summer of 2010 it was an incredibly intense period of being at war in
Afghanistan we had so many targets to go after and so many casualties crossed the
board this was just one of the deadliest times to be on the battlefield the
country was a little out of control and the years we were working in no casualty
rates started going up fired fighting started going a little longer how the
helpers are being shot at or shot down
tomorrow is a task force that was created to gather intelligence for the
conventional military by entering areas that coalition forces had not been in in
a recent time we were able to give good intelligence by being upfront for lack
of a better word behind enemy lines we didn't have specific people usually that
we were going after we would have a specific area that is a hot spot you
know and we would target that area because we knew that there was a lot of
enemy activity there we're all over the country so different terrain different
compounds different people so like anything go on at any time we were
essentially just the worm on the end of the hook but that was a great way to
spark things up it's kind of every Rangers dream to go get in a fight
that's what she that's what you signed up for that's what I signed up for when
you have a enemy fighter and you know about where he's at
you know about what he looks like and you know what he's shooting a myth you
know that's and so that's a problem but it's a problem you can deal with but
when you have these these IEDs that are hidden in all sorts of places where they
think that you're gonna walk and you have no no way to detect them sometimes
it's at that's a scary thought
the term IEDs simply means improvised explosive device and that was about
largest killer on our battlefield at that time there's a bomb technician you
are at the tip of the spear and that's a very dangerous place to be you're likely
going to be the first one to run into an improvised explosive device or if
there's a tripwire you're the one that's gonna run into that tripwire you're
taking the hazard that everybody else wants to move away from and you're the
person that has to move very calmly and very purposefully towards that hazard
but in order for me to save the lives that I was able to affect I had to also
be there for the day that you know being on the battlefield almost claimed my own
life
September 19 2010 we were going out for a whole night we were gonna try to draw
in the enemy to combat us all day long so basically we ended up walking or very
rudimentary dirt road the brush and weeds and trees on both sides just to
the right of that right off the edge you have this maybe six seven foot deep
sewage canal on the other side of that canal there's a wall and the wall is
probably a pea high we had to get you know all 50 dews across this area to get
to where the possible Italian stronghold was because of the combination of the
steep embankment and the very high wall it was something that we couldn't just
ladder over that's the the normal way that we would have preferred to cross a
wall like that we found a break in the wall that we had previously identified
and thought that that can be a potential crossing point as we approached I said
look if I was a bomber living anywhere around here this is exactly roud place a
device Brian gets over there and they do their thing the four tripwires kind of
check the ground to see if there's disturbed pairs let's see if there's
pressure plates or something that was recently dug there on making sure
there's nothing where the water meets the embankment eventually I think I got
down on my hands and knees and I pulled that small handheld metal detector out
of my pocket I had gently probed the earth in front of me to you know to look
and see if I could find anything cuz I was so convinced that there was
something there there had to be something there we're stopped up at the
wall within the first 10 minutes 15 minutes of the objective and we were
everybody's taken a knee and facing out we were figuring out how we're getting
to get past this obstacle and the blast went off the plume of smoke went up
easily 60 70 feet into the air to be honest my first assessment was whoever
was hit by that probably probably not alive anymore the improvised explosive
device that I thought was there found me or or I found it I still can't see
anything but just like the outline of a person because it's so browned out with
sand and dust I started patting down his arms and his
legs and I get toward his knees iron it stops and that didn't click again and
realized what had just happened what I was feeling and I did it again and they
went down to his about his knees and then I didn't feel anything else that I
thought that was really weird and that's when my partner started screaming for a
medic as soon as I hear that you know it's just you know it's just instinct or
what like I started bucking straight through towards the bridge point I'd
still didn't know who it was I mean I think I saw a OD so I knew like Hell has
her yo D got it smashed first thing I look at and I see his legs I'm like
that's weird what the heck are those tree branches doing sticking out of his
legs like is he laying under under like a tree branch or something like what's
going on here I throw my aid bag down I look like oh
my god those are his femurs I think he's heading like he can't bring
either why nots that alarm nice went through his body armor off didn't find
any holes you know my lungs feel like they're filled with you know chalk or
something you know is making me cough in it and I feel like I'm blind and I'm
having to wipe all the all the dirt and and all of this out of my eyes and it
was right about at that time that I really started to figure out that I was
seriously injured I'm I'm looking at my left arm and my left arm all of these
fingers they were broken and they were pointing in just really crazy directions
I put a tourniquet on one of his legs the medics put one in his other leg and
then on his arm it's probably the most painful thing that I can remember ever
happening you know if the end of my limb looked something like this
they were wrenching a tourniquet down on top of it to tighten it down as tight as
they possibly could to make sure I don't hammer it out on the battlefield we're
lucky that you know the blast cauterized his legs and he wasn't bleeding very
much and then they start working on other things getting his equipment off
you know running fluids on him and doing their thing and at that point I stepped
back after that they got me onto the stretcher and this all happened in a
really quick period of time it was a very surreal experience being
transported on the stretcher we're used to seeing the world go by as we walk
around the world vertically and all of a sudden I'm laying on the flat of my back
and I'm seeing the world go by like this you know somebody gave me a salute and
told me that I was gonna be okay and that's the last thing that I remember
from from that night the next memory that I have is about
five days later when I woke up to this nurse asking me if I knew where I was
and to which I said I have no idea where I am and she said you know your name is
Brian master in Washington DC at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and you're
going to be in surgery in a couple hours I didn't even know at that point really
what my injuries were I didn't know that I had just you know had both of my legs
amputated somewhere above my knees or that I had a missing index finger or
damage to my form I really didn't know what the injuries were it wasn't till
after this incident but I really get to you know see him see his personality
kind of see how he handles for tragedy how he handles he's you know this
horrible thing that's happened to him being able to you know walk in regain
his normal functioning is just it was quite the testament of you know his
strength and his drive it's awesome to see a guy like that have so much
determination and he's an inspiration to other veterans who have gone through you
know situations like his
the thing that I'm most proud of it's not any any medal or award it's when the
Rangers gave me a ceremony to make me an honorary member of the 75th Ranger
Regiment that day they said you're officially a ranger you're officially
one of us he is a ranger in my book there's no question about that and a lot
of guys are just as hard as him and just as determined as him that was part of
what makes me so proud about these guys that I work with is they are the tip of
the spear going out every single night knowing the hazards that they were going
to have to combat taking contact and losing your eyes is just kind of it's
hard to put into words that kind of experience
it's very thankful that you get home alive in one piece Americans have always
been willing to pay that price and those Rangers that I work with they they
embody that every single night
you