most inspired you've gotten from working at gallantfew

Oh that’s easy. I had been working with the organization for about a year, and I got a call from Karl, saying “hey- I need you to call this guy.”

So I kept calling, and four or five other people are calling, and finally he picks up, and I get to talking to him. And he’s a quadriplegic, and he’s having a rough go. And after talking to him and checking in with him the next couple of days- he took my advice, and got moving. I told him “The worst thing about getting out of a damn rut is moving.” You have to start moving.

It’s like saying- “I’m going to run a marathon- so I’m going to run five miles today.” But you’ve never run five miles before, so you get four-hundred yards down the road and you’re like “dude this is awful! Why am I doing this?” But you’re moving. And you start picking up pace, and you start building up endurance and strength, and you’re changing scenery.

And I said to him- “If you keep moving- you will get better. Change your environment. If the people around you suck- find new people. If your house sucks- leave. Go see some friends, change everything right now, and go somewhere.” Well he did. And he went and saw someone that he served with, and was very close with, and it changed his life. And his name is Chris Bemiss. And if you go on YouTube and look up The Ranger you can learn more about him. After we had talked for a while, and we figured out that the first time I went to Ranger School, he was in the same class that I was. And one of his very close friends with a guy that was in my squad. Chris is the perfect example of Ranger. He’s got all of this energy, drive, assertiveness and aggression. And he wants to be successful, and he’s beating himself up, because he’s not where he wants to be, and he’s asking himself “Why am I treating people this way? Why am I doing it like this? Why am I so angry? Why am I failing?

And someone snaps you out of it, and you relent, and you give yourself into another way of thinking. Kind of like when you join the army, and you change yourself- and you realize- I can do this. And that dude (Chris Bemiss) is a rock-star, and if he’s not a hero in everyone’s book, I don’t know. I love Chris to death. So that is probably the most inspired I’ve ever been with the organization.

He’s working with GallantFew now. Every time I see a veteran succeed, that came from a low spot and overcame that level of hardship- I just don’t know how you don’t look at that person and say “they’re harder than nails…” How do you not respect that? I mean the dude’s a quadriplegic, and he drives all over the country- he’ll get a call late at night, drive hundreds of miles to see a veteran who’s in need, because that’s what it takes, and for a guy that is in his position, to still be full of piss and vinegar, and he’s successful. I mean I don’t know what else could inspire you if that doesn’t. And I’ll think of him, and what he went through when I start going through a hard time at work, or maybe my cheeseburger wasn’t cooked exactly the way I wanted- I’ll think “hmm- Chris pulled through- I think I’ll be okay with this half cooked cheeseburger…”