American Hero

Vol 1                                                                Issue 15

I want to show — given the right tools and opportunity — those of us who have been injured can do anything. I'm here to show people I'm just like you.

                          Capt. Ivan Castro – US Special Forces

I saw him from a distance and had pity for him.  A scar creased his forehead.  His right eye was fixed in place, obviously a prosthesis.  His left eye wandered from side to side, not really focusing on the person he was talking with.  A red and white cane was folded at his feet. He was blind. A wounded warrior is not an unexpected sight at a military retirement party.  Still, I did not want to stare but I did. A feeling of sadness gripped me as I considered this man’s misfortune.  In my mind I cursed the war in Iraq and lamented the terrible destruction of this young man’s life.  I then turned away and went on with visiting with friends.

The United States Special Forces is an elite military branch of the Army.  Often they are taxed with the most dangerous missions and are some of the most highly trained and disciplined soldiers in the world. While we sleep safely in our beds, these soldiers are in some far corner of the world staring death in the face protecting our freedoms.  This wounded warrior is a member of the Special Forces.  He lives by a soldier’s creed described in a motto – I will never give up- I will never leave a fallen comrade behind. The man at whom I was staring and for whom I had such great pity is Captain Ivan Castro. He is an  officer in the Special Forces of the United State Army, one of three blind soldiers on active duty.  

As fate would have it, I was soon called over to meet him. Captain Castro stood before me with a Corona in one hand and enthusiastically reached out to shake my hand with his other.  I immediately saw that the tips of some of his fingers were missing.  A warm smile soon spread across his disfigured face. After exchanging some pleasantries he learned that I practiced law.  “I want to be a lawyer”, he exclaimed, “but you do realize I am totally blind.”

Captain Ivan Castro is perhaps the most amazing man whom I have ever met.  Born in Hoboken New Jersey, Ivan Castro grew up in Puerto Rico, where he was a track and field athlete, good enough to be offered an athletic scholarship to the University of Puerto Rico.  Losing interest in college, he joined the US Army and became a Ranger.  A year later he completed Special Forces training donning a Green Beret.  Attending school at night, he earned a college degree from Campbell University and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and joined the 82^nd Airborne. He served in Desert Storm, the Balkans and trained the Columbian Army. He is 42 years old, is married and has a 16 year old son.

One night in September 2006, while relieving his troops from a rooftop observation post, Ivan Castro was wounded in a mortar attack.  The mortar round killed two of his soldiers and left him with horrendous injuries. Shrapnel tore through his body damaging a shoulder, breaking an arm, fracturing facial bones and collapsing his lungs. The blast also drove the frame of his protective eyewear into his face. The top half of his right index finger was ripped off and the doctors had to amputate the remaining part of the finger. His right eye was blown out and he had a metal fragment in his left eye. He was in a coma for six weeks.  Most doctors did not expect him to live.

"My wife was the one who had to tell me that they hadn't been able to save my eye, and that I wouldn't see again. I felt like I was standing between both towers of the World Trade Center and had them both fall down right on my shoulders," he said quietly. "My whole world had crumbled in."

Ivan Castro was a true American hero before being wounded. He is one the most highly trained soldiers in our armed forces. He was a Special Forces operator. He did the missions that few would have had the courage to perform, some of which are still classified as secret. He was a veteran of armed conflict and was able to face danger with calm. He was a leader of men, someone in charge and in control. All of a sudden, he was blind and totally dependant on others.  He had many bleak days and lonely hours of total darkness. 

"I was very upset with the Lord up above. I said, 'God, what have I done to deserve this? Why are you punishing me? Why are you doing this to my wife? My son?’  I remember crying every night with my mother-in-law. I was devastated."

Captain Castro credits his wife for helping him understand the significance of his injuries. "She told me of what I couldn't see in the hospital wards. She told me that in the ICU were these 21 year olds with different amputations and brain injuries."  She said: “There are so many parents on this floor whose kids may never recognize them again. They would love to have their child walk, talk, eat and recognize them. And Ivan, you can do all of that. Your mind is sharp. It's still you. That's what we have to be thankful for.' "


 “You see I have ‘demons in the darkness,’ or ‘demons in the closet.’ ‘The closet’ is my brain. I don't see anything. I'm totally blind. I have no light perception. And when the demons want to take over, as soon as they try to, I try to keep them out. I think about all the things I'm grateful for: my wife, my son, the Lord above, His mission for me." There are days "when I walk into the wall, both literally and figuratively. I try to take a step back and not get angry and figure out a way to go around things. Once you're blind, you have to set new goals.”

Lying in bed two months after he was injured, he overheard a doctor and a nurse discussing the Marine Corps Marathon. He made that his goal. He would compete in the next Marine Corps Marathon.  Never mind he needed people just to help him stand and had lost 50 pounds of muscle. He begged his physical therapists for extra sessions and worked out on his own in his bed until he was exhausted.  He was still the man who took on missions that few would have the courage to accept.  He still was living a soldier’s creed – “I will never give up!”

A year after he lost his sight, Captain Ivan Castro surprised many as he ran in the Army 10-miler in Washington, D.C, in 85 minutes.  Soon thereafter he pushed his way through the Marine Corps Marathon — exhausting two running companions before latching onto a third — to finish in 4 hours, 14 minutes. Last year, he ran in the Boston as well as four other marathons. He also did a triathlon and climbed Grays Peak in Colorado. Just last month he completed his first 50 miler leaving his toes blackened with bruises.  Undaunted he is training to run a 100 miler.  He also thinks it would be neat to ride a bicycle from California to New York.  He remains on active duty. At Fort Bragg, he oversees the Spanish-language lab and carries out various administrative and logistical tasks making sure that soldiers are ready to deploy.

"It's not just about me anymore," he told me. “I am running for those guys I served with, the guys who did not make it back, the guys still in those hospital beds. I want to be an advocate for them. I don’t want people to forget them. I want to show that given the right tools those of us who have been injured can do anything. I'm here to show people I'm just like you."

We must have talked for over an hour. I was in awe of this man.  I was reminded of the debt as free people we owe the soldiers who protect us. I invited my wife to join the conversation. When my son called in from college on my cell phone, I made him speak to Ivan Castro. I felt better to have been in his presence.  I felt like I was being reminded of life’s most valuable lessons.  Be thankful.  Be loyal.  Don’t complain.  Set goals.  Don’t ever give up.

“You know the best thing about being blind?  I get to see the world the way I want to see it.” remarked Captain Castro. “You see I've traveled around the world. I saw the good, the bad, and the ugly. The good thing about being blind is that everything is beautiful, in my mind. The grass is always green. There's never graffiti on the walls. There's no trash. Everybody looks good--everybody's in shape, everybody's a movie star or rock star. People are just people – no race- there's no brown, white, or black."

When I asked him how he confronts the daily challenges his injuries present, he responded:  "I could have never passed these challenges without my faith in God and the support of my nation...I 've been blessed with a new sense of vision and clarity.  I feel that God has kept me alive for a purpose.  Now, I value each day more and more.  When people meet me, they see blindness and injury.  I'm here to tell you that life is a contact sport full of danger and challenges, but that is no reason to stop living."

Then he asked me to remember something a crusty old colonel once told him:

To be born free is an accident....


To live free is a blessing....


To die free is an obligation.

God Bless you Captain Castro and all the men and women of our Armed Forces!





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBzUT-Ra4bc    This link will take you to an excerpt of a remarkable speech given by Capt Castro.