Thread by @Johnny_Joey

Today is a beautiful day of celebration. People freely volunteer their life in service and many die doing so. It’s sad but their memory is joyful. Remember my brothers today and enjoy a day off!

Thread:

Cpl Daniel Greer was a Marine Engineer, firefighter, father and husband from Knoxville TN. He died from the IED that took my legs providing security for me.

Gunny Floyd Holley. Father, husband, Mr. Incredible. Floyd was married just before our deployment and had a baby girl on the way. Floyd was a mentor and was killed two weeks after my injury covering the same area.

Staff Sgt Steven Dunning. Steve and I were deployed together after graduating EOD school the same month. His best story was about his two pet ferrets.

Nick Sprovtsoff. Nick was my neighbor in EOD school. I met him the day he got a Bronze Star for his previous deployment. He and Sgt Day tried to teach me how to swim when we were recruited by MARSOC. Nick now has a Silver Star.

David Day. Most Marines come to EOD to be a “cool guy” Day was a cool guy long b4 we got him. A Force Recon Marine of the year, Day died working with Marine Special Operations.

Dave Lyons. I met Dave the day I checked into 1EOD Co. He was always easy going. He lost his legs 2 months before me and visited me as soon as I got to Bethesda. He died years later of a Brian aneurism linked to his injuries.

Chris McDonald. My childhood best friend. His dad, our football coach, is a Desert Storm combat vet. Long story short, he served in Iraq in 08, we lost him to suicide in 11.

There were nearly 30 Marine EOD technicians killed in action during the time I served in the field (08-12). They are men among men and heroes among heroes. #weRemember

Daniel is also solely responsible for me having the disgusting creamsicle orange tattooed on my body. #GoDawgs

Floyd and I worked out a few days before we went on the Operation that took my legs and his life. Like a scene in a movie we had days to ponder the extremely dangerous mission ahead. We talked about life and family, I remember two things most:

1) Floyd gave me the best advice an EOD tech could give, “don’t go chasing reasons to die. If you’ve taken one IED (Bonn) or 100 you’re a tech. Heroes don’t try to be heroes.”

2) I asked Floyd what he wanted his baby to be (boy or girl)? He responded, “I don’t think about that. I want it to be happy and healthy that’s all that matters to me”