Bedford County soldier recalls injury in Afghanistan

When Staff Sgt. Benjamin Adam McGuire’s truck was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Eastern Afghanistan in July, he said his first thought was for his companions in the vehicle with him.

All survived, though McGuire and two others of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division suffered various broken bones and lacerations.

“Very, very fortunate and blessed for that,” McGuire said in an interview Saturday afternoon.

Born and raised through most of his teen years in Bedford County, McGuire returned to Lynchburg to see family and friends before he heads back to Tennessee next week, where he’s based out of Fort Campbell.

“This is actually the first more than two- or three-week time period that I didn’t have some type of surgery to go to or some big doctor’s appointment,” he said.

McGuire was featured in an early-August CNN special titled “Injured Together, Coming Home Together.”

In the video, McGuire is forced to write messages on paper because his broken jaw prevents him from speaking.

McGuire on Saturday said he was thankful no one’s injuries due to the bomb, estimated between 200 and 300 pounds of explosives, were life-threatening. His own jaw injury, he said, caused a good deal of blood loss, though.

“After I knew my guys were going to be OK, that was one of my only concerns, was the blood loss,” he said.

He said that during his recovery, his prayers have shifted from asking for healing and thanks for being alive to praying that he can accept that he’s not over there with his troops.

“Now, just being back in the states with the rest of my unit over there still, it’s kind of tough,” he said.

McGuire’s uncle, Bobby Goodman, of Campbell County, said when he heard his nephew had been hurt he was overwhelmed.

“We all love him to death,” Goodman said of his family. “We all worried about him when he was over there.”

Goodman still gets emotional when discussing his nephew, especially the story of how he suffered his injuries.

“It just tore us all to pieces,” he said. “I couldn’t imagine myself what it’s like to be in a place like that.”

The 29-year-old McGuire said he recently re-enlisted in the Army for another nine years, which will bring his total military service to 20 years.

“I’d say (military service) is not for everybody, but it’s definitely been a positive influence on my life,” he said. “My opinion (is) it’s always a positive thing if you want to serve your country.”

McGuire said he appreciates the patriotism that compels many to enlist, particularly in times where active service is almost a given.

“There’s 17-, 18-year-old kids that join the army right out of high school knowing there’s a war going on, knowing they’re probably going to go, so I think that’s pretty awesome,” he said.

He said though operations continue in Afghanistan, the recent withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq is a “positive step in the right direction.”

McGuire also talked about the morale of troops still serving in Afghanistan.

“I can’t speak for the whole theater and every unit there, but I can say that my guys were impressively motivated throughout the time that I was there with them … I feel that I was blessed with having a good group of guys.”

Goodman said McGuire and all combat soldiers will have people praying for them.

“We’ll worry about him until he gets out,” he said, adding, “I pray for all of them. I just hate to see our young men get killed all the time.”

McGuire said that part of the job never gets easier, but he’s become accustomed to seeing a lot of trauma.

“I’m not going to say it’s easier, but it’s not as foreign to you,” he said. “This is my job. I expect to be shot at. I expect to have to return fire and see bad things.”

Still, he said, he’s able to press on because he’s been able to see some of the fruits of his labor, particularly among tribal people grateful for being liberated.

“I definitely feel that what we’re doing is making a difference,” McGuire said.

“Just hearing some of those people speak gratitude of what’s going on over there … it’s pretty awesome. There’s a lot of negative things about a war … but when you actually get to experience firsthand positive progress in an area like that, it’s pretty cool.”