MAJ (R) Rick Rife

MAJ (R) Rick Rife sat down with me for Heroes I Know. Ninety-one minutes. He tells of being shot and the recovery. He was back in battle in no time.

Born 1978. Winamac, Indiana. Farm town in the middle of nowhere. Close to Indiana Beach. Three or four miles out. Cornfields as far as the eye can see. Strict father. Viking family, he calls it. You work.

Recruiter. 324th MP Detachment. Terre Haute. Small. Fun. Then the real Army. Basic. AIT. He still did not know what active duty was until he was in it.

With the Israelis. A neighborhood that was supposed to be Israeli territory. About twenty miles north of the Syrian border. Skirmish fire ahead. Rounds bouncing off a building. He turned the corner and did not clear the roof. The pop. That is about all he remembers.

Wife Maggie. Thanksgiving at their house was a thing. OBC class. Both of them air defense later. Patriot. First folks in ten or fifteen years to get crew Table 12. He was proud of how hard the battalion had worked. Korea, 2007 and 2008, as a first sergeant. Bliss. Hood.

Eighteen and a half years. Medically retired. A stint at Hood helping First Cav with rear-detachment maintenance when the body said stop. Thank you, sir. That is why we hit record. Get the story on tape before we are too old or too sick to tell it.