I spent 11 years in the Navy. I wanted to become a SEAL after attending LT Michael Murphy’s Posthumous Medal of Honor Ceremony, listening to Marcus Lutrell speak and hugging Dan and Maureen Murphy, Michael’s parents. However, I failed to make it to Hell Week. Despite my failures, my career still flourished as a direct support tech attached to Naval Special Warfare supporting SEAL missions.
During a 2016 Deployment to Iraq, our platoon received information that a local tribal leader had the body and personal effects of a Major Troy Gilbert (USAF F-16 pilot, KIA). Major Gilbert was killed in action in 2006 protecting a Delta Force team pinned down after their little bird helicopter was shot down. Due to a small village nearby, Major Gilbert was unable to engage enemy insurgents with missiles and had to resort to guns. During the second dive of his gun run, desperately protecting troops in contact, he was unable to recover from such a steep angle of attack and his aircraft hit the deck. After 4 hours of intense fighting, when US forces were able to get to his aircraft, his body was nowhere to be found. He was buried in an empty casket in Arlington Cemetery, widowing a wife and four kids. Attempts at retrieving his body failed in ensuing years. Fast forward ten years later to 2016…Al-Taquedam, Iraq. Our team receives intelligence supporting the fact a tribal leader has Major Gilbert’s body and personal effects. It becomes #2 National Priority on President Obama’s National Security Tasking.
A crack Air Force negotiation team is sent to our location. A 22-hour mission ensues to conduct an exchange for his body. His body is recovered without incident, brought back to our base and a DNA test verifies it is Major Gilbert. He was flown back to Dover, DE on a C-17 and immediately repatriated with his wife and kids and finally laid to rest at Arlington Cemetery.
A few years later, I saw an article that said Ginger Gilbert (Troy’s widow) had remarried a retired Air Force Colonel. I found him on LinkedIn and sent him a message. I requested to talk to Ginger over the phone and tell her my story. He understood and obliged. On Thanksgiving Day, 2020, that phone call happened. I told Ginger my story and we cried over her husband’s loss, his memory, heroism, and courage. That Christmas, I visited Troy at Arlington Cemetery, laid a wreath, and cried thanking him for his courage protecting us troops on the ground.
I didn’t know I had so much to unpack until that moment on the phone with Ginger. The fact is, none of us knows how to unpack the things we’ve seen, done, or the loss of friends we had. Those memories and moments come on their own time and unexpectedly. One way to navigate those deep-seated emotions came to me through Saddles In Service. Getting out was not easy no matter how we make it seem. From the very first interaction with Preacher and Dave to my more advanced lesson now, the experience with the horse and on the ranch forces me to live in the present, to focus on the good, and allow unfamiliar things into my life. Another difficult part of leaving the military is the loss of tribe. Through Saddles In Service, I have found another tribe that has welcomed me with open arms with no judgment of what my previous life was. My gratitude for this program, the staff, horses, volunteers, and all of those involved has no ceiling. My only desire is for it to grow and continue to serve those who have served.
