July 30, 2021

Wounded warriors share message of resiliency in Florida

I did not know I got shot,” said the sergeant. “I thought a flare hit my legs.” He was on his second deployment in Afghanistan in July 2011 serving on a combat search and rescue team. His mission was to recover wounded service members. “Going out and getting shot at” was routine, he said, as his unit averaged eight missions a day. On the day a bullet tore through his legs inside an HH 60 Pave Hawk helicopter, U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. August O’Niell, 414th Combat Training Squadron Detachment 1 flight chief in charge of ground operations at Davis-Monthan, Air Force Base, Arizona, said his world changed.

Feb. 19, 2020

Making a come-back; road to resiliency

JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. — Sweat drops begin to form as the sun beats harshly down, no one seems to notice the rising temperatures or the sand blowing to and fro as coffin after coffin draped with flags is carried by… “A scream rings out and I jump up throwing punches. It was another recurring dream. I am the one screaming. I walk out of my bedroom, pop the lid off a bottle of alcohol and start drinking. I just want to get away from it all for a couple minutes. I don’t want to think about it.”