Combat Story (Ep 34): Kevin Flike | Special Forces | Green Beret Foundation | Wounded By War | Purple Heart

Combat Story

Ryan Fugit

History

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 17 July 2021

⏱️ 84 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today we hear the Combat Story of Kevin Flike, a former Green Beret and Purple Heart recipient who served multiple deployments, including two to Afghanistan.

Kevin was shot in the abdomen during his second deployment and took years recovering from the associated physical and emotional scars and has shown that it is possible to not only fully recover from such an injury, but to thrive.

He is a graduate of the MIT Sloan School of Management and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, sits on the Board of Directors at the Green Beret Foundation, is a sought out motivational speaker, and shares his story of perseverance through a blog and outreach series called Wounded by War, which includes a documentary on his recovery.

Kevin was recommended to me by Beau Wise, a former guest on the show who lost two of his brothers to the war in Afghanistan, one of whom knew Kevin. Kevin and Beau have become like brothers. I hope you enjoy this inspiring insight from the brink of death to tremendous success as much as I did.

Find Kevin online:

LinkedIN https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinflike/
Instagram @woundedbywar
Wounded by War www.woundedbywar.com

Find Ryan online:

Follow on Instagram @combat_stories
Email [email protected]
Learn more about Ryan www.combatstory.com/aboutus
Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle

#greenberetfoundation #specialforces #kevinflike #veteran #combatstory #army #specialops #specialoperations
Show Notes

0:00 - Intro
1:04 - Guest introduction
2:38 - Person in common: Beau Wise (as viewers will recall from a previous interview who was the sole survivor of three boys in the Wise family to make it home from Afghanistan).
21:03 - Decision to enlist out of college via the 18X program.
32:52 - Kevin’s strengths and perfect fit with the Green Berets.
34:50 - Learning to manage expectations when teaching, fighting, and working with others.
39:38 - Combat Story #1: Afghanistan (Kunduz) 2010.
46:11 - Combat Story #2: First firefight.
54:27 - How to process the “addiction” to war looking back now.
59:55 - Combat Story #3: The mission that led to Kevin’s significant injury.
1:09:55 - What goes through your mind when you’re shot and think you might die.
1:15:06 - Wounded By War (www.woundedbywar.com)
1:20:05 - Motivational Speaking to companies, communities, schools and the Green Beret Foundation
1:21:50 - What did you carry with you into combat?
1:22:40 - Would you do it again?

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You know, and then the fight picks up and you start moving again throughout everything.
0:04.8	And so in that 10th hour, I went around the corner of the building and it's like, okay,
0:10.0	I hit the stomach of the sledgehammer.
0:12.3	And next thing you know, I'm laid out on the ground, pain worse than anything I ever felt
0:16.4	in my life.
0:17.8	I called back to my headset, I got knocked off.
0:20.3	I put him on and I just like, monster up, I got strength, I could just start talking
0:23.8	on the radio, selling my teammates, I've been shot.
0:26.7	And remember afterwards my team started, he made me repeat myself a couple of times.
0:31.1	Like I said, you want to be level, like what am I not saying clearly?
0:35.3	I've been shot, this is my call sense, my location.
0:38.0	And he's like, I just didn't believe you had been shot because you were so calm on the radio.
0:45.3	Welcome to Combat Story.
0:46.5	I'm Ryan Fugid and I serve Warzone Tourers as an Army attack helicopter pilot and CIA officer
0:51.4	over a 15-year career.
0:53.2	I'm fascinated by the experiences of the elite in combat.
0:56.6	On this show, I interview some of the best to understand what combat felt like on their
1:00.8	frontlines.
1:01.8	This is Combat Story.
1:04.3	Today we hear the combat story of Kevin Flite, a former Green Beret and Purple Heart recipient
1:08.6	who served multiple deployments, including two to Afghanistan.
1:12.0	Kevin was shot in the abdomen during his second deployment, and took years recovering from
	...

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