Real People, Real Stories: Afghanistan vet Steve Bohn

SALEM, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- The goal was for us to fish these Salem waters, but what was really caught, was a true sense of patriotism and pride.   
    
As we waited to catch our fish, that wait unraveled an incredible story of a young man so moved by the events of September 11, so moved by the death of one of his friends from Swampscott in Iraq, that he joined the army.

Steve Bohn deployed to Afghanistan in 2008. He wanted, needed to serve our country.
    
It wasn't easy.

"It's something I don't wish on my worst enemy," he said. "War is not pretty."

Steve had just finished eight hours of guard duty, went back to his outpost to get some sleep, and that's when a suicide bomber in a dump truck packed with 2,000 pounds of explosives pulled up. It went off right in front of him.
    
In addition to multiple physical injuries across his body, he was also diagnosed with traumatic brain injury.

But that's not what he's thinks about. It's what happened to his friends, and that tells you everything you need to know about this wounded warrior.

"I still have survivor's guilt. I don't expect anyone who hasn't been there to understand. But I wouldn't go on events with Wounded Warrior for a while until someone came up to me and put things in perspective and said you're living for them, you're out there to keep their memory alive. It put a lot in perspective for me," he said.

He says the Wounded Warrior Project saved his life.

"I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them," he said.

Now it's Steve's turn to help others, through Wounded Warriors, an incredible project where their mission is to honor and empower wounded warriors. And that's Steve's mission now.

That, and fishing, cooking, reading and taking care of his niece Mikayla.

"She's one of the big reasons I just wake up everyday and continue on. You know it's for her, it's for my friends, it's for my co-workers," he said. "People either go two ways: Let it destroy their life even more or they strive and try to be, persevere and live life to the fullest and I'd rather take that option any day."

The laughter was coming easy for Steve, but he never forgets, and maybe that's why he appreciates so much now.

Cox Media Group