I first met Bobby at a Humor for Heroes event in San Antonio, Texas in April, 2012. He was emcee'ing the event which was a comedy show benefitting an incredible organization called Wish For Our Heroes (www.wishforourheroes.org).
A burn survivor with visible scars and hilarious (although sometimes slightly awkward) jokes. He commanded the show and touched the audience easily. After the show a small group of us continued to hang out and knew we'd be friends.
Later that year, I featured Bobby on my "The Real Heroes" show on ESPN Austin and we talked about what happened...
His story:
Bobby was a veteran of Operation Desert Storm by age 19 and decided to give up the uniform for a "normal life" and family. However, when the attacks on September 11, 2001 occurred, Bobby re-enlisted in the Army and deployed to Iraq three times with the 82nd Airborne Division and 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment.
On April 7, 2007, Bobby's Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb just north of Baghdad. Bobby was the only man of five that survived that attack.
Over 38% of his body was burned and his head burned to the skull.
The road ahead was going to be a long one as he spend six months in the hospital fighting for his life and within two years, his left hand was amputated. To day, he has had more than 3 dozen surgeries.
In August, 2009 on a particularly difficult day, Bobby pinky swore with his occupational therapist that he would try stand-up comedy in Las Angeles next time he was in town for an appointment. It wasn't too long after that that Bobby had found a new passion and the "well-done comedian" was born!
Bobby believes God kept him alive for a reason. He believes his mission is to help create awareness for burn survivors, to inspire people to live life to the fullest and to heal others through his story and laughter.
Bobby and I did become good friends and spend a lot of time teaming up to share his story and give back to the military community. We emcee'ed an event called "Red, White and You" in Indy on Labor Day this year and it was so fun to watch the crowd respond to him and you could see how touched they were with his tenacity and humor.
- "Red, White & You" Aug, 2013In July of 2013, he came to another "Humor for Heroes" but this time he was performing at the event at Floores Country Store in Helotes, TX. In line with a tradition that Floores has had for many years, they let him hang his combat boots on the ceiling. While the "hanging museum" typically includes cowboy boots and from the likes of: Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Jerry Lee Lewis, Merle Haggard, Ray Price, George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Dwight Yoakam, Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, B.B. King, Little Richard and even a pair of John Wayne’s boots, now Bobby Henline’s jump boots hang there with Grassbaugh, Emolo, Hoover and McCandless (his fallen comrades) names on them. It was an incredible evening.
-Floores Country Store, July 2013I also had the privilege of helping get Bobby recognized at the Dallas Stars Military Appreciation night in Dallas. He went out on the ice before the game started. He received a big Texas-sized standing ovation and had TIME magazine following him around capturing the night and his weekend. Another very proud moment.
This year, the Austin LIVESTRONG Marathon chose 26 charities as beneficiaries of the huge event. Bobby not only drove all night from College Station where he was performing the night before, but he stayed up and volunteered with another non-profit organization, The Comfort Crew for Military Kids. We were up at 5am yelling at runners participating in the race. Yes, yelling... Just random stuff like "periwinkle" and "do a good job". We got a lot of laughs but that's what you do with Bobby Henline. Not only are you in awe and honored to speak with this incredible person, but you're humbled by how strong, yet sensitive he is. Later that morning, Bobby got up in front of the military tent and read a letter he had written to his daughter. Deployment, service and sacrifice is tough and Bobby truly sees how important his family has been in his recovery. They are all incredible people.
Bobby also joined us live at Sholtz's Bier Garten again for "The Real Heroes" this year and there was not a dry eye in the audience of typically rowdy football fans. He touched them. He stopped them in their tracks as they could SEE what true sacrifice is. It was powerful.
-ESPN Austin tailgate, Sept 2013Bobby was featured in TIME Magazine's Nov 10th issue in an article called "Healing Bobby". Be sure to check out the video and look for him in the coming months on PBS. http://content.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,2821796853001_2157202,00.html
-Sky Ball 2013A California hero with a heart and smile (and jokes) the size of Texas.
www.bobbyhenline.com
