Mike Rowe has a new hero. The Dirty Jobs star met Travis Mills recently–a wounded war veteran who served three tours in Afghanistan during which he lost both arms and both legs when a bomb blew up beneath him. The quadruple amputee, who didn’t believe he would survive, spent several months recovering at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The retired United States Army staff sergeant now maneuvers successfully with the help of prosthetics, and doesn’t consider himself a wounded veteran.
“I’m not wounded any more,” he said. “I’m just a guy living life.”
Travis’s true passion now lies in inspiring other wounded war veterans. During his recovery he constantly made his way through the hospital and encouraged others with war injuries. Once released, he created the Travis Mills Foundation, a nonprofit that was “formed to benefit and assist wounded and injured veterans and their families.”
Travis Mills’ motto is “Never give up. Never quit.” It really struck a cord with Mike Rowe. On Memorial Day the TV personality, whose new show Somebody’s Gotta Do It began filming for CNN last week, was so taken by Mills and his amazing attitude that he wrote a message of gratitude on Facebook that he posted on Memorial Day.
This is humbling–not just the attitude that Travis Mills has but also the fact that a TV personality with the clout that Mike Rowe has would take the time to acknowledge the amazing challenges this war veteran has overcome. Some celebrities spend loads of time touting their own merits. Not often do you seen one use their name and their fame to tout others.
Travis Mills is amazingly inspirational. His attitude should humble everyone who reads about him and should make each and every one of us grateful for those gifts we take for granted every day. Mike Rowe is pretty cool, too, for bringing Travis to everyone’s attention.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
