August 26, 2023 • 29 mins
Ryan Gorman hosts an iHeartRadio nationwide special featuring JP Lane, Army Veteran and Spokesperson for Semper Fi & America’s Fund. JP Lane joins the show ahead of National Suicide Prevention Month in September to discuss his struggles after being struck by an IED in Afghanistan and attempting suicide 12 times, along with the work Semper Fi & America’s Fund does to help veterans like him and service members and military families.
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(00:00):
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a publicaffairs special focusing on the biggest issues impacting
you. This week, here's RyanGorman. Thanks for joining us here on
iHeartRadio Communities. I'm Ryan Gorman,and we have an important conversation lined up
for you for this show. WithSeptember just days away, there's going to
be a lot of focus over thenext month on suicide prevention, as September
(00:21):
has been designated Suicide Prevention Month,so to discuss that issue from a very
personal perspective, along with the tremendouswork Simplify and America's Fund is doing in
that space. I'm joined now byArmy veteran JP Lane. JP. Thank
you so much for coming on theshow and of course for your service to
our country. We'll get to Simplifyin just a bit and for everyone interested
(00:44):
in learning more about that organization,you can check out the fund dot org.
Again, that's the Fund dot org. But first let's start with your
story when you decided to join thearmy. When was that was behind that
decision? Yeah, Ryan, thankyou so much for having me, and
I just want to say that whenpeople say thank you for your service,
(01:07):
I want to let everyone know you'reworth it. But the reason why I
actually decided to join the army wasof a day that most of us remember,
nine to eleven. And the reasonwhy that was so traumatic for me
was I was sitting in eighth gradelanguage arts class and I'll never forget the
(01:27):
TV. The teacher leaves the roomand brings back TV on wheels, and
normally, as kids in that grade, were like sweetest movie days, and
all of a sudden, yeah,you remember, everybody remembers movie day.
I didn't have to do homework,but this time we didn't have to do
homework because we were all in tearswatching the Twin Towers fault. And that
(01:49):
really struck me. And my teacherwas like, hey, you may not
understand this, so we're actually underattack right now. And so that's when
I decided, you know what,when I'm old enough, I'm gonna make
that promise to myself that I'm goingto sign up and serve this nation and
hopefully get to be a part ofthat never happening again. And obviously life
(02:14):
goes on, things continue, andshortly after I graduated high school, I
was reminded of that promise that Imade myself and so I immediately went to
the recruiter's office, the Army recruiter'soffice, and I walked in there and
I was like, Hey, what'sthe most dangerous job you can give me?
Right now? I'm ready to serve. And at that moment, the
recruiter said, combat Engineer twelve,bravo, you'll be making bonds, blowing
(02:38):
stuff up. It'll be a blast. Don't work, kids. And the
funny thing is, I gotta findthat guy, because that's literally what he
said. And he had no ideawhat was about to happen. But that
was the sole purpose of me signingthat dotted line was watching that attack happen,
knowing that so many of my fellowAmericans had been hurt and killed and
(03:01):
just families were devastated. I wantedto be a part of the protecting force
to stop that. It's incredible.Now, at that age, did you
have any experience, knowledge, interestin the news or things like that.
Was your family politically active focused onthe news? Was there some kind of
(03:23):
military background within your family at all? So they weren't politically there was nothing
about the news. But my dadserved sixteen years in the Air Force.
Okay, so I remember hearing manystories about that. My uncle served in
the Navy, and so I therewas a little bit of that military service
(03:46):
in my background. But I'll tellyou this though, my dad wasn't excited
that I joined the army, andespecially when I told him what job I
chose, and he definitely wanted meto be a little bit in a safer
situation. But I wanted to befrontlines and I wanted to be a part
of that stopping force from the getgo. So it's amazing that you know,
a couple of grades later, thatwas still sticking with you to the
(04:10):
point where you followed right up onthat process. That's how impactful that day
was. Yeah. Now, absolutely, once you join the army, once
you've signed up, what was yourexperience like there? And I'm assuming Afghanistan
was your first stop? Yep.So I deployed Afghanistan in two thousan ten.
(04:33):
I joined in two thousand and eight, and so shortly after I joined,
I impatiently was waiting and I finallygot to deploy to Afghanistan and start
my true service of how I wantedto give my service to my nation.
And so I got over there withthe Soul Mission of doing route clearance,
(04:53):
and for those who don't know whatroute clearance is, Ultimately, every single
day I would be going out insome pretty awesome uparmored vehicles and we'd be
searching for the massive bombs that theenemy would bury into the roads, and
they would they would try to takeus out with those. My job was
to go first find them and makesure everyone else could go safely on their
(05:15):
mission. What was it about thatparticular job within the army that drew you
to it? Was it just thatthat was like you had asked the recruiter
one of the most dangerous jobs possible, or was there something else tied to
it that led you to want todo that. Well, it was one
(05:36):
of the most dangerous jobs in theentire military. But also I told them
I want frontline, and the inthe current war that we were in front
lineman. We're clearing bombs before anyoneelse went and did their thing. So
that's as front as I could possiblyget, So that's what I chose.
(05:57):
We're joined by Army veteran JP Lane. He's here to talk about Simplify and
America's Fund, which we'll get toall the great work that organization doesn't just
a bit. You can learn moreat the fund dot org. When you
first get to Afghanistan, what wasthat like just setting foot in that country,
(06:19):
so far away from everything you knew? And there had to be a
point where the realization set in thatyou know, you signed up for this,
now you're in it, right,Yeah, I'll never forget. The
landing was exactly like a movie.The plane literally was flide to the left,
(06:41):
slide to the right, then centerout, and then dive down.
That's the combat landing. And thenall of a sudden, the back of
the plane drops down and we startwalking out and a sandstorm punches us in
the face. I'm talking perfect moviequality, like, you're in it now,
You're not anywhere, get comfortable inthe stands of Afghanistan, and so
(07:04):
we're We get out there and weget situated with all of my brothers in
arms and those of us who werein the same company together and they get
us situated, and we eventually traveledto the base that we would spend the
rest of our deployment at. Andas we get over there, the unit
that we're replacing teaches us the routes, shows us, hey, this is
(07:27):
where you guys, gotta go.These are all the routes in your entire
area of operation that you'll be clearingand covering, and we want to know.
I want to let you know theseare the most dangerous ones. These
are a little bit more chilled thanothers, so just always keep your head
on a swivel. And nine fivepercent of my missions, I was a
gunner, so I would always bebehind a fifty cow or Mark nineteen or
(07:51):
two four nine, all the differentweapon systems that the army uses. That
was mainly my job. The firsttime that you went out with your unit
without the previous unit on your own, do you remember that experience? Oh
yeah, absolutely's that was actually oneof the safest days for us, just
(08:11):
because they have seasons of when they'rethe Taliban are one to fight, and
when they're not wanting to fight,and this was kind of a down season,
so it was a good time tonot only teach us the routes,
but also for us to do ourjob a little safer than the weeks ahead.
But the first couple of missions,no nothing exciting, just taking care
(08:35):
of ied threats, but no dangerousthings happening to me and my unit.
And then As the time progresses,while we're there for our deployment, things
started to get really, really bad. So let's fast forward. How long
was it between when you got toAfghanistan and began your mission and when you
(08:58):
were struck by a two hundred poundI eed? So I was actually blown
up three separate times. The firsttwo times I wasn't injured at all.
My vehicle was completely totaled. Sobetween the first day that I arrived in
Afghanistan, which I believe was aboutDecember first, then I was blown up,
(09:22):
and about February, then no January, February, then March twenty six,
twenty eleven, my best friend,Justin Ross was actually shot and killed
by a sniper, and that waswhat changed who I was as a person
internally completely. And fast forward.July second was my third and final blasts
(09:50):
and the last day I was intheater. Let's go back to we just
had a moment ago when one ofyour friends shot and killed by a sniper
in Afghanistan. You said it changedyou. How so I used to be
the happy, go lucky guy,kind of always out there and motivated to
(10:15):
push my troops and make sure thatthey're the best they could be, but
that day was filled with flu,anger, hate, revenge, questioning,
how could we have stopped this?Why did this happened? You name it
the questions we're rolling through my thoughtstwenty four seven. And to be completely
(10:41):
honest, we know that soldiers willcome home from tragic things that happened like
that, and it'll wear on us. It'll be heavy on our shoulders and
and stop us from living life,even though we're already back home. And
personally, I knew, besides beingkilled myself, that anger and hate and
everything that was boiling up inside me, I knew there was only one other
(11:03):
way that I would be able togo home without any of those feelings.
And to be honest, that onemoment ends up happening. July second,
while I was out on mission,I was blown up my third and final
time, and that time was thefirst time in history that a truck like
mine, an RG thirty one,was actually penetrated by an IEED and completely
(11:28):
destroyed my vehicle, causing twenty sixinjuries inside and out of my body.
We're joined here on iHeart Radio Communitiesby Army veteran JP Lane. I'm your
host, Ryan Gorman in just abit. We're going to talk about an
organization that really helped JP simplifying inAmerica's Fund, which you can learn more
(11:48):
about at the fund dot org.So one of the first times your vehicle
was blown up, you mentioned thatyou were uninjured, so the vehicle protected
you in that instance. But likeyou just said, it was that third
incident that was when you were severelyentered to the point where correct me if
(12:09):
I'm wrong, but you died twiceon the operating table, that's correct.
Yeah, in that moment when mytruck was blown up, it actually amputated
both my legs, and I alwaystell people that is a blessing in disguise,
and they're like, why would yousay that's that's kind of crazy.
But the reason I tell them thatis because my soldiers actually found my right
(12:31):
foot and boot melted to the floorboardof my truck. So if I wasn't
amputated in that moment, I wouldhave actually been melted to the floorboard of
that truck and probably bled out anddied. So I'm extremely grateful that I
was amputated directly as I needed tobe. But on top of the two
(12:52):
leg amputations, my left femur snappedin half, my pelvis snapped in half,
my spine dislocated from my pelvis,my right arm snapped in half.
My right metal finger was amputated,but nobody needs that finger anyway, so
that was all right. My fourfront teeth were knocked out when my face
hit the steering wheel, my braincollapsed to the size of a pancake and
(13:15):
then swelled right back up pressing againstmy skull, causing a traumatic brain injury
within minutes when my skull hit thewindshield, and everything inside my torso was
destroyed except for my heart and myleft lung. So, like you mentioned,
they got me to the hospital,the closest one at the time they
(13:37):
started operating on me, and Ihad died twice on the operating table,
but they had done a total oftwenty eight surgeries to help put me back
together, and I was in acoma for a month and a half during
most of those surgeries, and peoplealways ask well did you see anything?
Was there any visions or anything likethat, And for me, it was
(14:01):
a complete blackout. But I willbe honest, it was the best nap
of my entire life. Unbelievable.And do you do you still remember the
incident or is everything kind of blankfrom when the ied struck to when you
eventually woke up. Yes, Sothat is the only timeframe I do not
(14:24):
have registered in memory, is themoment they put me on the bird the
helicopter to give me to the firsthospital, all the way through the coma
for a month and a half untilI woke up in Walter Read looking at
something completely different than I ever anticipatedor expected for me. So you're told
(14:48):
that you're never gonna walk or eventalk again, or at least that's what
doctors thought was going to be thecase for you. But incredibly obviously we're
talking here for this inner view,and you're active on prosthetics, So let's
talk about that journey, that recovery. It wasn't easy, and I don't
(15:11):
think any of us who haven't beenin that kind of a circumstance can really
relate to what you must have wentthrough. So if you don't mind step
us through that, Yeah, it'ssometimes it's really hard to go back and
think about it, and it bringsme into tears because it was tough.
(15:33):
People don't really realize the pain thatI was struggling with. Was for every
single day, screaming, bloody murderand pain killers. They legally maxed me
out on as many pain killers asthey could for the day and it wouldn't
even touch the paint. It wasexcruciating and looking in the mirror seeing a
(15:58):
monster, literally a half a dude, my thoughts messing with me, the
medications they had me on, messingwith my thoughts, and you name it.
It was just a roller coaster ofemotions and pain and everything that I
was just trying to just trying tomove on, but it was very difficult.
(16:18):
I was hospitalized for almost a yearjust healing up and everything. And
during the time in the hospital andactually even more in therapy when I was
learning how to use prospects, Iwould be so frustrated with the situation and
with the pain and everything. Andmy family would be able to be by
my side from time to time,my parents and my siblings, but I
(16:42):
had gotten divorced shortly after being blownup and waking up in the hospital,
and so I was doing this allon my own, trying to heal up
and trying to get through and Ialmost took my life twelve separate times.
Because it's just I couldn't handle iton my own. And I'll never forget
(17:06):
that twelfth attempts that I did notpress the trigger. And it was a
thought that came to my mind thatchanged my mind forever. Aside from my
faith and giving my life back intomy faith in God and allowing him to
give me the strength to get through, he gave me the thought that as
(17:27):
we don't do this alone. Nosoldier ever goes to war by themselves,
So why would I go through amental war zone by myself? That's all
right there clicked to me and changedmy mind on ever wanting to take my
life ever again. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by Army veteran JP Lane.
(17:48):
Like we said at the beginning ofthe show, September is National Suicide Prevention
Month. That's right around the corner. Or report by the Cost of War
Project at Brown University estimated that morethan thirty thousand active duty personnel and veterans
of the post nine eleven wars havedied by suicide. That's quadruple the number
lost in combat. And what wasit aside from that realization that helped pull
(18:17):
you out of that dark place thatyou were in, And when does semplify
an America's Fund start to come intoplay for you, helping you along the
way. So the first thing thathappened was I stopped relying on my own
strength or the strength that I thoughtI had to deal with the situation to
(18:41):
try and fight what I've been dealingwith, losing my legs and going through
divorce and all of these other thingsthat just were painful and unbearable. But
the fact that I realized I neededto trust and from my face back and
God and say, look, youneed to handle this. I don't I
(19:02):
can't do this on my own.And he reminded me that I still have
a purpose here was what got meback up on my feet. No fun
intended, because I'm wearing prosthetic feet, but he got me back up on
my feet and not only gave methe correct s feet to walk right back
to him, but right into organizationsand loving people that he has put on
(19:26):
this planet to help those that arelike myself, who are combat wounded,
who have served this nation. Andthe fund has literally been there since my
very first call. I it's akind of a funny story, but I'll
quickly tell it. I was talkingto one of my warrior buddies, and
(19:47):
I never called him wounded warriors.I just called him warriors. That's how
they always are to me in myeyes. And I was talking to him,
tell him, hey, I hada lawn service come out on a
gular basis to help me with morein my lawn. But obviously I paid
them and stuff like that. Butthey were kind of getting rude and I
didn't want to deal with that anymore. And I figured, you know what,
(20:08):
I'm a grown man. I havetwo prosthetic legs. I can walk
around, but I need to mowmy lawn. But I can't get a
lawnmark because the lawn that I have, I need a writing lawnmar otherwise it
takes me four hours. And sohe was like, hey, have you
heard of Simplifying America's Funds. They'relike the greatest organization on planet Earth,
(20:30):
saying they literally will help you withthat need. So you should give them
a call. And I was like, Okay, I've never heard of them.
I'm really not the tight to reachout to organizations and do much asking
of anything, but I mean,this is kind of a situation I need
to, so I asked. Icalled the fond up and right away they
were like, sap, we gotyou covered. Go to home depot and
(20:53):
pick out a lawnmar and we'll getyou covered. And I've been mom my
lawn ever since. That's amazing thatthat was what connected you to this organization.
But it also shows that there's nothingtoo small or nothing insignificant to where
Simplifying America's fund says that doesn't makea lot of sense. I mean,
(21:15):
it's what makes sense for you.Yeah, Well, that's that's who they
are. They're not They're not reallyan organization. They're a family. That's
the difference. That's the beautiful partabout it. It's like, hey,
if you go to a family memberand say, hey, I'm kind of
in need of this situation or alawn mower or whatever, they're the family
members who say we're here to helpand we'll take care of that need.
(21:38):
The lawnmower was just the smallest thingthey've blessed me with my I'm a singer
now, even though yes, yousaid earlier the doctor said I would never
sing again because they destroyed my vocalcords during the tracheotomy and all that stuff.
But I sing and I record musicand go out and perform, and
it has been the greatest passion thatGod has given me to continue to stay
(22:03):
here on earth and have joy heredoing it. And they have literally helped
me record multiple songs. They havebrought me into saying multiple songs for warriors,
and it's just been they have beenone of the best supporters. And
that's literally what they do is theysit down with the warrior and say,
(22:25):
how can we support you? Howcan we remind you that not only do
you have a purpose here, butthe passions you have, we're going to
help support that, and that you'rebeing a little humble. You played in
two presidential inaugurations. Yeah, yougotta tell us about that. Definitely.
(22:45):
It has been an amazing journey ofsaying at Obama's inauguration, Trump's inauguration,
I was actually for a very shortperiod of time on American I don't want
America's Scott's talent. But honestly,the best things that I've been able to
do is continue to try I rollaround the United States and inspire everyone I
possibly can. And that's because ofthe fund literally have in my back everywhere
(23:07):
I go, supporting what we do. And it's they're fantastic their family.
I'm Ryan Gorman here on iHeartRadio Communitieswith Army veteran JP Lane, who's here
to talk about a couple of differentthings. First of all, coming up
in September, it's National Suicide PreventionMonth. We're discussing that and also America's
(23:27):
Fund. The fund dot org isthe website for simplifying America's Fund again,
the Fund dot org. So whatare some of the different programs that you
can tell us about outside of theexample you gave us and how America's Fund
helped you. What are some ofthe other things that this tremendous organization does
(23:49):
for service members, veterans and militaryfamilies. Well, I know for a
fact they have so many programs.It's they literally have done anywhere from hands
cycling, drifts and different supporting eventsall the way to they literally will help
(24:11):
you the warrior build a facility attheir home to start a business. For
example, we have a lot oftalented warriors out there. I'm talking beautifully
coop woodcrafted products that these warriors arebuilding in their homes and able to turn
around and open up their own businessand sell those products. Like they go
(24:33):
from to the lawnmower to your ownbusiness. That's what they're here to support
is your journey. And they evensupport athletes. Just to give you an
idea. They have been amazing supportersof Warrior Games, athletes who have traveled
across the United States in different locationsto be the best athletes they possibly can.
(24:56):
And I'm super excited because next yearI will be for the very first
time ever on the Army's team forthe Warrior Games. So yeah, they
have already said they would like tosupport that. I mean, they helped
so many warriors in everything that they'repassionate about. It is fun, it's
(25:18):
mind blown. I haven't met anorganization that has so much love for warriors
and their families. It's beautiful.For those listening who are hearing your story,
they're hearing about the incredible work thatCentplifying America's Fund continues to do day
in and day out. What aresome ways you would suggest they go about
helping support that cause? Oh,I would easily. I always tell people
(25:44):
I love to do my homework andfind out what the best organization is,
and when I find it, Ilike to brag about it. And one
of those organizations is definitely the funCentrifying America's fun. And I'm talking way
don't need everything that's in our Wallace, right, we can m Dr Wallace
and help warriors out. So Iwould definitely encourage every listener here check out
(26:10):
the fund dot org and check outwhat they do, the stories that they
have about warriors that they help,And I promise you if that doesn't tug
on your heart, I don't knowwhat does, because that's all they care
about, a supporting the warriors intheir family. And there are a lot
of ways to support Semplifying America's Fund. You can obviously go to the website
the Fund dot org and donate.You can also host an event volunteer,
(26:33):
so once you go to the websitethere will be a number of different options
for everyone to support this. Again, incredible organization. I mean you're hearing
it from JP himself about how muchthe fund has helped him. For those
who maybe find themselves in a similarsituation to what you were going through during
your rehabilitation, some of the strugglesthat you were facing, whether they are
(26:57):
a fellow veteran or or maybe not, what would you suggest they do to
come out on the other ends,like you have, I would suggest that
they take a second sit down andrealize they woke up this morning, they
(27:17):
have air in their lungs. Thatmeans God has a purpose for them still
on this Earth, and even thoughthey may not know what it is at
the moment, trust me, Ididn't know what my purpose was for a
whole year inside the hospital and painingthat entire time. I didn't know it
while I was in therapy learning howto walk again at the age of twenty
three. But He has a purposefor you, and do not ever give
(27:41):
up. Know that you need tokeep pushing forward and reach out to those
who care about you and allow themto also encourage you on a regular basis
and lift you up. Because Iwas not able to do this on my
own, and I thought I wasarmy, strong, toughest soldier on planet
Earth. But we're not meant tolive this life alone. So reach out,
(28:03):
have people help. I don't evergive up. And there are so
many organizations that are there to supportthose going through something like that, whether
it's Semplify and America's Fund or variousother organizations all across the country, they're
available for that support. Finally,JP, you talked about being a singer
and you're making music. Are thereplaces where everyone can go to check you
(28:29):
out and what you're doing? Absolutelyif you go to YouTube, say JP
Lane, I got a couple ofsongs on Spotify and Amazon Music as well,
and a lot more to come.I'm actually working on an album as
we speak, so very excited aboutthat and hoping to inspire people through my
music. So I love what Ido again. Search for JP Lane on
(28:52):
YouTube or various other platforms to findhis work. Army veteran JP Lane with
us year to discuss his personal storyand simplify and America's Fund, which you
can find at the fund dot org. JP again, can't thank you enough
for coming on the show, tellingyour story and for your tremendous service to
(29:14):
this country. We really appreciate it. Thank you, Ryan, Thank you
so much for having me again.You are worth it, your listeners are
worth it. And I hope youall have a very blessed day, all
right and you as well. Andthat's going to do it for this edition
of iHeart Radio Communities. As wewrap things up, I want to offer
a big thanks to our guest,JP Lane, and of course to all
of you for listening. If youwant to hear previous episodes of the show,
(29:36):
we're on your iHeartRadio app. Justsearch for iHeart Radio communities. I'm
your host, Ryan Gorman. We'lltalk to you again real soon
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a publicaffairs special focusing on the biggest issues impacting
you. This week, here's RyanGorman. Thanks for joining us here on
iHeartRadio Communities. I'm Ryan Gorman,and we have an important conversation lined up
for you for this show. WithSeptember just days away, there's going to
be a lot of focus over thenext month on suicide prevention, as September
(00:21):
has been designated Suicide Prevention Month,so to discuss that issue from a very
personal perspective, along with the tremendouswork Simplify and America's Fund is doing in
that space. I'm joined now byArmy veteran JP Lane. JP. Thank
you so much for coming on theshow and of course for your service to
our country. We'll get to Simplifyin just a bit and for everyone interested
(00:44):
in learning more about that organization,you can check out the fund dot org.
Again, that's the Fund dot org. But first let's start with your
story when you decided to join thearmy. When was that was behind that
decision? Yeah, Ryan, thankyou so much for having me, and
I just want to say that whenpeople say thank you for your service,
(01:07):
I want to let everyone know you'reworth it. But the reason why I
actually decided to join the army wasof a day that most of us remember,
nine to eleven. And the reasonwhy that was so traumatic for me
was I was sitting in eighth gradelanguage arts class and I'll never forget the
(01:27):
TV. The teacher leaves the roomand brings back TV on wheels, and
normally, as kids in that grade, were like sweetest movie days, and
all of a sudden, yeah,you remember, everybody remembers movie day.
I didn't have to do homework,but this time we didn't have to do
homework because we were all in tearswatching the Twin Towers fault. And that
(01:49):
really struck me. And my teacherwas like, hey, you may not
understand this, so we're actually underattack right now. And so that's when
I decided, you know what,when I'm old enough, I'm gonna make
that promise to myself that I'm goingto sign up and serve this nation and
hopefully get to be a part ofthat never happening again. And obviously life
(02:14):
goes on, things continue, andshortly after I graduated high school, I
was reminded of that promise that Imade myself and so I immediately went to
the recruiter's office, the Army recruiter'soffice, and I walked in there and
I was like, Hey, what'sthe most dangerous job you can give me?
Right now? I'm ready to serve. And at that moment, the
recruiter said, combat Engineer twelve,bravo, you'll be making bonds, blowing
(02:38):
stuff up. It'll be a blast. Don't work, kids. And the
funny thing is, I gotta findthat guy, because that's literally what he
said. And he had no ideawhat was about to happen. But that
was the sole purpose of me signingthat dotted line was watching that attack happen,
knowing that so many of my fellowAmericans had been hurt and killed and
(03:01):
just families were devastated. I wantedto be a part of the protecting force
to stop that. It's incredible.Now, at that age, did you
have any experience, knowledge, interestin the news or things like that.
Was your family politically active focused onthe news? Was there some kind of
(03:23):
military background within your family at all? So they weren't politically there was nothing
about the news. But my dadserved sixteen years in the Air Force.
Okay, so I remember hearing manystories about that. My uncle served in
the Navy, and so I therewas a little bit of that military service
(03:46):
in my background. But I'll tellyou this though, my dad wasn't excited
that I joined the army, andespecially when I told him what job I
chose, and he definitely wanted meto be a little bit in a safer
situation. But I wanted to befrontlines and I wanted to be a part
of that stopping force from the getgo. So it's amazing that you know,
a couple of grades later, thatwas still sticking with you to the
(04:10):
point where you followed right up onthat process. That's how impactful that day
was. Yeah. Now, absolutely, once you join the army, once
you've signed up, what was yourexperience like there? And I'm assuming Afghanistan
was your first stop? Yep.So I deployed Afghanistan in two thousan ten.
(04:33):
I joined in two thousand and eight, and so shortly after I joined,
I impatiently was waiting and I finallygot to deploy to Afghanistan and start
my true service of how I wantedto give my service to my nation.
And so I got over there withthe Soul Mission of doing route clearance,
(04:53):
and for those who don't know whatroute clearance is, Ultimately, every single
day I would be going out insome pretty awesome uparmored vehicles and we'd be
searching for the massive bombs that theenemy would bury into the roads, and
they would they would try to takeus out with those. My job was
to go first find them and makesure everyone else could go safely on their
(05:15):
mission. What was it about thatparticular job within the army that drew you
to it? Was it just thatthat was like you had asked the recruiter
one of the most dangerous jobs possible, or was there something else tied to
it that led you to want todo that. Well, it was one
(05:36):
of the most dangerous jobs in theentire military. But also I told them
I want frontline, and the inthe current war that we were in front
lineman. We're clearing bombs before anyoneelse went and did their thing. So
that's as front as I could possiblyget, So that's what I chose.
(05:57):
We're joined by Army veteran JP Lane. He's here to talk about Simplify and
America's Fund, which we'll get toall the great work that organization doesn't just
a bit. You can learn moreat the fund dot org. When you
first get to Afghanistan, what wasthat like just setting foot in that country,
(06:19):
so far away from everything you knew? And there had to be a
point where the realization set in thatyou know, you signed up for this,
now you're in it, right,Yeah, I'll never forget. The
landing was exactly like a movie.The plane literally was flide to the left,
(06:41):
slide to the right, then centerout, and then dive down.
That's the combat landing. And thenall of a sudden, the back of
the plane drops down and we startwalking out and a sandstorm punches us in
the face. I'm talking perfect moviequality, like, you're in it now,
You're not anywhere, get comfortable inthe stands of Afghanistan, and so
(07:04):
we're We get out there and weget situated with all of my brothers in
arms and those of us who werein the same company together and they get
us situated, and we eventually traveledto the base that we would spend the
rest of our deployment at. Andas we get over there, the unit
that we're replacing teaches us the routes, shows us, hey, this is
(07:27):
where you guys, gotta go.These are all the routes in your entire
area of operation that you'll be clearingand covering, and we want to know.
I want to let you know theseare the most dangerous ones. These
are a little bit more chilled thanothers, so just always keep your head
on a swivel. And nine fivepercent of my missions, I was a
gunner, so I would always bebehind a fifty cow or Mark nineteen or
(07:51):
two four nine, all the differentweapon systems that the army uses. That
was mainly my job. The firsttime that you went out with your unit
without the previous unit on your own, do you remember that experience? Oh
yeah, absolutely's that was actually oneof the safest days for us, just
(08:11):
because they have seasons of when they'rethe Taliban are one to fight, and
when they're not wanting to fight,and this was kind of a down season,
so it was a good time tonot only teach us the routes,
but also for us to do ourjob a little safer than the weeks ahead.
But the first couple of missions,no nothing exciting, just taking care
(08:35):
of ied threats, but no dangerousthings happening to me and my unit.
And then As the time progresses,while we're there for our deployment, things
started to get really, really bad. So let's fast forward. How long
was it between when you got toAfghanistan and began your mission and when you
(08:58):
were struck by a two hundred poundI eed? So I was actually blown
up three separate times. The firsttwo times I wasn't injured at all.
My vehicle was completely totaled. Sobetween the first day that I arrived in
Afghanistan, which I believe was aboutDecember first, then I was blown up,
(09:22):
and about February, then no January, February, then March twenty six,
twenty eleven, my best friend,Justin Ross was actually shot and killed
by a sniper, and that waswhat changed who I was as a person
internally completely. And fast forward.July second was my third and final blasts
(09:50):
and the last day I was intheater. Let's go back to we just
had a moment ago when one ofyour friends shot and killed by a sniper
in Afghanistan. You said it changedyou. How so I used to be
the happy, go lucky guy,kind of always out there and motivated to
(10:15):
push my troops and make sure thatthey're the best they could be, but
that day was filled with flu,anger, hate, revenge, questioning,
how could we have stopped this?Why did this happened? You name it
the questions we're rolling through my thoughtstwenty four seven. And to be completely
(10:41):
honest, we know that soldiers willcome home from tragic things that happened like
that, and it'll wear on us. It'll be heavy on our shoulders and
and stop us from living life,even though we're already back home. And
personally, I knew, besides beingkilled myself, that anger and hate and
everything that was boiling up inside me, I knew there was only one other
(11:03):
way that I would be able togo home without any of those feelings.
And to be honest, that onemoment ends up happening. July second,
while I was out on mission,I was blown up my third and final
time, and that time was thefirst time in history that a truck like
mine, an RG thirty one,was actually penetrated by an IEED and completely
(11:28):
destroyed my vehicle, causing twenty sixinjuries inside and out of my body.
We're joined here on iHeart Radio Communitiesby Army veteran JP Lane. I'm your
host, Ryan Gorman in just abit. We're going to talk about an
organization that really helped JP simplifying inAmerica's Fund, which you can learn more
(11:48):
about at the fund dot org.So one of the first times your vehicle
was blown up, you mentioned thatyou were uninjured, so the vehicle protected
you in that instance. But likeyou just said, it was that third
incident that was when you were severelyentered to the point where correct me if
(12:09):
I'm wrong, but you died twiceon the operating table, that's correct.
Yeah, in that moment when mytruck was blown up, it actually amputated
both my legs, and I alwaystell people that is a blessing in disguise,
and they're like, why would yousay that's that's kind of crazy.
But the reason I tell them thatis because my soldiers actually found my right
(12:31):
foot and boot melted to the floorboardof my truck. So if I wasn't
amputated in that moment, I wouldhave actually been melted to the floorboard of
that truck and probably bled out anddied. So I'm extremely grateful that I
was amputated directly as I needed tobe. But on top of the two
(12:52):
leg amputations, my left femur snappedin half, my pelvis snapped in half,
my spine dislocated from my pelvis,my right arm snapped in half.
My right metal finger was amputated,but nobody needs that finger anyway, so
that was all right. My fourfront teeth were knocked out when my face
hit the steering wheel, my braincollapsed to the size of a pancake and
(13:15):
then swelled right back up pressing againstmy skull, causing a traumatic brain injury
within minutes when my skull hit thewindshield, and everything inside my torso was
destroyed except for my heart and myleft lung. So, like you mentioned,
they got me to the hospital,the closest one at the time they
(13:37):
started operating on me, and Ihad died twice on the operating table,
but they had done a total oftwenty eight surgeries to help put me back
together, and I was in acoma for a month and a half during
most of those surgeries, and peoplealways ask well did you see anything?
Was there any visions or anything likethat, And for me, it was
(14:01):
a complete blackout. But I willbe honest, it was the best nap
of my entire life. Unbelievable.And do you do you still remember the
incident or is everything kind of blankfrom when the ied struck to when you
eventually woke up. Yes, Sothat is the only timeframe I do not
(14:24):
have registered in memory, is themoment they put me on the bird the
helicopter to give me to the firsthospital, all the way through the coma
for a month and a half untilI woke up in Walter Read looking at
something completely different than I ever anticipatedor expected for me. So you're told
(14:48):
that you're never gonna walk or eventalk again, or at least that's what
doctors thought was going to be thecase for you. But incredibly obviously we're
talking here for this inner view,and you're active on prosthetics, So let's
talk about that journey, that recovery. It wasn't easy, and I don't
(15:11):
think any of us who haven't beenin that kind of a circumstance can really
relate to what you must have wentthrough. So if you don't mind step
us through that, Yeah, it'ssometimes it's really hard to go back and
think about it, and it bringsme into tears because it was tough.
(15:33):
People don't really realize the pain thatI was struggling with. Was for every
single day, screaming, bloody murderand pain killers. They legally maxed me
out on as many pain killers asthey could for the day and it wouldn't
even touch the paint. It wasexcruciating and looking in the mirror seeing a
(15:58):
monster, literally a half a dude, my thoughts messing with me, the
medications they had me on, messingwith my thoughts, and you name it.
It was just a roller coaster ofemotions and pain and everything that I
was just trying to just trying tomove on, but it was very difficult.
(16:18):
I was hospitalized for almost a yearjust healing up and everything. And
during the time in the hospital andactually even more in therapy when I was
learning how to use prospects, Iwould be so frustrated with the situation and
with the pain and everything. Andmy family would be able to be by
my side from time to time,my parents and my siblings, but I
(16:42):
had gotten divorced shortly after being blownup and waking up in the hospital,
and so I was doing this allon my own, trying to heal up
and trying to get through and Ialmost took my life twelve separate times.
Because it's just I couldn't handle iton my own. And I'll never forget
(17:06):
that twelfth attempts that I did notpress the trigger. And it was a
thought that came to my mind thatchanged my mind forever. Aside from my
faith and giving my life back intomy faith in God and allowing him to
give me the strength to get through, he gave me the thought that as
(17:27):
we don't do this alone. Nosoldier ever goes to war by themselves,
So why would I go through amental war zone by myself? That's all
right there clicked to me and changedmy mind on ever wanting to take my
life ever again. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by Army veteran JP Lane.
(17:48):
Like we said at the beginning ofthe show, September is National Suicide Prevention
Month. That's right around the corner. Or report by the Cost of War
Project at Brown University estimated that morethan thirty thousand active duty personnel and veterans
of the post nine eleven wars havedied by suicide. That's quadruple the number
lost in combat. And what wasit aside from that realization that helped pull
(18:17):
you out of that dark place thatyou were in, And when does semplify
an America's Fund start to come intoplay for you, helping you along the
way. So the first thing thathappened was I stopped relying on my own
strength or the strength that I thoughtI had to deal with the situation to
(18:41):
try and fight what I've been dealingwith, losing my legs and going through
divorce and all of these other thingsthat just were painful and unbearable. But
the fact that I realized I neededto trust and from my face back and
God and say, look, youneed to handle this. I don't I
(19:02):
can't do this on my own.And he reminded me that I still have
a purpose here was what got meback up on my feet. No fun
intended, because I'm wearing prosthetic feet, but he got me back up on
my feet and not only gave methe correct s feet to walk right back
to him, but right into organizationsand loving people that he has put on
(19:26):
this planet to help those that arelike myself, who are combat wounded,
who have served this nation. Andthe fund has literally been there since my
very first call. I it's akind of a funny story, but I'll
quickly tell it. I was talkingto one of my warrior buddies, and
(19:47):
I never called him wounded warriors.I just called him warriors. That's how
they always are to me in myeyes. And I was talking to him,
tell him, hey, I hada lawn service come out on a
gular basis to help me with morein my lawn. But obviously I paid
them and stuff like that. Butthey were kind of getting rude and I
didn't want to deal with that anymore. And I figured, you know what,
(20:08):
I'm a grown man. I havetwo prosthetic legs. I can walk
around, but I need to mowmy lawn. But I can't get a
lawnmark because the lawn that I have, I need a writing lawnmar otherwise it
takes me four hours. And sohe was like, hey, have you
heard of Simplifying America's Funds. They'relike the greatest organization on planet Earth,
(20:30):
saying they literally will help you withthat need. So you should give them
a call. And I was like, Okay, I've never heard of them.
I'm really not the tight to reachout to organizations and do much asking
of anything, but I mean,this is kind of a situation I need
to, so I asked. Icalled the fond up and right away they
were like, sap, we gotyou covered. Go to home depot and
(20:53):
pick out a lawnmar and we'll getyou covered. And I've been mom my
lawn ever since. That's amazing thatthat was what connected you to this organization.
But it also shows that there's nothingtoo small or nothing insignificant to where
Simplifying America's fund says that doesn't makea lot of sense. I mean,
(21:15):
it's what makes sense for you.Yeah, Well, that's that's who they
are. They're not They're not reallyan organization. They're a family. That's
the difference. That's the beautiful partabout it. It's like, hey,
if you go to a family memberand say, hey, I'm kind of
in need of this situation or alawn mower or whatever, they're the family
members who say we're here to helpand we'll take care of that need.
(21:38):
The lawnmower was just the smallest thingthey've blessed me with my I'm a singer
now, even though yes, yousaid earlier the doctor said I would never
sing again because they destroyed my vocalcords during the tracheotomy and all that stuff.
But I sing and I record musicand go out and perform, and
it has been the greatest passion thatGod has given me to continue to stay
(22:03):
here on earth and have joy heredoing it. And they have literally helped
me record multiple songs. They havebrought me into saying multiple songs for warriors,
and it's just been they have beenone of the best supporters. And
that's literally what they do is theysit down with the warrior and say,
(22:25):
how can we support you? Howcan we remind you that not only do
you have a purpose here, butthe passions you have, we're going to
help support that, and that you'rebeing a little humble. You played in
two presidential inaugurations. Yeah, yougotta tell us about that. Definitely.
(22:45):
It has been an amazing journey ofsaying at Obama's inauguration, Trump's inauguration,
I was actually for a very shortperiod of time on American I don't want
America's Scott's talent. But honestly,the best things that I've been able to
do is continue to try I rollaround the United States and inspire everyone I
possibly can. And that's because ofthe fund literally have in my back everywhere
(23:07):
I go, supporting what we do. And it's they're fantastic their family.
I'm Ryan Gorman here on iHeartRadio Communitieswith Army veteran JP Lane, who's here
to talk about a couple of differentthings. First of all, coming up
in September, it's National Suicide PreventionMonth. We're discussing that and also America's
(23:27):
Fund. The fund dot org isthe website for simplifying America's Fund again,
the Fund dot org. So whatare some of the different programs that you
can tell us about outside of theexample you gave us and how America's Fund
helped you. What are some ofthe other things that this tremendous organization does
(23:49):
for service members, veterans and militaryfamilies. Well, I know for a
fact they have so many programs.It's they literally have done anywhere from hands
cycling, drifts and different supporting eventsall the way to they literally will help
(24:11):
you the warrior build a facility attheir home to start a business. For
example, we have a lot oftalented warriors out there. I'm talking beautifully
coop woodcrafted products that these warriors arebuilding in their homes and able to turn
around and open up their own businessand sell those products. Like they go
(24:33):
from to the lawnmower to your ownbusiness. That's what they're here to support
is your journey. And they evensupport athletes. Just to give you an
idea. They have been amazing supportersof Warrior Games, athletes who have traveled
across the United States in different locationsto be the best athletes they possibly can.
(24:56):
And I'm super excited because next yearI will be for the very first
time ever on the Army's team forthe Warrior Games. So yeah, they
have already said they would like tosupport that. I mean, they helped
so many warriors in everything that they'repassionate about. It is fun, it's
(25:18):
mind blown. I haven't met anorganization that has so much love for warriors
and their families. It's beautiful.For those listening who are hearing your story,
they're hearing about the incredible work thatCentplifying America's Fund continues to do day
in and day out. What aresome ways you would suggest they go about
helping support that cause? Oh,I would easily. I always tell people
(25:44):
I love to do my homework andfind out what the best organization is,
and when I find it, Ilike to brag about it. And one
of those organizations is definitely the funCentrifying America's fun. And I'm talking way
don't need everything that's in our Wallace, right, we can m Dr Wallace
and help warriors out. So Iwould definitely encourage every listener here check out
(26:10):
the fund dot org and check outwhat they do, the stories that they
have about warriors that they help,And I promise you if that doesn't tug
on your heart, I don't knowwhat does, because that's all they care
about, a supporting the warriors intheir family. And there are a lot
of ways to support Semplifying America's Fund. You can obviously go to the website
the Fund dot org and donate.You can also host an event volunteer,
(26:33):
so once you go to the websitethere will be a number of different options
for everyone to support this. Again, incredible organization. I mean you're hearing
it from JP himself about how muchthe fund has helped him. For those
who maybe find themselves in a similarsituation to what you were going through during
your rehabilitation, some of the strugglesthat you were facing, whether they are
(26:57):
a fellow veteran or or maybe not, what would you suggest they do to
come out on the other ends,like you have, I would suggest that
they take a second sit down andrealize they woke up this morning, they
(27:17):
have air in their lungs. Thatmeans God has a purpose for them still
on this Earth, and even thoughthey may not know what it is at
the moment, trust me, Ididn't know what my purpose was for a
whole year inside the hospital and painingthat entire time. I didn't know it
while I was in therapy learning howto walk again at the age of twenty
three. But He has a purposefor you, and do not ever give
(27:41):
up. Know that you need tokeep pushing forward and reach out to those
who care about you and allow themto also encourage you on a regular basis
and lift you up. Because Iwas not able to do this on my
own, and I thought I wasarmy, strong, toughest soldier on planet
Earth. But we're not meant tolive this life alone. So reach out,
(28:03):
have people help. I don't evergive up. And there are so
many organizations that are there to supportthose going through something like that, whether
it's Semplify and America's Fund or variousother organizations all across the country, they're
available for that support. Finally,JP, you talked about being a singer
and you're making music. Are thereplaces where everyone can go to check you
(28:29):
out and what you're doing? Absolutelyif you go to YouTube, say JP
Lane, I got a couple ofsongs on Spotify and Amazon Music as well,
and a lot more to come.I'm actually working on an album as
we speak, so very excited aboutthat and hoping to inspire people through my
music. So I love what Ido again. Search for JP Lane on
(28:52):
YouTube or various other platforms to findhis work. Army veteran JP Lane with
us year to discuss his personal storyand simplify and America's Fund, which you
can find at the fund dot org. JP again, can't thank you enough
for coming on the show, tellingyour story and for your tremendous service to
(29:14):
this country. We really appreciate it. Thank you, Ryan, Thank you
so much for having me again.You are worth it, your listeners are
worth it. And I hope youall have a very blessed day, all
right and you as well. Andthat's going to do it for this edition
of iHeart Radio Communities. As wewrap things up, I want to offer
a big thanks to our guest,JP Lane, and of course to all
of you for listening. If youwant to hear previous episodes of the show,
(29:36):
we're on your iHeartRadio app. Justsearch for iHeart Radio communities. I'm
your host, Ryan Gorman. We'lltalk to you again real soon
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