Army EOD Blinded in Explosion | Inspirational Story of Overcoming Incredible Odds | Navy Chef | Company Founder | Aaron Hale

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Today we hear one of our most inspirational Combat Stories from Aaron Hale, an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal tech who was blinded during an IED blast. Aaron later contracted meningitis and lost his hearing as well. You’ll want to feel sorry for him and, if you’re like me, yourself as well, but he truly has one of the most infectious and inspiring outlooks you’ll ever hear.

Aaron started his military journey doing exactly what he always wanted to by learning to cook as a Navy chef in Italy. After 9/11, however, he felt he wasn’t doing enough to contribute to the combat going on in Iraq and Afghanistan. He made a deliberate choice to become an EOD tech and it quite literally changed the entire course of his life. There was a point in time where his wife had to spell out every single letter of every word she wanted to say to him in the palm of his hand to communicate because he was, as he put it, trapped without the ability to see or hear.

This episode took me through a range of emotions and tears. Aaron’s story about the last time he got to physically see his son and his family before the blast reminded me of just how great so many of us have it in life and not to take it for granted.

I hope this episode takes you through your own range of emotions and helps put some of your own problems - that might not be so significant after all - into perspective the way it did for me. 

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Show Notes: 00:00 - Intro  00:50 - Guest Introduction (Aaron Hale) 02:14 - Interview begins 02:40 - overcoming disabilities and demotivation 07:00 - Medical logistics 12:16 - Childhood and optimism 19:17 - 4Patriots 20:37 - Recruitment and cooking 31:13 - Culinary being deployed in Italy 33:20 - Soldiers and chefs 37:01 - Best Branches food 41:21 - Army E.O.D. path 52:37 - Jobset of an E.O.D. 59:50 - The tech side of E.O.D. 01:15:07 - First deployment 01:08:06 - Encounters with explosives 01:09:02 - First time facing an I.E.D. 01:11:08 - Complex times as an E.O.D. 01:14:11 - Caught in the explosion 01:24:55 - Thoughts while under fire and aftermath 01:40:35 - E.O.D. expectations 01:42:53 - animosity for the enemy 01:44:45 - Regrets 01:45:42 - Extrodinary Delights and Meningitus 01:56:06 - Favorite dessert on the menu 01:57:44 - Other businesses 02:01:05 - Sentimental item 02:01:51 - Do it all again 02:03:20 -  Listener comments and shout outs