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Times of honor, courage, singular moments & impossible feats.

Ghostrider 67

Jack Stand Racer #6..and proud of it!
FBBO Gold Member
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Location
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Have YOU experienced those moments, those fleeting moments when everything hung in the balance, when all seemed lost, yet YOU prevailed to go forth and live another day, another moment, to fight on in the game of life?
Have you ever been at the absolute END of your strength, your ability, and yet managed to find the will and the power to get up and go another few feet, another few inches?
Have you been at what seemed to be the end of all things and then, by whatever grace, forged ahead against all odds?

Tell us your stories. Share your triumphs. No judgement here, just understanding and comradeship.
 
Sounds like every veteran that I have been blessed to know
In the desert, in those brief down times between adrenaline and sleep we would sit around, wherever we found ourselves, and quietly share our stories like these. They served to bolster our spirits, to gird our loins for the next fight, the next horrifying moments when it all came down to chance. It will help them to tell their stories. It will help us to hear them. These are tough times, and we need all of the heroes, and courage, we can muster.
 
Have YOU experienced those moments, those fleeting moments when everything hung in the balance, when all seemed lost, yet YOU prevailed to go forth and live another day, another moment, to fight on in the game of life?
Have you ever been at the absolute END of your strength, your ability, and yet managed to find the will and the power to get up and go another few feet, another few inches?
Have you been at what seemed to be the end of all things and then, by whatever grace, forged ahead against all odds?

Tell us your stories. Share your triumphs. No judgement here, just understanding and comradeship.


When I was in the hospital with second and third degree burns, they told me that I couldn’t leave until I took a dump. The problem is that the pain meds I was loaded up on bound me up solid. After much strength perseverance and determination, I mustered up enough courage to overcome my pain to pass what felt like a brick.


We’ll, that’s my impossible feat.
 
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When I was in the hospital with second and third degree burns, they told me that I couldn’t leave until I took a dump. The problem is that the pain meds I was loaded up on bound me up solid. After much strength perseverance and determination, I mustered up enough courage to overcome my pain to pass what felt like a brick.


We’ll, that’s my impossible feat.
Does peeing ur pants while having a spinal block and you're 1/2 dehydrated and drinking tons of water count? Had your problem one time in hospital,I lied and got out. I HATE hospitals.
 
Does peeing ur pants while having a spinal block and you're 1/2 dehydrated and drinking tons of water count? Had your problem one time in hospital,I lied and got out. I HATE hospitals.


Sounds like that qualifies to me.
 
When I was in the hospital with second and third degree burns, they told me that I couldn’t leave until I took a dump. The problem is that the pain meds I was loaded up on bound me up solid. After much strength perseverance and determination, I mustered up enough courage to overcome my pain to pass what felt like a brick.


We’ll, that’s my impossible feat.
You could've got a hernia from trying too hard also.
 
I think I've told one of these types of stories before
happened a couple times to me

I've been on fire at 180, does that count ?

I was doing a pass at Sacramento Raceway
test pass for upcoming points race, in my 23 Altered
Budnicks 23 T Ford 427ci BBC Alky Inj Altered A-A Sac Raceways.jpg

I had a breather hose to the frame top tube,
that goes into a puke tank in the back 'blow of'
in front of the engine on my right side
at about 800ft, oil was pumping/sort of vacuum'd/sucked
out onto the top of my helmet/face shield, neck, chest, gloves etc.
(open cockpit car/think fuel Altered)
on a Blown alcohol combo, lots of pressure in the pan
hence the puke tank in the back of the car (just like FC)

it caught fire
I assume by the exhaust or something hot
I thought the worst, I was sort of in a panic
I was blinded still, but I knew what to do,
sort of been there before
not my 1st rodeo...

I thought I jerked the butterfly wheel when (oil/methanol cloud)
oil hit me...
I was blinded, instantly, had no idea where I was
on track or what
& I hit the chute/s lever/s on my cage/left side
as quick as I could
& got on the binders/hand brake & fuel shutoff hard
(both are on the same lever), hopping like crazy
I skipped & slide to a complete stop

Thinking Oh ****,
I have methanol diluted 70wt all over me
from my shoulders up, hit the onboard fire bottles
I could see a lil' fire thru my oil covered face-shield

remember this is all happening
in like 2-3 seconds of real-time...

car still ran 7.90-something on the brakes
car would run 6.90s at 190+

I do wear a Nomex
head sock & underwear & 3/20/5 sfi firesuit
fire boots over race shoes, gloves, arm restraints etc.
all good for about 20 seconds in a 2000* fire

I somehow unbuckled my 6 pt harness &
bailed out of the stopped car...
I thought I was in the sandtrap at the end
I struggled to get my helmet off, with 70w all over me
finally got my helmet off...
Stood there trying to catch my breath from the
Halon fire system fumes
I noticed I was barely 200' past the 1320' finish line
lil' fire still going on the right side where the hose blew off

Tracks fire & safety crew, an ambulance was upon me
in a few more seconds...

my crew were coming up in my truck
'sort of laughing'
they said;
they never saw someone stop so fast from 180 to zero
I was hopping like 2' off the back tires & full chutes blossoming

my biggest fear was always fire
seemed like it lasted forever,
a whole lot more time/or distance than reality

I know it's not like being in a war or a firefight
& it was funny as hell afterwards
but;
at the time (my thought were) I was fighting for my life
deadly/healthy respect or afraid of fire

It happened a few times in my racing career,
a lot worse in a doored car going 200+
way harder to get out of "quickly"
but that was the most/worst time I felt I was going to die

carry on
 
Last edited:
Ghost....This is a deep topic.
I scrolled by this one a few times because I don't think that I have anything worthy to contribute.
That hasn't stopped me before so **** it...
I served in the Army but was discharged on a medical before completing basic training so no...I never saw any military action.
I don't work in any Police, Fire, EMT or other type of service so I never have saved a life or taken one.
I have been in a few car accidents but never seriously hurt. I've seen an air bag deploy right before my eyes and walked away with only a headache. I've never lost control of a car at high speed. Never fallen from a great height, never been shot, never stabbed. I've never had to rescue a family member from an abusive situation.
It would be hard to call me a hero because I've never done anything that you'd typically call heroic.
I have had a yearning for many years to encounter a situation of importance and suddenly rise to the occasion.
I do simple stuff often.
Today I stopped in traffic to drag a broken pole from the roadway so nobody else would run over it.
I've stopped to help change tires. I stopped to help a buddy who fell asleep on the way home from work and rolled his truck. That guy had a LOT of tools and nails and everything was scattered across 6 lanes of the freeway.
One day I may have a great story where I saved someone.
 
I think I've told one of these types of stories before
happened a couple times to me

I've been on fire at 180, does that count ?

I was doing a pass at Sacramento Raceway
test pass for upcoming points race, in my 23 Altered
View attachment 1202209
I had a breather hose to the frame top tube,
that goes into a puke tank in the back 'blow of'
in front of the engine on my right side
at about 800ft, oil was pumping/sort of vacuum'd/sucked
out onto the top of my helmet/face shield, neck, chest, gloves etc.
(open cockpit car/think fuel Altered)
on a Blown alcohol combo, lots of pressure in the pan
hence the puke tank in the back of the car (just like FC)

it caught fire
I assume by the exhaust or something hot
I thought the worst, I was sort of in a panic
I was blinded still, but I knew what to do,
sort of been there before
not my 1st rodeo...

I thought I jerked the butterfly wheel when (oil/methanol cloud)
oil hit me...
I was blinded, instantly, had no idea where I was
on track or what
& I hit the chute/s lever/s on my cage/left side
as quick as I could
& got on the binders/hand brake & fuel shutoff hard
(both are on the same lever), hopping like crazy
I skipped & slide to a complete stop

Thinking Oh ****,
I have methanol diluted 70wt all over me
from my shoulders up, hit the onboard fire bottles
I could see a lil' fire thru my oil covered face-shield

remember this is all happening
in like 2-3 seconds of real-time...

car still ran 7.90-something on the brakes
car would run 6.90s at 190+

I do wear a Nomex
head sock & underwear & 3/20/5 sfi firesuit
fire boots over race shoes, gloves, arm restraints etc.
all good for about 20 seconds in a 2000* fire

I somehow unbuckled my 6 pt harness &
bailed out of the stopped car...
I thought I was in the sandtrap at the end
I struggled to get my helmet off, with 70w all over me
finally got my helmet off...
Stood there trying to catch my breath from the
Halon fire system fumes
I noticed I was barely 200' past the 1320' finish line
lil' fire still going on the right side where the hose blew off

Tracks fire & safety crew, an ambulance was upon me
in a few more seconds...

my crew were coming up in my truck
'sort of laughing'
they said;
they never saw someone stop so fast from 180 to zero
I was hopping like 2' off the back tires & full chutes blossoming

my biggest fear was always fire
seemed like it lasted forever,
a whole lot more time/or distance than reality

I know it's not like being in a war or a firefight
& it was funny as hell afterwards
but;
at the time (my thought were) I was fighting for my life
deadly/healthy respect or afraid of fire

It happened a few times in my racing career,
a lot worse in a doored car going 200+
way harder to get out of "quickly"
but that was the most/worst time I felt I was going to die

carry on
Everything "qualifies", it isn't a bar that has to be met, if it felt that way to you then it was real bad. Glad you survived it.
 
Ghost....This is a deep topic.
I scrolled by this one a few times because I don't think that I have anything worthy to contribute.
That hasn't stopped me before so **** it...
I served in the Army but was discharged on a medical before completing basic training so no...I never saw any military action.
I don't work in any Police, Fire, EMT or other type of service so I never have saved a life or taken one.
I have been in a few car accidents but never seriously hurt. I've seen an air bag deploy right before my eyes and walked away with only a headache. I've never lost control of a car at high speed. Never fallen from a great height, never been shot, never stabbed. I've never had to rescue a family member from an abusive situation.
It would be hard to call me a hero because I've never done anything that you'd typically call heroic.
I have had a yearning for many years to encounter a situation of importance and suddenly rise to the occasion.
I do simple stuff often.
Today I stopped in traffic to drag a broken pole from the roadway so nobody else would run over it.
I've stopped to help change tires. I stopped to help a buddy who fell asleep on the way home from work and rolled his truck. That guy had a LOT of tools and nails and everything was scattered across 6 lanes of the freeway.
One day I may have a great story where I saved someone.
You just told it. Picking all of that up, moving the pole off the road, very likely saved some person (s) from harm. You never know. It doesn't have to be heroic, it just has to matter, to you, or to someone else. Whether they know it or not.
 
When I was in the hospital with second and third degree burns, they told me that I couldn’t leave until I took a dump. The problem is that the pain meds I was loaded up on bound me up solid. After much strength perseverance and determination, I mustered up enough courage to overcome my pain to pass what felt like a brick.


We’ll, that’s my impossible feat.
people in hospitals do amazing stuff all of the time. The human spirit shines brightest when we are at our lowest point. Even small victories are meaningful when the mountain before you seems insurmountable.
 
Ordinary people are often thrust into situations that call for extraordinary behavior. How you respond will tell you a lot about yourself. In my experience the vast majority of people respond well. Do things they never would have imagined that they were capable of.
 
Here's one:

I was on maneuvers in the forests of Washington state, out of Ft Lewis, with my unit. I became ill with the flu and was forced to stand down and remain in my tent while everyone else was on duty. We had gunnery that day and everyone was at the range or on convoy. The camp site HQ was deserted except for the Command Post and radio sitters. After sleeping for a few hours I got up and fell down on the ground, out cold. When I woke up I wrapped my shivering fevered self in a sleeping bag and stuffed my feet into my combat boots and ventured out in the 3 feet of snow to go to the HQ radio van for some help. When I got there I beat on the door with my fist. It was a steel box on the back of a deuce and a half truck. The radio sitter popped the door and growled at me to hurry the hell up and come in because it was cold. He then noticed my condition and said, wait, i'll come out. So he came out and when he stepped on the down and flat tail gate surface it was solid ice. He lost his footing and flipped out with his feet and his head came down and caught the back of his skull on the tail gate handle. It ripped the back of his scalp off. Blood everywhere. I thought he was dead. I puked, I was already pretty sick.
After dithering around for a few seconds trying to decide what to do, because it was just him & me there alone, I climbed up into the radio van and read the freq board for the call numbers for help. I saw "Dust off" written in red on one corner with the freqs and the call sign and set the radio for that and keyed it up. They answered right away and I told them the news. They said that they knew the area where I was and was there a clearing that was at least 60 ft wide nearby. I looked out the door and there was one right there but it was rough. I told them so and they said I had to 'clear' it of loose stuff and be ready to guide the chopper down when they arrived.

I said I would. They came about 20 minutes later and I was reeling and dizzy by then from running about in deep snow, half dressed and fevered. I guided them down and they got the guy loaded up and out of there.
I stayed in the radio van in case anyone else came or called. They woke me up when they got back and asked me where the sergeant had gone. I filled them in and went back to bed.
Weeks later after the war games were over we had a battalion formation and I was called up to receive an award. I was like, " For what?" I was awarded the Air Medal for valor connected with an aviation emergency where life and limb were in danger. Or words to that effect.
It was pretty cool. Made me feel good that I was able to help someone else even though I was myself at the lowest point health wise and barely functioning. It was the highest rank medal I ever got in 30 years of service. I have a chest full of them, but that one sits on top under my wings.
 
When I was in the hospital with second and third degree burns, they told me that I couldn’t leave until I took a dump. The problem is that the pain meds I was loaded up on bound me up solid. After much strength perseverance and determination, I mustered up enough courage to overcome my pain to pass what felt like a brick.


We’ll, that’s my impossible feat.
A better story maybe is how did the burns happen. It must be a beaut!
 
Ghost....This is a deep topic.
I scrolled by this one a few times because I don't think that I have anything worthy to contribute.
That hasn't stopped me before so **** it...
I served in the Army but was discharged on a medical before completing basic training so no...I never saw any military action.
I don't work in any Police, Fire, EMT or other type of service so I never have saved a life or taken one.
I have been in a few car accidents but never seriously hurt. I've seen an air bag deploy right before my eyes and walked away with only a headache. I've never lost control of a car at high speed. Never fallen from a great height, never been shot, never stabbed. I've never had to rescue a family member from an abusive situation.
It would be hard to call me a hero because I've never done anything that you'd typically call heroic.
I have had a yearning for many years to encounter a situation of importance and suddenly rise to the occasion.
I do simple stuff often.
Today I stopped in traffic to drag a broken pole from the roadway so nobody else would run over it.
I've stopped to help change tires. I stopped to help a buddy who fell asleep on the way home from work and rolled his truck. That guy had a LOT of tools and nails and everything was scattered across 6 lanes of the freeway.
One day I may have a great story where I saved someone.
You made a conscious effort to stop and help people. Not everyone does that. I would say that certainly qualifies.
 
people in hospitals do amazing stuff all of the time. The human spirit shines brightest when we are at our lowest point. Even small victories are meaningful when the mountain before you seems insurmountable.


Obviously, there's no heroism or valor in my story, but when I was laid up in the hospital for 8 days in agony, that was a personal milestone for me at that time.
 
Ordinary people are often thrust into situations that call for extraordinary behavior. How you respond will tell you a lot about yourself. In my experience the vast majority of people respond well. Do things they never would have imagined that they were capable of.
That's the saying, yeah - that nobody really knows how they'll react to a life-threatening situation - until
it's actually thrust upon them.
We all like to think we know how we'd do - but honestly, we don't, until (or if) that time actually comes.

Preface: I pray nobody ever HAS to find out how they'd do. That'd be goal #1 in my little perfect world...
I got nothing on the likes of real heroes in our military, our LEO, our first responders - any number of folks
who willingly put themselves between trouble and the folks being threatened with same.
That said, y'all know my story - I've done all sorts of stuff that got me in trouble, REAL trouble with the
whole breathing/alive thing.
Nothing heroic about any of it - I've had cancer 6 times, died in ER's three more - and I've heard my own
flatline. I've stopped sure violence/robbery situations from happening to others, more than once.
I've had thugs stick guns upside my head, twice, trying to carjack my ***...

Keep in mind, nothing heroic about any of that as far as I'm concerned - but unfortunately, I've had to
learn firsthand - no check that, I know - what I'll do when presented with eminent danger.
I simply don't know when to quit, honestly. I just get back up, Grace of God...
I used to say "I'm not supposed to still be here". I don't say that anymore - that's His call, after all.

All honor and my undying gratitude for you guys who have served your fellow man, willingly and freely!
 
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