I could never fully appreciate how one event could change the trajectory of your life until I was 27 years old and a single bullet taught me this lesson. On September 25th, 2011 my Special Forces team, better known as the Green Berets and our counter parts, the elite Afghan Commandos, were engaged in an intense firefight with hardened Taliban fighters in the mountains of northwest AFG. In the 10th hour of the firefight, while going around the corner of a building, it felt as if I had been hit in the stomach with a sledge hammer. While I was suspended in mid air, I thought to my self, “I think I have just been shot” as my body slammed off the ground, I realized that I had indeed been shot. The pain was so great I had to summon what little energy I had left just to remain conscious. I crawled back to my radio and called my teammates to let them know that I had been shot. While they desperately maneuvered under heavy fire to my position, I began trying to medically treat myself, but there was nothing I could do. Minutes felt like years while the pain pulsated through my body and I lay exposed to enemy fire. I called my teammates again to let them know how dire the situation was, but they were pinned down by heavy volumes of fire.… Read More New England Center and Home for Veterans Speech
About Kevin Flike
After graduating from Union College (BA), Kevin R. Flike served as a Special Forces Engineer assigned to the 1st Special Forces Group and deployed to the Philippines, Thailand and twice to Afghanistan.On September 25, 2011 during his second deployment to Afghanistan, he was shot in the lower abdomen and was medically retired due to his injuries. In the spring of 2016, Kevin completed dual masters degrees from the MIT Sloan School of Management (MBA) and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (MPA). Kevin is currently employed within the financial industry in Boston, MA.