Robert Vera - A Warriors Faith: Navy SEAL Ryan Job, a Life-Changing Firefight, and the Belief That Transformed His Life

PRAISE FOR A WARRIORS FAITH

Ryan Job was an inspiration to Chris Kyle. Ryans deathand the death of Marc Leewere two of the most important reasons Chris asked me to help him write American Sniper. Until I read A Warriors Faith I really never understood the depth of that inspiration. Spiritual, compelling, and true to the SEALs core belief: never quit. A must read!

SCOTT MCEWEN, COAUTHOR OF THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AMERICAN SNIPER, EYES ON TARGET, AND THE NATIONAL BEST-SELLING SNIPER ELITE SERIES, ONE WAY TRIP AND TARGET AMERICA

I had the great honor to know Ryan Job as a SEAL brother and also as a member of the small unique fraternity within the brotherhood who have been shot in the head and survived. A Warriors Faith captures the essence of Ryan Jobfrom his hysterical dry wit to his relentless overcome mindset that I have built my own life around. Robert Vera did a great job telling Ryans story of faith. It is a story that will motivate and inspire, have you laughing and crying, and more than anything, bring you to understand the caliber of a man in his walk of faith.

JASON REDMAN, US NAVY SEAL (RETIRED) AND AUTHOR OF THE TRIDENT: THE FORGING AND REFORGING OF A NAVY SEAL LEADER

Robert Vera really captures the intensity of the medical and combat situation in Ramadi in 2006. When reading his account, one feels that he or she is actually there in Charlie Medical with the doctors and medics who fought to save lives. I should know, because I was.

ZACK KITCHEN, RETIRED MILITARY PHYSICIAN AND AUTHOR OF THE UNBELIEVER

2015 by Robert Vera

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ISBN 978-1-4002-0679-7 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Vera, Robert Jr., 1966

A warriors faith : a decorated Navy SEAL, a brutal firefight, and the belief that transformed his life / Robert Vera Jr.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-4002-0678-0

1. Job, Ryan, 1981-2009. 2. United States. Navy. SEALs--Biography. 3. Iraq War, 2003-2011--Campaigns--Iraq--Ramadi. 4. Disabled veterans--United States--Biography. 5. Blind--Rehabilitation--United States--Biography. 6. Camp Patriot. 7. Christian biography. I. Title. II. Title: Decorated Navy SEAL, a brutal firefight, and the belief that transformed his life.

V63.J57.V47 2015

956.7044345--dc23

[B]

2014023949

15 16 17 18 19 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Haylee and Matthew

CONTENTS

THE EVENTS IN this book are true. The events related to Ryan Jobs service in Ramadi, Iraq, have already been made public in part by various other sources including books, magazines, newspaper articles, and military award citations. I have constructed the dialogue from my journal writings, interviews, conversations, and memory. Thus, the dialogue may not be exactly word for word, but the meaning of what was said is accurate. For security reasons I have changed the names of many of the key people in this story.

Ryan Job was a Navy SEAL. He and I first met in early summer 2008. I am not, nor have I ever been, a Navy SEAL. Ryan and I crossed paths for a brief time, just long enough to change the course of both our lives forever. This is an amazing story of transformation, of how Ryans life changed when he invested in his faith. Ryans faith allowed him to literally climb mountains. His faith also helped transform many who knew him, including me. I write this book to share our story and introduce you to my friend Ryan Job, who was much greater than a highly decorated Navy SEAL and warrior.

R.W.V.

IT WAS A beautiful summer night in July on Mt. Rainier in Washington State, typical for that kind of year. You know, a million stars in the sky, fifteen degrees, thirty-mile-per-hour wind gusts, snow on the ground, and nowhere to go but up or down. Left or right was not an option unless we wanted to turn this mountain-climbing excursion into a free-fall experience. So we were going up. Typical, I guess, if you are a goat.

The frozen snow crunched beneath our feet as spikes pierced the glacier trying to grab some traction. Like a cruel, never-ending stair-master the mountain kept coming, and we kept climbing, adding one more step to the thousands we had already made. One more step, crunch, one more step, crunch. On and on, up and up we went.

I was smoked and falling off the pace. I could feel that I was the one holding up the team because the rope kept being pulled taunt by the guy in front of me, meaning he was moving faster than I was. The nylon rope we had tied to each other was life insurance in case the spikes didnt do their job and gravity took charge of the situation (which it always does when balancing on the side of an iced-over glacier). Fortunately for me, the team leader was merciful and wise. Time to rest, he said. Thank God, I whispered to myself.

I plopped down by a rock and stared out into the darkness. When you climb Rainier in July you must start out at night so that you get the bulk of the movement done before the sun comes up. Because come morning time, that big heat tab in the sky starts warming up the glacier, which is no bueno. When you are walking on the side of said glacier and it melts, you have a tendency to go where the melting ice travels, which is down the mountain very fast. Two mountaineering deaths occur each year on average on Rainier because of rock and ice fall, avalanches, and hypothermia associated with the severe weather.

I was breathing heavy, sucking wind hard, wondering who put the rocks in my ruck sack, because this mountain was kicking my butt.

Man, theyre going too fast, I complained to no one but myself. Weve got wounded warriors making this climb. Weve got to slow down. I know Im in shape. I can only imagine what they are going through.

I was starting to feel sorry for myself. The cold, the hurt, the effort was chipping away at my intestinal fortitude, and I started to snivel.

My legs are on fire. I cant breathe. I dont really want to get to the top anyway. I can just volunteer to go back down with the stragglers and quietly bow out. No one will know.

The enemy within me was beginning to gain a strong hold, filling my mind with propaganda: I wasnt good enough; I was too weak; I didnt have what it takes. What was worse was that I was starting to believe it. I was ready to quit, and that would have been right about the time Ryan Job showed up.