Brown County Republican Women’s Club held their monthly luncheon on Friday which featured guest speaker U.S. Army SSgt. Shilo Harris, who was badly wounded while serving in Iraq.
Harris, now a motivational speaker, uses his experience as a wounded warrior to encourage others. Originally from Coleman, Harris was 27 years-old when he signed up for the Army after being turned down by the Air Force recruiter at Heartland Mall.
Harris stated that he was called to service for his country after seeing the attacks of 9/11.
“I remember exactly where I was when it happened. More about 4000 lives were taken in a matter of hours in one of the worst attacks in history on our nation,” said Harris. “I wanted to serve, have a rifle in my hand and to put my family behind a gate.”
He lived in Brownwood for about 2-3 years before his first deployment to Iraq. During his second deployment to Iraq, on February 19, 2007, the Humvee Harris and other soldiers were riding in on their way to investigate a possible Improvised Explosive Device (IED); the vehicle was blown apart by another IED of approximately 700 pounds of explosives.
Harris told in detail the experience of being in the blast, and worrying about his comrades, not knowing at that time just how bad his injuries were. He was flown to a hospital in Germany for treatment, where he was put into a medically induced coma for 48 days, according to Harris. His parents and his wife were flown to Germany in essence to say goodbye because he was not initially expected to survive.
The story of his rehabilitation and his struggles, one step at a time, was also explained to those in attendance.
“I have had, I think, a miraculous recovery. If you would have told me back in 2007 that I would be here in this position, being able to walk, talk and do all these things that I do, I would have told you need a better picture,” he said. “The only thing I could picture me doing, at that time, was sitting on a porch drinking iced tea. That’s how injured I was.”
He spoke of how the first day of recovery, the nurses asked him to take ten steps, and he could only take three, and then had to get back into bed. “It was then that I realized this was going to take a long time,” said Harris.
“Those three steps turned into ten, those ten turned into twenty, those twenty turned into me sneaking down to Burger King every now and then to get a soda,” he said. “But it was each day that I would put one foot in front of the other that I would push forward and I would set realistic goals. Sometimes that is all we need – realistic goals, and each and every day we can make those positive changes for a greater outcome. It wasn’t an easy recovery and it wasn’t an easy journey, but it was a journey worth walking. I have been so very blessed in my recovery.”
Harris and his family received the last house built by Extreme Home Make Over. He stated that the experience was such a blessing.
Through speaking about his recovery and writing his book, Harris stated that he has been told that he changes lives.
One day while Harris “was pouting” about his injuries and not being able to do normal things, he had injured himself while hanging pictures in their new home. He stated that his 4-year-old daughter came and consoled him and started to help him clean up his bleeding hand, when she asked if he would look at clouds outside with her. While outside she asked him if they could pray together.
“She prayed for me, she prayed for her mother, her grandparents, even her brother. She prayed for everyone to be happy and for me to get better. The one thing she didn’t do was ask for anything for herself,” stated Harris. “It was then that I realized if my 4-year-old daughter could be that selfless, and have that much love for her family and for the Lord, I knew that we were going to be okay, that we were on the right path. Being able to share my story with you, I feel is one more blessing I feel that I can put on my list.”
Brownwood City Councilman Eddie Watson read and presented a city proclamation declaring Friday, November 14, 2014 as SSgt. Shilo Harris Day in Brownwood. Harris is pictured above with Councilman Watson. Below are Harris and his father Allen Harris.
