FIVE-AND-A-HALF YEARS AGO, IN JANUARY OF 2012, MARINE CORPS GUNNERY SGT. THOMAS McRAE STEPPED ON A 20-LB. IED.
“Both of my legs got blown off above the knee, and then my left arm was amputated above the elbow. I got hit in the face, and so, initially, I was blind in one eye because the nerve got torn, but they cut that out, eventually. Where I got hit in my head, in my eye socket, a bunch of bone fragments shot back into my brain, which means I’m lucky I’m not drooling on myself.”
This is Tom. He is a single dad raising his 9-year-old daughter and he served our country for 14 years, joining right out of high school in 2000. He deployed six times—to Japan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Portugal, Iraq, and finally Afghanistan, “to a sweet little hell-hole called Sangin,” Tom adds, which, in 2017, continues to be a war-torn city, with the Taliban recovering control just this past March. For the first many years of his service, Tom was a machine gunner in the in fantry. Then he elected to go to the Explosive Ordnance Device (EOD) school to continue his service as an EOD team member. And he might be one of the few men in the world with no legs, one arm, and one eye who considers himself some version of lucky. But that really is Tom.
“I don’t want other people running my life. Right now I can’t drive; that’s one of the things I can’t do. I have a hard time with a lot of other things, but there are very few things that I actually can’t do. Except for walking on prosthetics, but I’m working on that one.”
In the meantime, Tom has another goal: To chase cattle through Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains in July with the Jinx McCain Horsemanship Program (JMHP).
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der June/July 2017-Ausgabe von American Cowboy.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der June/July 2017-Ausgabe von American Cowboy.
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The Long Rope
For as long as people have owned cattle, other people have been stealing them. In the Old West, the consequence for anyone caught committing the crime was a tall tree and a short rope. States and territories developed various ways to discourage thievery, but as writer and photographer Carol Hutchison discovered, Texas created its own special ranger force to enforce agriculture ownership. Today, the tradition lives on, and every day, the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Special Ranger force tracks down cowboy criminals.
Youth Movement
Las Vegas Events Adds Junior NFR as Newest Event to Cowboy Christmas Lineup.
Cowboy Christmas Power Hours
Cowboy Christmas was once just a place to get some shopping done until the big show at the Thomas & Mack. Today, it’s a destination itself, featuring a full schedule of entertainment and events. Every afternoon, on the Rodeo Live presented by RODEO- HOUSTON® stage, jack-of-all-trades Western entertainer Flint Rasmussen and country music great Daryle Singletary host back-to-back talk shows where rodeo athletes, country music artists, and a few surprise guests get cozy with the crowd.
Trail Broke
Most cowboys rode the Chisholm Trail for adventure and money, but C.S. Robinson rode it for love.
The Last Prairie
Read deep into the journey through Oklahoma’s Osage country, where tallgrass and community are rooted in history.
Broken Barriers
Taylor Mason eases Spice into the roping box.
The Warrior Rides Again
FIVE-AND-A-HALF YEARS AGO, IN JANUARY OF 2012, MARINE CORPS GUNNERY SGT. THOMAS McRAE STEPPED ON A 20-LB. IED.
Behind The Chutes
Rodeo secretaries keep the show running smoothly.
At Home With...
Charlie Daniels has a rich discography of Southern-themed, outlaw country, gospel, and patriotic albums. His latest, Night Hawk, fulfills a long-held goal of producing a record of cowboy songs.
The Grand Dame Of Cowboy Poetry
It’s Saturday morning at the 32 nd National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nev., and the Ruby Mountain Ballroom is packed. The introductory applause has faded, but 91-yearold Elizabeth Ebert, “the Grand Dame of Cowboy Poetry,” in gold earrings and a navy blue pantsuit, is still pushing her way across the stage, two wrinkled hands on the walker, slightly stooped, a lariat of oxygen tubes peaking out from a small tank affied to the side. Seated behind her, fellow poets R.P. Smith and Yvonne Hollenbeck, soon to perform themselves, smile as though clued in to some inside joke.
