Combat Story (Ep 27): Eric Hollen - Ranger | Green Beret| Olympian | Inspiration
About This Episode
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Today we hear the inspirational combat story of Eric Hollen, a former Ranger in 2/75 Ranger Regiment and Green Beret with 2nd Bn, 10th Special Forces Group.
This is a unique episode where we filmed in person for a change while Eric and I were in Graham, Texas, courtesy of Greg Coker, who many will recognize from the podcast, for an aviation hog hunt to benefit veterans and gold star families.
In this episode, Eric shares what was going through his head when he sustained a life-altering injury on his horse farm in Tennessee and how he persevered through dark times to reach a level of excellence very few will ever see.
Eric was awarded USA Shooting’s Paralympic Athlete of the Year two years in a row and competed in the Olympics as a shooter for the U.S.
Hollen strives to help newly injured veterans through a program called the Care Coalition which supports injured Special Operations soldiers. I hope you enjoy his inspirational story as much as I did.
Stay tuned at the end of the episode for a short clarification from Eric.
Show Notes
Inspiration
Chapters
- 0:00Intro
- 0:42Eric’s Bio
- 2:34First time holding a Firearm
- 3:57Dangerous moments growing up
- 4:49Adrenaline Seeking Desire
- 6:11Eric’s left turn moment
- 8:29Military history in the family
- 10:55“You like to do what you’re good at.”
- 11:35Joining the military
- 13:46“I thought I was cold and miserable, and then a snowflake went right into my ear hole.”
- 14:59“We aren’t there to hang out. We all want that scroll on our right shoulder that follows us wherever we go.”
- 16:30“I either pass, or I die trying.”
- 17:53“We go to bed every night expecting to go to war the next day.”
- 20:02Gold Star Kids
- 23:04Combat Story – Operation in Haiti: The mission where everybody came home
- 27:21The Catastrophic Life-Changing Injury
- 28:25“It took probably about ten years before I can talk about this without getting emotional.”
- 29:06The “Come to Jesus” moment about Career and Family
- 32:21The Injury
- 35:11“I had kind of a looming sense of doom.”
- 36:16Could you put into words the way that you felt at that time of the injury?
- 38:43“Eric, if you try to move again, you’ll die.”
- 39:46Eric’s conversation with the Lord
- 42:06From a Good Place to a Dark Place
- 45:15Eric’s Surgery
- 50:34What was it that kept you from taking the step?
- 50:48The Balloon Message
- 53:20Do you think that you could have received that same advice from somebody who hadn’t been through your injury?
- 55:14“It’s not necessarily fighting and dying with your boys. It’s like getting hurt so bad that you can’t function at a high level.”
- 55:35What would you tell somebody who is having a similar looming sense of doom and a catastrophic life-changing event occurs?
- 56:36“I wouldn’t trade the injury for all the good it’s done to me.”
- 57:35What drove you to become an Olympian?
- 1:06:44Where did the shame that you felt come from?
- 1:08:50Eric encountering his S.F. team in the Airport
- 1:14:15What was it like from Ranger Battalion to Firing Range Shooter?
- 1:18:29The Shot that mattered
- 1:21:56What was shooting in the Olympics like?
- 1:25:24The Paradigm Shift
- 1:27:32Is there something that you would say to people who do not have this type of injury who just see the wheelchair?
- 1:30:18“Whatever that (injury) is, it’s a choice to allow that to define you as an individual.”
- 1:30:38“Don’t let the injury define you.”
- 1:31:24Was there something you carried with you when you were in combat or in the Olympics that had sentimental value?
- 1:32:14Would you go back and do all that again?
- 1:33:32Eric clarifies a point.
