Captain Kelly Elmlinger, who served as
a combat medic with the eighty second Airborne Division in
both Iraq and Afghanistan. Coming up. Elmlinger not only survives
cancer and an amputation, but she thrives and becomes an
elite athlete representing our nation at the Paralympics. That's next.
(39:56):
I'm Greg Corumbus and this is Veterans Chronicles. This is
Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in this edition
is retired US Army captain and combat medic Kelly Elmlinger,
who served with the eighty second Airborne Division in both
Iraq and Afghanistan. You just heard Elmlinger's emotional story of
(40:17):
battling cancer in her leg and finally determining that amputation
would give her the best chance at a normal life.
But it quickly went from normal to extraordinary as she
immediately dove into the world of adaptive sports.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
I mean, I was thinking about adapta sports even after
my initial diagnosis, and I was very heavily involved in
DAPTA Sports, but I wasn't able to run because I
wasn't able to wait. Bear In actually had quite a
bit of my tibia taken out, so just walking sometimes
how we get stress fractures. Unfortunately, after the imputation, I
had more complications. So my journey to get into like
(40:54):
a prosthetic full time is not the normal one. I
ended up needing kind of another significant surgery, and that
was towards the end of twenty seventeen. And after that one,
that's when I was able to really heavily get into
wearing a prosthetic every day, walking, starting to get into
all purpose legs, starting to get into a run leg,
(41:15):
you know, starting to okay, I can get on a
bike now and work towards making legs specifically for you know,
those events. It was May of twenty eighteen when I
did my first I would say sprint triathlon because I
had done a couple of trathlons that were adaptive sporting events,
but first sprint triathlon, and three weeks prior to that,
(41:36):
I had an all purpose leg that you could run in,
and I contacted the program manager at USA Paratrathlon. I said,
if I do this race, you know, and I get
a qualifying time for nationals will account She said, yeah, Will,
and I did. And I went on to nationals a
couple months later and did very well, and they were like, hey,
we need to get you onto the international level. And
(41:58):
end of twenty eighteen, that's where I was at. I
was racing international level and here we are to take
your first year doing it an elite. I don't. Yeah,
I mean that again, that is not the traditional pathway.
There was just you know, a few things that worked
out in someone was retiring and I had a slot
and I said, yes, I'll take it, I'll jump in. So,
you know, May of that year, I'm in an all
(42:21):
purpose leg. In September of that year, you know, I'm
racing in you know, the World Trathlon over in Australia.
It was it was crazy, but I mean I was
so tired of being on the sidelines that they could
have asked me anything, my answer was going to be yes.
I was like, I don't care. I'm getting out there.
I'm getting it a go. Like, I know that I'm
(42:42):
not in shape for this where I want to be.
I know that have way more you know, potential, but
at the same time, everybody's got to start somewhere.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
Uh, and soon they're talking about you as a paralympian.
Speaker 3 (42:53):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
Perhaps the year delayed due to COVID gave you even
more time to prepare properly. But talk about getting that
opportunity and doing really well there.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
Yeah, so it was. It was a little frustrating and
disappointing because my category was not selected for the Tokyo Paralympics,
but they said my category was allowed to race up
into a women's category that, for all intents and purposes,
have more ability than me. And again, I'm like, it's
an opportunity. I'm going for it, like I don't care,
(43:22):
Like making the Games would be the equivalent to a
gold medal for me, especially when it's not my category.
And quite honestly, not a lot of people thought that
I was gonna be able to do it because I'm
so new into the sport, really didn't have a basis
for points and just experience. COVID definitely helped because it
gave me that extra year. It definitely did help. I
(43:43):
would prefer we not have COVID, but sure, you know,
I mean, it was a little bit of a silver
lining for me and ended up making the team. You know,
I ended up making the team and was able to
race in Tokyo. I end up getting seventh in a
category that's not even mine. It was great experience. I think,
you know, most people, we have some really good experiences,
(44:04):
we have some really good memories, and then there's these
handful of memories, you know, that we kind of put
in this really kind of special box. And that's definitely
up there for me. And I understand why people go
another four years because it's so hard to describe that feeling.
(44:26):
But I just knew that I want that feeling again.
And fortunately for me, they announced that my category will
be a metal event in Paris. In this last race
that I did a little over a month, a little
over a month ago, I was able to get an
automatic qualifying spot for Paris. So you're in, I am,
I'm in. What you that triathlon?
Speaker 1 (44:47):
Well we're just about have time, unfortunately, Kelly. But you
have persevered in ways that ought to inspire everyone. So
for anyone who has that horrifying diagnose or wonders if
they can, you know, live fully as they once did
or whatever their situation is, even if it's not exactly
(45:08):
like yours, What would you encourage them to think about?
And uh and take from your story?
Speaker 2 (45:13):
You know, one of the things that all my deployments
is how can we how can I kind of take
this really dark situation and turn some light into it.
And it was like how do I make my friends proud?
And for me it was like I'm here and I can.
So that's one of the things I hung on to
for a while. And then I think with my medical stuff,
(45:36):
I still kept that same, but then for me it
became its ability, not disability. And I think that's the
thing is there's so many people out there who have
we all have a disability, you know what I mean,
maybe it's just financial disability, you know, your car disability.
Mind's a little bit more obvious in terms of the
(45:57):
leg you know, and then you have you know, you're
you're hidden disability. But we all as people have so
much more ability. And I think for me, I wished
we as a society focused more on the ability versus
the disability. So that's one of the things that I
think about, like, I have so much ability and I
(46:18):
can still be very productive in my community as a mother,
in triathlons with my friends, with my families, and it
took me a while to get to that point. You know,
it's not easy to get to that point. But I
think that's one of the things that I would I
would share is you know, you may have this heavy
(46:40):
medical issue, you may have this heavy situation in life,
but there's still a lot of things around you, you know,
that are good, that you can still tap into. And
again it goes back to, you know, have this quality
of life, you know, make it into too, whatever it
is you want. Again, this is not something that I
(47:03):
thought about, however, being able to accept it, accept the
new me like, I'm very, very content and very happy
with the direction of how things have gone for me.
Speaker 1 (47:15):
I can tell just in how you tell your story,
and that's awesome in and of itself. So it's clear
that you were inspired by all the folks, absolutely the
wounded warriors down in San Antonio, and I have no
doubt that there are many people inspired by watching you
what you did in Tokyo, and I know you'll be
representing us well in Paris as well. Thank you, so Kelly,
Thank you so much for your time and especially for
your service to our country. We appreciate it. Thank you
(47:37):
Kelly Elmlinger, retired to you as captain from the eighty
second Airborne Division, served as a combat medic and she
is now about to be a two time Paralympian after
running in Tokyo in twenty twenty one, will be in
Paris in twenty twenty four. I'm Greg Corumbus and this
is Veterans Chronicles. Hi, this is Greg Corumbus and thanks
(48:06):
for listening to Veterans Chronicles, a presentation of the American
Veterans Center. For more information, please visit American Veteranscenter dot org.
You can also follow the American Veterans Center on Facebook
and on Twitter. We're at AVC update. Subscribe to the
American Veterans Center YouTube channel for full oral histories and
(48:28):
special features, and of course, please subscribe to the Veterans
Chronicles podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks again for listening,
and please join us next time for Veterans Chronicles.
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