Purple Heart Recipient Shares His Combat and Life Story

Gunnery Sergeant Isaac Gallegos survived an IED blast in Iraq in 2006 that burned 84% of his body, shattered his jaw into 37 pieces, and pronounced him dead three separate times. What happened next is the reason this conversation exists. 161 surgeries later, Isaac didn’t quietly accept a medical retirement. He fought his way back to active duty, scored a 292 on his combat fitness test, carried an 80 pound ruck through the Bataan Memorial March, and ran a 100 mile ultramarathon without stopping. Nearly two decades of service. Just retired from the United States Marine Corps.

In this episode, Isaac walks through the day of the blast, what he remembers from those first hours, and how he mentally processed what he was facing in the hospital at Brooke Army Medical Center. We talk about what it actually takes to come back, the three pillars he credits for surviving it all, what made him refuse the easy road, and what he still holds himself to today. This is not a motivational speech. It is a firsthand account of a man who refused to accept the ceiling everyone else was ready to put on him.

If you are quietly settling for a lesser version of yourself, this episode is going to be hard to sit with. That is the point.

Transcript

Auto-generated from the episode audio and lightly formatted. Each timestamp links to that moment in the video.

0:00 I was popped up, and then I don’t know if it was just we were heavier than everybody else, or we just hit it right, and we just hit that pressure plate IED as we rolled over it, and I was launched from the vehicle after the explosion. Every man listening to this show has a version of himself he has quietly agreed to. Maybe it’s 80%. Maybe it’s 70%. Maybe he used to be the guy who pushed limits, and now he is a guy who just manages comfort. My guest today does not have that option. He had it taken from him on a road in Iraq. And what he did next is the reason he is sitting across from me. Welcome to No High, Just Standards. I’m Zach Armstrong. Today, I’m sitting down with Gunnery Sergeant Isaac Guy Egos, just retired from the United States Marine Corps after nearly two decades of service. Purple Heart, IED survivor, infantry scout with third

1:00 Light armored reconnaissance battalion when his vehicle hit a pressure plate IED in 2006. Two artillery rounds, drums of homemade napalm, 84% of his body burned, jaw shattered into 37 pieces, pronounced dead three separate times before doctors could stabilize. 161 surgeries later, Isaac did not just survive. He fought his way all the way back onto active duty. He scored a 292 on his combat fitness test. He carried an 80-lb ruck through the Bataan Memorial March. He ran a 100-mile ultra-marathon non-stop. He kept serving for years after any honorable medical retirement was on the table. And he sat down with multiple presidents, including President Obama at the White House to talk about what it means to come back. This is not a story of overcoming adversity. It is a story about a man who refused to accept the ceiling other people were ready to put on him. Every man listening is going to have to answer

2:00 A hard question today. If Isaac can come back from this, what the hell is your excuse? If you’re not subscribed, do it now. Hit follow. If this episode moves you, share it with the man who needs to hear it. Let’s get into this. Isaac, I want to thank you for joining me uh today. So, let’s start easy question. Talking about a Marine, starting from birth, where were you born? Born Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Yeah. So, Marine born from a Marine, right? So, came in Marine Corps uh from birth. And from there you got a congressional and uh Senate hearing appointment to Annapolis and it didn’t make the final cut. What did that moment teach you? Uh just keep going in a different direction. Right. So, adversary from the start, right? And when you reflect on that, was there anything impactful to you at the time? Uh just mean that I would have to try harder Yeah. to get the result I wanted. Yeah. Um you were already in Afghanistan and

3:00 Iraq as a contract before you ever enlisted. What was what was that pulling you towards that fight? Um initially I wanted to join the Marines right away out of high school, but my dad was a former you know, he’s a Marine, but he said try college first, get that education, and then try and go officer, which that’s what initially I was trying to do. And then with the pause with the um Annapolis uh didn’t get it the final acceptance, then you know, I had to backpedal and then start a different path. Right. Um you finally enlisted in 2005 at 21. Um what had to happen first for you there to get that going? Um well, I was still working uh for the Justice Department at the time and unfortunately I was stuck on a desk basically, uh helping uh with the police and law enforcement academies. And, you know, it just once you seen it action, you’re just you can’t get enough. So,

4:01 Get put on a desk and it just couldn’t take it anymore. So, I was just like, you know what? I’m going one way or another. One way or the other. Um what what got you into like the law enforcement stuff, too? Just getting a natural, you know, how to how how how was all this pulling you there? Um well, my dad uh he was a director for the academy at the time. And then, my uncle’s a detective or he just retired. So, um I had a lot of that. I just started working for him when I was going to college and it just kind of worked into it. Okay. You know, um before you were heading to Iraq, um what were you kind of thinking as a young Marine like what all was going on? You I mean, you were very, you know, had to be aware of what was happening in the world. What like what were you kind of thinking? Um you know, I had a I was lucky enough to get to see a lot of things that the young boots at the time, you know, didn’t get to see yet. So, um I already knew a lot of the stuff that, you know, the drill instructors were going to teach us and whatnot, but um I had that step ahead of them. And uh I think a little of the DIs, they

5:01 They didn’t understand it, but at the time, you know, I was just going with the flow. Mhm. And so, you know, you got through infantry school and then you were going to head to Iraq. Um what what were you kind of thinking like what was possible heading in there? Um well, just like any war, the setting changes. You know, the enemy will adapt, try new avenues of approach, uh tactics, and whatnot. And uh 2005 to 2006, they stopped trying to do ambushes and whatnot. And that’s when the IEDs started being a big thing. They started hiding them, digging them side all uh the the roads. Uh they’d find like a carcasses, trash, anything they could to cover them. and basically use those instead of uh personnel to take out US service members. Yeah. Um And so when you got to Iraq like kind of like how was the setting there? What did

6:02 It look like? Where were you at and like how did that look? Um we did the initial Kuwait to kind of get the acclimated to the weather and all that. Well, it was interesting because uh the first week I think we were at time and then uh we Yeah, it was Al Qaim. And then basically we were there for a couple days before we did a turnover with I believe it was second or first LAR. Okay. And they were up north somewhere in Iraq. So we had to wait and then move up there to basically do a turnover with the vehicles. And literally the first or second night we were there uh one of our drivers he uh went into one of the the heads and it’s almost like a uh trailer Mhm. trailer head and apparently he left his weapon in there and then went back to sleep. So and then one of the base commanders found it and so literally we started off our deployment with 100% you know fire watch because Yeah. and he was saying some marine stole it. But yeah, and he had a few other stories

7:02 Down the road but that were similar. But you know, that’s how we started our deployment. Yeah, already already high high on there. So you know, once you got on the deployment like let’s let’s talk about you know, August 20th, 2006. Um you were on your way back from a a raid. Um can you walk us through what you remember? Uh at the time early morning we started we did our brief and then we loaded up. I was down a sharpshooter and then my team leader had a episode so he was out. I was acting squad leader and team leader. So I I in charge and um it was a blessing in disguise that we were down two men. Uh I took uh an engineer, Corporal Galvez. He uh joined our vehicle. Um we were the Medevac vehicle at the time, so I docked with us. And uh we were just lucky enough because, you know, it would have been more casualties had they been in our vehicle at the time. But um we loaded up, and uh

8:03 Basically I told them because it was a new almost a new fire team that didn’t have the experience uh the past team that I said, “Hey, we’re just providing security. Stay in the vehicle. Don’t do anything crazy.” Um we loaded up. We went out to uh the the AO, the snatch and grab for these high-value targets. We didn’t even get out of the vehicle. I told them stay in, and basically everybody in the other vehicles they, you know, did their uh 360 went to whatever the building was, and then they got the guys, loaded them up, and then we just headed out. It was not shot fired. You know, it was pretty smooth and uh flawless. And then on the way, basically on the way back to the FOB, is uh we were passing by a mosque, and we just We’re the last vehicle in the convoy, uh LAV 25, and I was lucky enough to be popped out of the scout hatch in the in the rear of the vehicle, and which I always learned from past IEDs that I didn’t want to be inside the

9:03 Vehicle when the IED goes off because it sends concussions throughout the vehicle and it messes you up. So, I was always popped up. I’d rather get debris than, you know, that concussion wave just bouncing your brain. So, I was popped up, and then I don’t know if it was just we were heavier than everybody else, or we just hit it right, and we just hit that pressure plate IED as we uh rolled over it, and I was launched from the vehicle after the explosion. Yeah, and your, you know, is your team was pulling you to cover while you were on fire. Do you what what comes back to you about those minutes? Anything? Uh yeah, I I remember everything. Um a little spotty here or there uh when I was uh when I got medevaced and all that. But um I got launched. Uh I don’t know. It was about 20 ft away. I was set ablaze because we sit on the gas tank of the vehicle, so it punctured it and basically uh doused me in like a

10:03 A jelly fire. Um basically I you know, got up and then I ran back to the vehicle uh to get my Marines and the doors were already blown off and then you know, I looked in. I could see my guys were already gone. Uh just their silhouettes of ash I could see and then um I collapsed because I got caught on fire again. And then from there uh one of the other vehicles rolled around and they dragged me uh behind a little hill and they were putting me out. So cuz I initially was trying to stop, drop, and roll, but because of the gelatin napalm it was spreading it. So but they eventually pulled me away and then uh yeah, got me to cover and then basically loaded me up in another vehicle and got me out of there. Yeah. And you were pronounced uh dead three times on scene, right? Uh I don’t even know anymore. Right. [laughter] Um times.

11:03 And is there anything you remember about you know, in and out there and you anything you remember anything or you those hours that were happening during it? Uh just uh some of the funny stuff like uh when I was in the vehicle getting evac’d, I knew I was messed up. I didn’t know how much. Um I was very thirsty and uh my driver was with me and I asked him to open the canteen for me and he couldn’t. He he had some burns, too. And yeah, he couldn’t untie the uh uh canteen cover and I called him a weiner. And uh then finally somebody gave me a canteen of water and when I went to drink it, it just rushed like down my neck and you know, over my body and I was like, “What the heck?” I thought I missed and then I tried it again and it’s same thing and I was like, “Okay, well, maybe I am a little messed up.” And I’m guessing from the injuries the jaw I just kind of flowed out, so. But um yeah, I remember a little bit of everything and then after uh getting the

12:04 MEDEVAC it kind of just kind of here or there images. So at that point it was just pretty much probably all adrenaline, no fear, no stress. Yeah, once they started putting like the drugs and stuff in you. Yeah, yeah, they do a lot of the especially for all of the surgeries they do have uh where memory Lapse drugs. Sure. So like um did that kind of take us forward to you know, the Brooke Army Medical Center? Mhm. Yes. You know, when you first got there um was there any point where you kind of like when when did you first understand like Um to tell you the truth I don’t I don’t think I really thought of it that way. I think every time I looked in the mirror I saw me. Uh-huh. Um yeah, even though I looked different it was it was the same person. Um I had my family, parents which they luckily, you know, they were allowed to stay and all that stuff with me during the recovery time.

13:05 Uh but yeah, they never left my side. Uh they were always, you know, motivated, supported. Uh they never lost faith. So Did did you ever feel like you lost faith during that? Uh I was lucky enough to have the childhood I had. Mhm. Uh we weren’t raised to be um wusses. So, dad was always pushing us, sports, disciplining us, uh making sure everything we did was, you know, right, wrong, you know, always do right no matter the cost. And uh yeah. Was there a moment there where you said, “I’m not [ __ ] quitting.” Um I think my vehicle commander, retired Marine now, but that survived. Um he would always tease us when we’re um doing uh Mojave Viper one of the Segal Studios training

14:05 Uh scenarios. They’d be like, “When you think you got it bad, just think of it. There’s some Marine or soldier or whatever out there that’s probably got it twice as bad as us. So, you know, when you think you’re bad, think of think of that guy in that fighting hole or whatever.” Um yeah, at the hospital there was so many other service members there, army, navy, uh Air Force, you know, Marines, and from other countries, too, that were injured, too. All with their own different scenarios, different injuries, and stuff like that. So, there was Merlin German, he had like 98% burns. He was a I believe a tanker. And so, they had to skin graft from his feet. That’s the only place they could get it. So, I could only imagine. And then anything else he had. So, you know, my burns weren’t as severe as his. I had some broken bones and stuff. So, but everybody’s a little bit different. Yeah. And so, your moment was at some point during that time like, this I’m not giving it up. Like,

15:07 I mean, who else has got it worse than me? Yeah. Well, then it’s Okay, it’s over. Now it’s time to move on. There there you go. Um 161 surgeries is not a number most men can even conceptualize. Um What did it teach you about your own body? Like like going through that and like having to go through it and the pain and the the recovery and the A lot of it’s um there’s so many instances in you know, lives anybody’s lives that they have to push themselves beyond their physical limits, you know, whether it be their body or you know, mental physically. Um people that are you know, women that are pregnant and they got to you know, push a object that is you know, like couple tons, you know, and technically it’s impossible to push but they do it somehow. Yeah. You know, um and I think it’s just amazing what our bodies can do. Yeah. It and you know, I had help with the you know, all the nurses and medical staff obviously, you know, but uh you know, they’d wake me up at 5:00

16:09 In the morning, make me walk around so that was you know, still my legs were being used. Um I had to learn how to walk, talk, feed myself and all that stuff so, you know, it’s like you’re being reborn. Damn. For you that rebirth, did you find the the mental or the physical the hardest? Um I always I always joke about people cuz they always uh especially with the retirement coming up, you know, I had to go through the VA and all that and they’re like, oh, do you need to get seen for you know, like PTSD or depression? And I was like, sir, I was like, there wasn’t much up there anyway to begin with so, it probably doesn’t affect me [laughter] but I joke about that. But um it is a big deal. Um it didn’t do it Yeah. And uh I think it’s if you let it get to you, then yeah, it will hinder your physical ability. So, you You know, obviously we share a common

17:09 Friend in Lee and he helps a lot of guys with the the mental attitude. Yeah. You know, we talk about the body and spirit but it’s like for me anytime you see like a broken mind or spirit, that’s obviously like the hardest battle you see. Did And did you find that PMA? Yeah. You should Positive mental attitude. Yeah. For you, even though you have that, did you find that was still the hardest battle for you? I tell you the truth, I don’t know. I just Like I said, I was raised to be tough and and not to just brush things aside, but to know like when I need to seek help and when to, you know, when I could actually just push through it. Mhm. You know, there’s a point to where you it gets absurd and you’re just like, “Hey, wait, you know, you’re you’re going to break something.” But um I just had the the amazing support from friends, family, the command. They came to see me as soon as they could. Uh I had my vehicle commander and my driver was there with me. Uh they’re also recovering. So, you

18:09 Know, we got to see them and all Brothers in arms, you know. Yeah, we got to meet their families and you know, their kids and everybody. I met like amazing uh the nurses and the medical staff that were not just my caretakers, but uh you know, I still talk to them to this day and you know, they’re like family to me, too. So, And so, the man that was there to a 292 on the CFT, how does how do you go from A to B? Um stubbornness. [laughter] Yeah. Well, um so, when I was first in the hospital and Um my parents, you know, dropped everything they’re doing, drove all the way to San Antonio and they didn’t My dad was in and he got injured back in the day and it was basically, you have 30 days and if you’re not in the hospital, they’re going to discharge you from, you know, service. So, on that 29th day or whatever, you know, they’re out of the hospital. So, he didn’t know what to expect when, you know, I was in the hospital and them coming down there,

19:10 But they had so many facilities, care, and all that stuff. And um the reason I bring that up is because like um you know I’m sorry. I forgot to It’s all No, it’s [laughter] It’s It was more of just, you know, let’s just take it from here. Like you’re talking about your dad, right? Yeah. 30 days. He was so 30 days. And if he wasn’t healed in 30 days, he was out. Yeah. What the hell made you want to stay in? What the hell put the fight in you saying, “I’m not done with my service?” Well, I was still young. You know, I still had a lot to live for. Um I felt I could still do it. It’s not like I mean, yeah, I was still young and live my life and you know. There’s a difference between going and living your life, man. You could have taken the medical retirement. You could have gone and done other things. But you feel so You feel so You still felt like you had something left to give to the Marine Corps and to the country. And sir. What put that in you? What was in you

20:10 That made that? Um Well, I I saw a lot of the the guys just take the easy route. Uh-huh. And uh retire. And I understood it because a lot of them felt they didn’t have a purpose still being in the military. Um I know a lot of the services had that issue. They were like, “Oh, once you’re done, boom, we’re going to retire you, medically retire you. And that’s you know, that’s it. You’re you know, we’ll forget about you.” And then Marine Corps was pretty good about that because the commandant of the sector of the Navy, Sergeant Major Marine Corps, they created um the EPLD program, the expanded permanent light duty. And so, anybody that was injured in combat, as long as they uh can do a job, they could stay in the Marine Corps. So, you know, a lot of the Marines that got injured were able to do that. You know, a lot of them didn’t stay in, you know, that you know, maybe another tour or whatever, but you know, it allowed you to stay in and still have a purpose in life. A lot of them got out

21:10 And you know, they’re living their lives and being with their family, which if that’s what they wanted, but a lot of them felt they couldn’t do it, you know, physically and mentally. Right, but you did. Not only did you feel you did, you you fought 161 surgeries, you stayed in you fought for how many years to stay in? Yeah, over over 20. Yeah. Right, but I’m saying how many years did it take you to get back to from to light duty to Like three or four. Three or four? 161 You’re something that’s hard to overcome there. But you wanted to do it, right? That’s not installed in everybody, instilled in everybody. Like what was inside you that was saying I got to do this? I just uh making sure you had a purpose Mhm. and then teaching the next generation. Yeah, that’s a big one and that’s kind of what I was hoping you’d say. It meant a probably a lot to you to give back to others, right? And that’s probably like kind of how you live your life. And when we eat through Oh god, that’s all that happened. Um

22:11 Cousin does a 100 mile run, or an ultra marathon uh without stopping. How does that happen? I just had some friends that have some crazy ideas. I would say so. I would say so, but what made you say hey, this is an idea? Like I want to do this. I don’t want to drive 100 miles after this, man. I What are you talking about running it? I don’t like doing it either, but um no, I just a lot of them were doing it for, you know, nonprofits for, you know, veteran awareness, suicide awareness, all sorts of uh you know, nonprofits for you know, the cause, helping veterans. You know, there’s a lot of uh organizations out there and like um you know, there’s a lot of veterans that, you know, need help, whatever be household, um getting medical care or just somebody to talk to or whatever. I’m guessing so, what were you in for a cause, then? Yes. What was your cause? Um I did that I liked the physical. I’m always a runner, so then I like running. But, I had a friend that had a

23:12 Nonprofit, and so we’re he was into the CrossFit. I wasn’t really CrossFit guy, but he was doing the run, so I I joined him. And what was the nonprofit y’all running for? Uh it was the Disposable Heroes Project. What is that? Um it was for veteran suicide. Okay. And um It’s been a while. [laughter] Even in the 100-mile run, you’re still a man who was trying to give out back to others. Trying to. Yeah, I see that’s pretty much a testament to to who you are as a human being. You know, speaking of the easy road, just just a question off that. Why didn’t you take that medical retirement? I didn’t think it was worth it. I think I still had a something to give. Okay. Yeah. And I think you did. I think you’ve given a lot back. So, let’s talk about that. 20 years after the blast, you know, and literally days after hanging up the uniform, and you’re still running and still training. What do you What do you want that guy

24:15 Who used to be an athlete to hear? Don’t get old. [laughter] And not run, right? I think mine is you still got it. You know, you just had to want it that bad, and you know, continue to have faith in yourself, you know. And uh that’s all you need. You feel like you ever lost faith in yourself in all through all this? Or had those dark times where it was hard? No, that’s why I haze myself. [laughter] With the So, I can with the 100-milers, yeah. Remind myself. Yeah. Okay. You can’t quit, otherwise Yeah, cuz then, you know, then you wouldn’t be able to help others like you said. And how many, you know, you you have how many other wounded Marines have you helped, do you think? Um to tell you the truth, uh after a while, it’s hard because most of them retired and then, you know, they went back to their states and um lived their lives, their families, and

25:15 Stuff like that. So, I think I was probably one of the few uh Shreks that stayed in. Sure. What do you think separates those guys who like, you know, who come back and who come all the way back from those who maybe go up and then plateau? And what do you think is the separator? Uh to tell you the truth, I think a lot of it was their families. They wanted to be with their families and uh they No, I I understand. I understand the guy who plateaued. And I’m saying, what do you think the separator was from like a a guy like you who just kept going and kept going and kept going versus a guy who like maybe said, all right, I’m going to stop, you know. It’s like going on a 100-mile run. I’m sure there’s people who stopped. Yeah. What’s the separator? What do you think the separator is for you? Just you know I don’t know. For me, it’s just just keep going, you know. It’s just like I don’t know. It’s not even a thought. It’s just, you know, you’re like, hey, you do something, you just, you know, finish it. Otherwise, you know, you don’t If you’re not going to finish it, then don’t start it. Yeah. And I guess that’s what I wanted with my career is to make sure that and yeah, I

26:16 Didn’t want I didn’t think I was ever going to get a sergeant major. I was surprised I even got gunny. I thought I was going to be a sergeant for the rest of my career. Mhm. But um you know, we just maintained the faith and just kept pushing and somebody out there liked me. What do you think the difference between a real physical limitation is Mhm. and one we just kind of put on ourselves or we negotiate with? Um well, you know, obviously, we have the training aspect, but um I’ve I don’t know. There’s times where like I don’t even work out that much and I’ll go do an event that definitely needs or requires some training and I’ll just do it. And sometimes it’s just not even letting it thinking about it and just doing it. Mhm. And they just have to believe in themselves, you know? And like obviously some motivation or like a friend you know, supporting you helps, but like

27:17 You just have to have that faith in yourself. So self-belief. Yeah. Right. And so for you, where does that come from? Uh, I just from my dad, you know, believing in, you know, God. So. How important is faith to you in this in this whole ordeal? A lot. I mean, like uh even though I don’t, you know, go to church every Sunday and all that, it doesn’t mean I don’t believe in God, but I do. You know, that’s just a personal belief and I always tell people when I speak or, you know, trying to do a course or something and I’m like, “Hey, make sure you guys have three things. You have your physical, mental, and spiritual. Everything will fall into place.” Mhm. And I was like, a lot of people, you know, I tell them, I was like, “Hey, you know, you may not believe in something, but I guess what? He believes in you.” [laughter] I was like, you know, or have faith in, you know, the people that are around you cuz if you don’t have faith in them, how could you, you know, do anything? Yeah.

28:18 Um what is the one physical benchmark every man, you know, over 40 out there or just has been in this thing? What what What should they be able to hit? And what do they need to not tell themselves they cannot do? Like what what is What what should How should they inspire themselves? Like someone like you who’s been through 161 surgeries, who’s been through years of recovery to come back. What the hell do they need to hear? Like, you know, here’s a guy who’s been hit with so much adversity and is saying, “I just tell myself suck it up. What do they need to hear though? Um What do you tell those around you that they you you see struggling? What do you tell them? Uh it’s just, you know, maybe they’re not surrounding them themselves with the right people. You know, they need to join a a better club. Yeah. Or better friends. Uh maybe they need some help like uh spiritually. You know, they need a little guidance, you know, showing what to do next. I mean, but that only goes so far. They just, you know, they need to do it though. Yeah. But as far as being 40 and I mean, it’s

29:18 Only a number. You know, you’re the one that sets your, you know, ladder of you know, high, low, what you want out of life and just go out and do it. What kind of standards you think you still hold yourself to? Like when you wake up in the morning like even though you’re getting older, right? What kind of standards you say, “Hey, these are still important These are my non-negotiables. These are important to me.” I usually let my weekends be the rest days, sleep in. Yeah, if I want to do something lazy and whatnot, those are my two days where I just relax. And then during the week it’s work. So from 5:00, work out, and then work at 8:00, and then, you know, do the work day, and then, you know, go home. And then, you know, that’s how my day is. Just standards. Yeah. I just Yeah, I’ve done that since I got back to the fleet. That’s how how I’ve been. So I work, I work out, and then I won’t I don’t know, I’ve always been like that

30:19 And I’ve always tried to do that with my past commands. Yeah. So there’s non-negotiables like, “Hey, this is what I’m going to do. I’ll hold myself to these standards.” What do you feel like you would be without those? Uh well, I do it, you know, so that the junior Marines can see it and they start learning how to do it as well because, you know, unfortunately, we have a lot of you know, Marines that are being lazy. They they call it the PlayStation generation and all that. Sure. So, it’s um keep them in line and be like, “Oh, hey, I’m here to mentor and, you know, support you, but I can only show you. You have to do it.” Yeah, and it’s like it’s you know, it’s almost like when you’re the I would associate it almost like, you know, when you’re teaching your Marines just like you’re teaching children like you teach your own children like it’s one thing to tell them Yes. it’s a whole other thing to go out there and do it because the way that, you know, as we age, we usually mimic what we see. We just don’t go, “Oh, okay, man.” Yeah. And they may not know it initially when

31:20 It first starts, but then they’ll start to see the change on physically and and unfortunately, uh I’ve seen too many units where the leadership you know, I was always I always tell my juniors like, “Hey, I’m working out 5:00 every morning. You’re welcome to join me.” And, you know, most of them won’t. Yeah, we have [ __ ] like, “Hey, man, look at me. Hey, if I can do it, you can’t.” Yeah. Well, yeah, and now it’s uh it’s almost like a punishment that we’re, you know, PTing that early. Yeah, yeah. And I was like, “You either want Marines that are going to be in shape, they’re going to do, you know, first class PFT or whatnot, or you could just let them do whatever they want.” Yeah. I like, “You know?” But the leadership, you know, needs to be involved. Yeah, and and I think it’s like this is outside of the military, too, like leadership in general, whether you’re you’re a parent or, you know, a business or whatever, like it’s it’s all the same things.

32:20 Yes. Like you said, you have standards. You have non-negotiables, and you live your life that way. And from that, you’re able to come from where you were Mhm. to the man who’s doing ultra-marathons, still helping others while he’s doing it, helping wounded and be an inspiration for everyone around them, including myself. Like, I can’t listen to what you’re saying and not be inspired myself. I don’t think many people can. Um it’s about as an exceptional story as as you can hear, and I’m if you don’t hear it enough, you should be damn proud of it because the way you represent yourself and this country is beyond reproach. Like, beyond it, man. So All right. Appreciate that. I’ve always tried to teach my Marines, but at the same time, they’re also teaching me. So. Yeah. Um so, you know, if there’s somebody out there listening right now who’s, you know, maybe, you know, successful in life or suffering within and quietly settling for things in her life and like we talked about, what what

33:20 Would you want to say to them directly? I’d say look at the the final goal and the final product of what you want, not just, you know, money and, you know, that that comes and goes, you know, nice cars, fancy houses, a bunch of women, or whatever they prefer, you know, and yeah, it’s going to come and go in your life, but you are not, you know, what you want to be in life is what you make of it, you know, and yeah, it’s nice to have money, cars, and all that stuff, but that’ll go away. You can’t take that, you know, you don’t have for so long. Yeah, and um I love the way you said it cuz I I say something similar all the time. It’s like, you know, you know, that that that that casket can’t take the money with it. That casket can’t take it. And um the only thing you kind of leave in this world is kind of the memories and the things you install in other people, right? And I feel like from the bottom of my heart, I can sit here and look across from a man who’s put a lot of inspiration and a lot of

34:20 Meaning in other people’s lives, and I can tell you that I’m thankful for that, and I’m thankful for having you on here. I appreciate it. Okay. Thanks for inviting me. Um all right. Before we go though, um, I like to do a thing uh with just a little bit of rapid fire, uh, a little bit fun with it, and um, point is is like, hey, no no thinking, just first thing that comes to your mind. Okay, all right. All right. 1 mi 1 mi into a ultra, what’s the first thing going through your head? Food. 1 mi in? 1 mi Unfortunately, that’s [clears throat] everywhere. [laughter] All right. First mi first meal after you hit the 100-mi finish line. Um, usually I’m looking for like a bourbon. [laughter] All right. Best commanding officer you ever served under? Oof. Um, I’ve had like a lot of uh infantry officers. I’ve had

35:20 Um I I mean, that’s a trick question. Well, deployed All right. I I don’t know. All right. What’s the What’s one of the better leaders that you’ve been around? What is Uh, I’ve had like um leadership back in the rear. I’ve had leadership that are um like deployed and stuff like that. So, I know uh see Captain Simmons was a good company commander. Colonel Ket- Kasner, retired, yeah. Um, I think I had some uh Chief Warrant Officer Boras was a good I pack uh Okay. CW3. Nice. Um Yeah, I’ve had a little variety of a little bit of everything. Okay. All right. Song that gets you through the hardest mile. Uh, I like um DMX. X X going to give it to you, baby. Oh, man. That’s one for my heart from back in high school. Um, the one piece of training advice that you would give every Marine fresh out of boot camp. Baby wipes. A man calls you tonight and says he’s done. He’s given up on himself.

36:20 What is the first thing you say to him? Uh, I’m going to make a joke about um We’ll go ahead and make a laugh about the baby wipes. Uh, well, um as my friends know, I’m very sarcastic. So, when I say something, it’s it may sound stupid, but then they’re like, like, “What?” And it throws them off, but it also, you know, helps them because it gets them out of that mindset. So, so they call and I’m like, “I’m done.” And I’m like, “What’s his name?” Yeah. You know, or I throw in like, “You know, you can’t just do that to, you know, your dog. You know, leave your dog alone.” You know, you know, I I’ll say something stupid. To get them out of it. Yeah, to get them thinking about something else. But then what do you say? And then they’ll start “Shut up. You’re You’re an idiot.” And then I’m like, “Okay, what what’s up?” Like, “What are you done with? Is it the car, you know, is it a woman?” You know, like, “Are you just like you’re tired, you need a break, you need to talk somebody?” Like, “What is it?” You just get them talking. Yeah, and then they’ll usually open up,

37:20 But tell you truth, humor has gotten me my sarcasm has gotten me through a lot of stuff. So, Yeah. I think it would have to. What do you think every civilian gets wrong about what Marines actually do? Um I don’t know. A lot of times they might be right. [laughter] Um I would say like our how they think a lot of our job is easy, even at the basic level, and it’s a lot harder than it seems. Even the working parties, you know, painting rocks and stuff like that. It’s Yeah, a lot of civilians wouldn’t understand. Yeah. What’s the hardest workout on your current rotation? Uh like what I do on a daily basis are just like a Anything during the week or anything? Anything you got going on right now? No, I just Friday, just the recon challenge. That’s about it. What’s that? Uh it’s like a 26-mi hike with pack and then rifle and they’ve got obstacles every couple miles, you know, doing certain things.

38:21 Yeah. It’s pretty impressive. I’m sure most people can’t do that. Um If you could go back to the version of yourself in the hospital bed at Brooke, one sentence you would tell him? Get up and quit being a [laughter] All right, last one. One word that describes a version of you that will show up from probably a year from now. I was going to say Lothario, but um Mhm. I know that I have a bunch of friends that always joke about legend. They the Brit- British Marines, they gave me the title legend. Yeah. My friend, I think that is a title well deserved by you. Legend is a great way to end that with you. And I appreciate having you on the show. Thanks for having me. Thank you. Isaac, thank you. Thank you for showing up, for telling this story one more time for the men out there who need to hear it, and for being evidence for what comes out on the other side when a man refuses to quit.

39:23 Here is what I want every man listening to this conversation to understand. Isaac was burned 84% of his body. He was pronounced dead three times. His jaw was broken in 37 pieces. By every rule of modern medicine, this is a man who should not be sitting across me right now. And after 160 point surgeries, he just didn’t survive. He scored a 292 on his combat fitness test. He carried 80-lb ruck through baton, and he ran 100 miles without stopping. He went back to active duty when the medical retirement was the easy way out. Now, look at yourself. Look at the story you have been telling yourself why you are stuck where you are at. About why you have to hit a standard that you used to not hit. About why the body you have is the body you have right now because you think there’s nothing else that can be done. I just said the end of that excuse.

40:24 Every man just listening just heard a man who came back from zero. And if you’re sitting at 70% the only question left is right now is what the hell are you going to do about it this week? If this episode move you, share it. Share with the men who needs to hear it. Subscribe, leave a review, and pick just one standard this week. And whatever that standard is, go just a little past it and start there. This is no hype, just standards. See you next episode.