Big sister Lilah Marie meets little sister Everly Josephine for the first time.  Lilah loves her new baby sister.  Lilah held her, kissed her, stroked her head and even shared her bunnies with her!

Affirmations of Life: The Birth of my Two Daughters

By: Kevin R. Flike

There were many times in Afghanistan I thought I could die, but there were only two times I thought I was going to die for certain. The first time occurred two weeks before my team was supposed to head home from our first deployment to Afghanistan. The second time occurred when I was shot seven months into our second Afghanistan deployment. During each near death experience, I reflected on my life and what might have been. One thing that struck me particularly hard on both occasions was the realization that I would never have children. When I thought of this, my mind and body was awash with sadness.

For a long time I asked God why He let me survive only for me to suffer so much pain and anguish due to the injuries from my gunshot wound. One of the answers to this question came in the form of two little girls.  Lilah Marie was born on September 29, 2013, two years and four days after being shot (I was shot on September 25, 2011).  Everly Josephine was born February 20, 2016, four years and six days after my life changing experimental surgery at the Mayo Clinic (February 9-14,

Who Dares Wins: The Story of My Experimental Surgery At the Mayo Clinic

By: Kevin R. Flike

The tension was palpable as the neuro-surgeon inquisitively stared at my MRI. After a few minutes he broke the deafening silence and told my wife, physical therapist and I there was so much damage he could barely read the MRI. I felt like I had been punched in the gut. With little bedside manner, he went on to explain that there was nothing he could do for me. It took every ounce of energy and concentration for me to not break down sobbing on the floor. I instantly thought I would never run or hike again, and that I would never be able to chase my future children around the yard. As the appointment ended he half jokingly, half serious told us that maybe the Mayo Clinic could help.

Four months earlier, I had been shot in my lower abdomen during a combat mission in Afghanistan.   The bullet hit my femoral nerve, travelled through my hip and became lodged in my left buttocks (cue Forest Gump and Buns of Steel jokes – I have heard these hundreds of times). My stomach had been cut open from the bottom of my sternum to just below my belly button, 20% of my colon had been removed and my hip was fractured. My left leg was paralyzed due to the femoral nerve damage.

The femoral nerve allows your quadriceps to function and gives you the ability to extend your leg.

My Last Conversation With Ben: Remembering a Fallen Teammate

By: Kevin R. Flike

(This article has been published with the permission of Ben’s widow Traci)

It was a cold, wet and dreary morning in December when I pulled up to the 1st Special Forces Group rehabilitation center. I sat in the parking lot in silence and took a moment to mentally pump myself up. My body ached and I just wanted to get the next four hours of torture over. A few months prior I had been shot in the lower abdomen during combat operations in Afghanistan. After being medically evacuated back to the US, my day-to-day life consisted of painkillers, physical therapy and waiting for my teammates safe return. After almost ten months of combat operations the team would be home in a month’s time.

I was just about to head into the building when my cell phone rang. I had no interest in talking to anyone; however, when I noticed a strange number on the caller ID I quickly realized the call was probably from Afghanistan. In the past couple of months friends and teammates called multiple times from Afghanistan to see how I was doing and offer me encouragement. Their calls helped lift my spirits and motivate me during this dark period of my life. When I picked up the phone and heard Ben’s voice, I was ecstatic and glad I answered the phone.

Ben was one of the team’s medics,

Women in Special Operations and the 800-Pound Misogynistic Village Elder in the Room

By: Kevin R. Flike

(This article was written in the summer of 2013 while many were speculating about women potentially serving in Special Operations units. The article first appeared on www.sofrep.com)

I have heard almost every argument detailing for and against women in Special Operations and I promise not to beat a dead horse in this article. The problem with the “Women in Special Operations” argument is that it never seems to address the proper issue. The most common issues brought up are:

1) Women cannot handle the physical nature of the training and job and therefore standards will be lowered to allow women into Special Operations (there are valid arguments for and against this).

2) There would be problems with unit cohesion if women were to enter the male dominated world of Special Operations (once again valid arguments for and against).

These two aspects have been debated ad nauseam by the public and military. A common conclusion to this argument is that women can do everything men can do and should at least be given the opportunity to try out for Special Operations. This is where the argument for women in Special Operations is wrong, because women cannot do everything men can do.

I agree that there are definitely women out there that could pass the training and could handle the physical nature of the deployments.

I had a great time speaking at the Danforth Museum today in Framingham.  Leslie Starobin’s (pictured above) exhibit turned out great and looked amazing.  It was an honor to be apart of this project and share the lessons I learned from time in  AFG, being wounded and the recovery process.  It was also great to reflect on what it was like to work with Leslie.  In the above pictures I am standing next to the photo that Leslie created of the items I was carrying the day I was wounded.  For more information about the exhibit and to download a PDF of Leslie’s work (including the above photo) us this link:

http://www.danforthart.org/DearDearestMother-LeslieStarobinsWartimeStillLifeMontages.html