Ben Seekell is an active-duty Chief Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force and recipient of the Purple Heart, which is the oldest Military Decoration and given to those who are wounded or killed while fighting the nation’s wars. The Purple Heart is a solemn distinction and means a service member has greatly sacrificed themselves, or paid the ultimate price, while in the line of duty.
Full Audio Episode with Chapter Markers AND Topics:
https://passingthetorch.buzzsprout.com/1946508/12511782-ep-28-your-capacity-is-limitless-with-ben-seekell
FULL VIDEO Episode with Chapter Markers AND Topics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVzZGz6PtRA
More info about the guest:
Per the book Courage Under Fire: True Stories of Bravery from the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines - On May 8, 2011, Chief Seekell and his military working dog, Charlie, joined a security mission. As they returned to Bagram Airfield, they stepped on a landmine. The ground exploded, sending Chief Seekell and Charlie sailing through the air. Not aware that his leg was almost completely torn off, Chief Seekell tried calling out to members of his team. He was especially worried about his canine partner. Charlie suffered several shrapnel wounds and cowered in terror from the noise.
Chief Seekell faced a long, painful recovery. He had five surgeries, which included the amputation of his foot. He also struggled through about five hours of intense physical therapy every day. But Chief Seekell was determined to work with Charlie again. Only eight months after losing his foot, he passed the Air Force fitness test. Chief Seekell once again returned to active duty with Charlie at his side.
My Links
Podcast: https://www.passingthetorchpod.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC04suOPTX3ny_M0aDxmBAXQ
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pttorch
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/torchmartin/
TRANSCRIPT:
Something that might be slightly overlooked are other wounds. For example, emotional, mental and other forms of invisible wounds. What can society do to help heal those wounds? And at Purp I didn't want to give you these notes ahead of time. Yeah, so you get the real answer. With all that said, what can society do to help heal those wounds? Healing the wounds, I think is complicated. I think that anyone that goes through a traumatic event, you know, war is one thing. And I think where some of those mental wounds that folks experience, they get those wounds because things happen that they didn't expect. Obviously, there's all kinds of therapies we can talk about. I think as far as existing, people got to talk about it. Hands down, one of the reasons why I always and will continue to talk about my story, whether or not it affects me a certain kind of way or not, is because every time I talk about it, it gets easier to talk about it.