IED Blast Kills Fellow Soldiers, Leaves SSG Shilo Harris Fighting for Life and Enduring the Hell of PTSD
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., (June 2014) – Staff Sergeant Shilo Harris’ Humvee hit an IED while on patrol in Iraq in February of 2007. In that blast he lost his ears, part of his nose, some fingers and over a third of the skin on his body. He also lost three of his best friends. What followed was an agonizing road to recovery, which began with nearly two months in a medically induced coma. During that time he experienced a version of hell so terrifying, the memories still haunt him today. Harris shares his inspiring story in his forthcoming memoir, Steel Will: My Journey Through Hell to Become the Man I was Meant to Be (September 1, 2014; Baker Books).
“I am a man who has lived through hell. It is hard to share this experience. The carnage. The devastation. The loss. But I will do it. Because I will always know the horrors of war,” writes Harris. “I will tell you what an explosion does to you on the outside. And I will tell you what an explosion does to you on the inside. And I will demonstrate what it means to live fearlessly, with a clear understanding of the Grace that can redeem mayhem.”
Harris recounts his journey toward manhood, beginning with a tumultuous childhood marked by his father’s struggles with PTSD and the affects on his family, Shilo moved into his rowdy teenage and young adult years searching for meaning, full of bravado, making destructive choices. The tragedy of 9/11 prompted him to enlist in the Army and he quickly found success as a Cavalry scout.
On his second deployment, an IED blast left him severely wounded, killed several of his men and sent him home to a “new normal” full of hospitals, painful surgeries and skin grafts, physical therapies, and medical miracles—Harris was the first to participate in a stem cell trial treatment which successfully grew back tissue on his hand. Navigating his new life provided plenty of challenges outside of his physical battles; “The wounds I kept inside were harder to heal,” he writes, and the realities of PTSD plagued Harris daily as he spiraled into another level of “hell” on earth. He relied on the patience of his family, friendships with chaplains and a desperate and budding faith in God to overcome.
Around Christmas 2012, the Harris family was overjoyed when Ty Pennington from ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition showed up in the front yard of their mobile home to build them a new home. Harris refers to this time as an “Extreme Life Makeover,” as he endeavored to find a happy balance between the time he spent travelling and helping other wounded warriors and meeting the needs of his family.
Steel Will chronicles a journey of pain and suffering, but also strength, persistence, love and resiliency of the human spirit. Harris reflects on his military years and combat deployments with the wisdom of a seasoned leader of men; the book reads like a modern-day “Band of Brothers” and any military enthusiast or history buff will appreciate Harris’ retelling of his time as a soldier. In contrast, the tenderness with which he writes about his family tells a profound story. And Harris’ personal reflections on his journey in relationship with God provide notes of a spiritual memoir. Steel Will is a raw and rugged account of a man brought to his knees by war; yet one who is full of gratitude for the journey, which brought him closer to his family, to God and helped him become the kind of man he always wanted to be.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: On February, 19, 2007, during his second deployment to Iraq, the vehicle Army Staff Sgt. Shilo Harris was traveling in was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED), killing three soldiers, wounding the driver, and leaving Staff Sgt. Harris with third degree burns on 35% of his body. Due to the severity of his burns, Staff Sgt. Harris lost his ears, tip of his nose, three fingers, and he sustained fractures to his left collarbone and C-7 vertebrae. Today, Harris shares his story with groups of veterans, wounded warriors and others around the country, and continues to be an inspiration for fellow soldiers.
