Blake Cook

The fastest road to, I later found this out, the fastest road to them was, they labeled it as a black road. It hasn't been cleared of an IED in two weeks, but it was the fastest route to them. So that's the one that our amazing leadership decided that we were gonna go take. And we hadn't turned off Highway 1, but maybe more than a half a mile. And I'm the gunner. And we're driving.

The fastest road to, I later found this out, the fastest road to them was, they labeled it as a black road. It hasn't been cleared of an IED in two weeks, but it was the fastest route to them. So that's the one that our amazing leadership decided that we were gonna go take. And we hadn't turned off Highway 1, but maybe more than a half a mile. And I'm the gunner. And we're driving.

And then it's so crazy. I even think about it now. It's so crazy. I saw this massive bright light. And then it was like slow motion of seeing the dirt. I could see like piles of dirt. It was so crazy, like slowly, I never heard it. I just saw it and I saw the dirt come up. And I felt this heat pressure push me back and my back plate broke in half.

And then it's so crazy. I even think about it now. It's so crazy. I saw this massive bright light. And then it was like slow motion of seeing the dirt. I could see like piles of dirt. It was so crazy, like slowly, I never heard it. I just saw it and I saw the dirt come up. And I felt this heat pressure push me back and my back plate broke in half.

And then it's so crazy. I even think about it now. It's so crazy. I saw this massive bright light. And then it was like slow motion of seeing the dirt. I could see like piles of dirt. It was so crazy, like slowly, I never heard it. I just saw it and I saw the dirt come up. And I felt this heat pressure push me back and my back plate broke in half.

And then I came forward and smashed the whole left side of my face on the buttstock of the 240. And I woke up, they said about 10 minutes later, on a gurney. I'm hearing people scream. I'm hearing people talk about the QRF that's coming for us, just ran over an IED. They're seizing all operations. I hear Apaches. I hear something about ambushes. So the vehicle in front took the main blast, right?

And then I came forward and smashed the whole left side of my face on the buttstock of the 240. And I woke up, they said about 10 minutes later, on a gurney. I'm hearing people scream. I'm hearing people talk about the QRF that's coming for us, just ran over an IED. They're seizing all operations. I hear Apaches. I hear something about ambushes. So the vehicle in front took the main blast, right?

And then I came forward and smashed the whole left side of my face on the buttstock of the 240. And I woke up, they said about 10 minutes later, on a gurney. I'm hearing people scream. I'm hearing people talk about the QRF that's coming for us, just ran over an IED. They're seizing all operations. I hear Apaches. I hear something about ambushes. So the vehicle in front took the main blast, right?

Our front half of our vehicle caught it because it was kind of in between. But I got the back blast. The pressure is what got me. It pushed me back and broke my plate. And then I got slung forward and then broke the whole left side of my face. To this day, I still have no feeling on the left side of my face. Damn. You can look at my nose and tell that it's broken.

Our front half of our vehicle caught it because it was kind of in between. But I got the back blast. The pressure is what got me. It pushed me back and broke my plate. And then I got slung forward and then broke the whole left side of my face. To this day, I still have no feeling on the left side of my face. Damn. You can look at my nose and tell that it's broken.

Our front half of our vehicle caught it because it was kind of in between. But I got the back blast. The pressure is what got me. It pushed me back and broke my plate. And then I got slung forward and then broke the whole left side of my face. To this day, I still have no feeling on the left side of my face. Damn. You can look at my nose and tell that it's broken.

So I have no feeling anywhere over here. This is... They never fixed it, never gave me surgery for it, nothing. It's just, the nerves are gone. It's crazy. I can feel this side, but not this side. So if you ever see me with a face tattoo like Mike Tyson, it'll be on this side. Just so you know that. Teardrops. But I remember laying on the gurney, And they're trying to get a bird in.

So I have no feeling anywhere over here. This is... They never fixed it, never gave me surgery for it, nothing. It's just, the nerves are gone. It's crazy. I can feel this side, but not this side. So if you ever see me with a face tattoo like Mike Tyson, it'll be on this side. Just so you know that. Teardrops. But I remember laying on the gurney, And they're trying to get a bird in.

So I have no feeling anywhere over here. This is... They never fixed it, never gave me surgery for it, nothing. It's just, the nerves are gone. It's crazy. I can feel this side, but not this side. So if you ever see me with a face tattoo like Mike Tyson, it'll be on this side. Just so you know that. Teardrops. But I remember laying on the gurney, And they're trying to get a bird in.

Man, one of my really good friends, he's calling in the nine line. His name's Josh Marshak. Phenomenal.

Man, one of my really good friends, he's calling in the nine line. His name's Josh Marshak. Phenomenal.

Man, one of my really good friends, he's calling in the nine line. His name's Josh Marshak. Phenomenal.

I was aware at this point. I could feel bleeding. I could taste the blood. I just didn't know where it was coming from. And I actually have a scar on my head. It was a massive gash. That's mainly where I was bleeding from. But I had no idea. I had a massive headache. My ears were ringing and it was just tons of confusion. But I could see Marshak next to me and he's calling in the nine line.

I was aware at this point. I could feel bleeding. I could taste the blood. I just didn't know where it was coming from. And I actually have a scar on my head. It was a massive gash. That's mainly where I was bleeding from. But I had no idea. I had a massive headache. My ears were ringing and it was just tons of confusion. But I could see Marshak next to me and he's calling in the nine line.

I was aware at this point. I could feel bleeding. I could taste the blood. I just didn't know where it was coming from. And I actually have a scar on my head. It was a massive gash. That's mainly where I was bleeding from. But I had no idea. I had a massive headache. My ears were ringing and it was just tons of confusion. But I could see Marshak next to me and he's calling in the nine line.