Capt. Mark Brogan and his wife Sunny recently participated in the Veterans Retreat Introduction to Aviation and Flight Training course.  We flew them to Miami for five days of Fun, Sun, and Flying.  Capt. Brogan has written a sample entry for the Heroes in Paradise "Best VACATION in the World" contest, as a guide to others who might be looking for some direction as to how to tell thier story. 

Following is the story of Capt. Mark Brogan – A true American war hero.

Eleven years ago, in 1998, I made a decision that would change my life forever. It seems that the world has it's purpose or just a coincidental journey depending on how you look at it. I joined Army ROTC at the University of TN-Knoxville. I, as the oath to enlist says, took the obligation freely and with no mental reservation. Maybe I was naive to think that we wouldn't be in a war anytime soon, no one did. As most college freshman I was carefree, more worried about the next party, exams, and girls. I had no thoughts of how actions, decisions, and events shaping our life and whether it was destiny or what may come just well comes...

I still remember 9/11 much like many other people do. Precise location, actions, and reactions. I had just returned from my daily workout to hear from my roommate that a plane had crashed in a building. Nothing too rousing in this day and age of tragic media broadcasts. After a shower, it of course became immediately clear that the world had changed. Greatly so for all of us in my apartment as this was our senior year and we were a few months from becoming officers in the U.S. Army. That oath we took so freely and readily would be put to the test. How would we react. Would be courageous knowing that it was a matter of time before we would be in a far away place, bullets flying over head, just like our grandfathers had told stories of. This all seemed so distant to us, the Nintendo generation. We commissioned as second lieutenants exactly eight months to the day, May 11 2002. As we expected, we did wind up in this far away land, Iraq. I served as a platoon leader in charge of twenty-eight men. Twenty-eight men looking to me to lead them through hell. Yes me, that was a daunting prospect. The field exercises in the woods of Kentucky had one lacking thing, the true fear of the unknown. Would I perform admirably, courageously, or let my men down? My mettle was tested more than I would've cared for it to when a suicide bomber blew up behind me with only four months left in my deployment. I lost one soldier, breaking my promise to bring all of my men home and for that I am truly sorry. I can never repay SGT Hess for saving my life by bearing the brunt of the blast. I can only live for him, honor him through living my life fully and not looking back at the event. I did keep one promise though. I promised my wife I would come home, and come home I did albeit not in the preferred fashion, but home non the less.

Everybody has the story of how they met and the connections, circumstances leading to it. When I look back at how I came to meet Sunny, my incredibly resilient wife and soul mate, it really does seem like the stars aligned because they knew what lay ahead. We were set up on a blind date and we connected quickly. Looking back at college, there are so many events that were so mundane an unremarkable at the time that have in the end came to shape who I am and where I am today. To quote Robert Frost,

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

I can't change, no one can, how our past has affected us. We all look for meaning in our experience. I am quite a skeptic of destiny as I feel we shape our destiny, but it's hard to deny that something isn't out there somehow secretly preparing us for what's to come. How could we have known that back on the night of the blind date that she would one day recieve a call from the government, telling her that I had been severely wounded. She has been an infallible rock in my life. I've heard that behind a good man is an even better woman. I admire her for her strength, which I am not sure that I could've rivaled.

My injuries included a severe traumatic brain injury, TBI, which has become the signature wound of the current conflicts. The extreme pressure from IED, bomb blasts impact the brain terribly and to add to the damage, I had shrapnel pierce through my skull into my brain causing massive bleeding and swelling. Surgeons were able to reach me in time to perform emergency nuerosurgery, techniques and quick care that were unavailable in previous conflicts. My recovery was long and difficult. Partially through my stubborn nature and that of my wife's as well, we were able to get back on our feet after three long years. I am now retired from the military and living the American dream as a new homeowner. I will always deal with some level of difficulty from my injury. However realizing that this can't and will not stop me from having an incredible life is essential. I have yet to start a new career, but have become an active veteran advocate in my community. I have even had the honor of testifying before Congress, sharing my experience to better the system for returning wounded veterans. An event in my life that no one could've foreseen as I lie in bed comatose for seventeen days.

As I was browsing the Internet one day, I came across a website for an organization, Veterans Retreat, www.veteransretreat.org. It immediately caught my attention. Through my recovery and new endeavors, I had yet to take advantage of many of the leisure opportunities out there for wounded veterans. Much of this was due to the physical limitations of the skull removal, cognitive difficulties, and active, daily rehabilitation. I had found that there just really was "no time" for this. I contacted them and Tim Suereth, their founder soon thereafter contacted me and welcomed both Sunny and I to come to Miami and participate in their program. I soon found out that Tim's brother had a TBI much like mine. He understood the great deal of hardship and amount of work and energy it takes to go through such a process. I was able for the first time to truly have a specialized experience for a "wounded warrior". For the first time, someone was "giving back" to me. The more time I spent with Tim and his wife Diane I began to understand it was more about paying it forward. Using this experience to shed light on what I can, what we can do to bring others into the circle of "giving back". Community is essential to recovery and support, through this experience I was able to feel just how much good we can give to some one. Tim gave me the opportunity to take flying lessons, which has been one of my child hood dreams. I had hoped to fly helicopters in the Army, but did not meet the very stringent physical requirement due to a slight colorblindness. During the lesson, it was a little hard to believe that I was actually flying a plane. Three years ago I could barely walk ten feet. Now I was controlling a four-thousand pound plane hurdling 80 knots through the air. Quite an improvement in a few short years.

Returning to my original question: do things happen for a purpose, are they random, or do we make the purpose from the mess? Strangely and more than you may expect, all of these experiences have connected to make for the situation I have arrived at today. From being a naive college student, a military officer with the lives of others on your shoulders, and a person who was on the brink of death, comatose, having to relearn daily activities most of us take for granted; I have just started what I believe will be a life of reward and positive contributions. The incident itself will never be understood. Maybe it's just a lesson in sacrifice. Sacrifice isn't easy, not everyone can do it. But for those who can and will, we all become inspired to sacrifice which is how society continues it's path of good will.

I recently heard a quote “ scars are tattoos with better stories”. Hearing this quote made me think of the permanence of my battered, scarred body. I think of two quotes from Shakespeare's from Henry V, which is better known by people from the popular HBO series Band of Brothers, that bear perspective on this.

"He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day"

“This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother.”

In honor of the scars I bear, the sacrifice I had given, I decided that a tribute to that sacrifice would be a tattoo forever reminding me of the meaning of the marks that I bear for a lifetime. During my trip to Miami I was fortunate enough to be in the same location as a widely known and made famous by TV parlor, Miami Ink. Tim was kind enough to oblige my idea and I was able to have this permanent reminder engraved on my skin. Although I will never forget why I have the marks on my body, some may have no idea why they are there. The tattoo will forever remind people of the cost of war. Our nation's oldest medal, the Purple Heart, commissioned by our first commander in chief, George Washington will forever be inscribed on my arm along with the date of my injury. This date is known as your “Alive Day' in soldier terminology. The day is celebrated not mourned. Celebrated for your second chance at life. I believe that we all have an understanding of life that no one else without a near fatal injury can replicate or understand. I welcome life openly now and celebrate who I am, who I was, and who I will be one day. Enjoy your life and cherish the experiences and people you meet along the way.

Hooked into the matrix... comatose for 18 days... I had some strange dreams in those 18 days... I remember fighting in the revolutionary war, being stuck in a coal mine, being strangled, being transported to my aunts house in an old time ambulance.. there are a few others, but the mind is a strange thing.. I can honestly say I had a close to death as possible experience. My squad leader said that I had no pulse and was not breathing when he got to me, thought I was dead... but I made it!

Learning to paddleboard, It's hard!!! Works on my crappy balance too :)

My tattoo from Miami Ink

Dianne, Tim, Me, Sunny, and Tina my flight instructor getting ready to start flying :)

Me flying a plane!!!

Landing, I was at the controls, getting instructions on how to do it.