Hazard Ground

Early in the morning on September 20, 2004, and during some of the bloodiest days of the war in Iraq, Jacob Schick and his fellow Marines received a quick reaction call. With no sleep following the previous night's mission, Schick rounded up his Marines and jumped in a Humvee. Even though he had a bad feeling about the situation, Schick demanded he drive the lead vehicle. Shortly after moving out, his vehicle ran over a triple-stacked tank mine IED. Schick took the brunt of the blast. He was blown 30 feet into the air. He never lost consciousness, and he never went into shock. Every horrific moment about that day is locked in his brain. The blast took limbs and parts of his body away, and caused him to endure 46 operations. But the most difficult part of the entire ordeal was the mental pain Schick had to endure during recovery. Not being on the battlefield with his Marines, literally nearly killed him, physically and mentally. Severe depression, painkillers, and thoughts of suicide became his new enemy. Hear