This past week, Marine Bomb Tech Johnny Joey Jones celebrated the tenth anniversary of his Alive Day. The day he was blown up in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The retired Staff Sergeant reflected on that day and the loss of both legs in an article and video for Fox News.

In case you do not get the Fox News Channel or have a subscription to the Fox Nation streaming service, Johnny Joey Jones is a native of North Georgia, obvious from his drawl, and is a telegenic 34 year old. After his injury and while recuperating at Walter Reed Army Hospital, the former Marine Bomb Tech, attended and graduated from Georgetown University. He has worked with the Boot Campaign and is a motivational speaker. I am a huge fan, and wrote about Jones back when spoiled soccer star, Megan Rapinoe, was throwing her tantrums.

It’s difficult for most of us to imagine going to war, and the idea of being blown up is unimaginable. Jones was blown up and survived, although he lost both legs, was covered in shrapnel, and suffered injuries to both wrists. That day, August 6, 2010, is his Alive Day. This past week, he wrote:

Ten years ago this week I was lying on a foreign battlefield in the rural Helmand Province of Afghanistan.

Just moments before I had rendered safe or disarmed an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) or “homemade bomb” and was talking to the Marine providing security for me, Cpl. Daniel Greer.

In the blink of an eye, my life, Daniel’s life and the lives of those we love changed forever.

As I put my helmet and ballistic glasses back on to move towards my patrol, I took a step with my right foot away from a short wall I was leaning against.

My foot landed on a buried IED, activating it and sending me cartwheeling through the air, conscious and without legs. I landed on my back.

As the dust settled I could tell my legs were gone, just past them, I could see Cpl. Greer lying on his stomach, motionless. I reach up to my left shoulder for a tourniquet with my right hand but my forearm was severed and my hand lay limp in my lap. My left arm was under me and I could feel it.

As my body went into shock I realized my efforts should be directed at helping the Marines coming to retrieve us. The rest of that day is blurry at best. — I’ve been told some details but that’s all the memories I have. That day, August 6th, 2010, isn’t the day I lost my legs, it’s the day I lived. It’s my “Alive Day.”

At that time, several television news crews were embedded with his unit in Afghanistan and there is footage of him speaking with crews and the aftermath of the explosion that injured him. Jones, another Bomb Tech, and a Marine Combat Engineer, Greer, were working that day. The team had removed 40 IED’s in five days. As Jones described it, he took off his equipment, wiped the Summer sweat off his face, put his gear back on and took a step to the right away from the short wall he had been leaning on. That’s when he got blown up:

When he woke up in Landstuhl, he asked the nurse about his friend Greer. The nurse said that Jones would walk again. He says that that was the most hopeful thing she could say. At that moment, Greer’s parents were making the decision to take him off of life support.

Jones has such an infectious, joyous personality, it is inspiring. He jokes that when his Mom found out he had signed up to be a Marine Bomb Tech she said that she had heard all I.E.D. techs lose a limb, and that makes him an overachiever. He says that he didn’t lose his legs, he got a second chance at life. In the Fox Nation Alive Day video, Brigadier General Ben Watson describes Staff Sergeant Jones as being “resilient”. Resilience is such an American attribute. And, it is a perfect description of Jones.

Jones has used his Alive Day to the very best of his abilities. This is something we should all think about as we are surround by the ‘Rona and all the other chaos of 2020. Let’s all be resilient. Happy Alive Day, Staff Sergeant Jones.

Featured Image: Johnny Joey Jones/Public Domain