Who is Travis Mills?
Trailer to Travis: A Soldier's Story.
To watch the full film, click here
Is there anything in particular that drew you to an Airborne Infantry unit?
Yeah, the promotional video are you kidding me? I went in there, and I was going to be an electrician, you know my Mom told me I should do this, and my Dad thinks it’s a good idea, and then the recruiter said "Yeah, but check this video out". And I was like- “Yes, that is what I want. I want to jump out of airplanes and get bad guys.” And then they said “Electrician gets a nine-thousand-dollar bonus, and Airborne Infantry gets twenty-four thousand.” And I weighed my options out, and said, “twenty-four thousand…yup.” And I’m not sure where that money is today, but I’m sure I had fun with it.
Photo Credit: http://www.runnersworld.com/
After being hurt so badly, and going through surgeries and pain, what kind of emotions go through your head when you get to be with your daughter and family?
I mean I was very upset, angry and devastated that the Taliban got me. I thought that I was really good at my job, they were never supposed to get me- and somehow they did. And I was questioning why I lived, and I was miserable. And then I went through that Ketamine coma and when I came out and I finally stopped hallucinating and everything I realized that this isn’t as bad as it seems. I’ve had friends put in body bags, I’ve had to ship their bodies to their parents, and I was like, you know what, I still have the ability to do whatever I want. I can drive my truck, I can walk again, I can feed myself, and I can take my daughter out. And I decided right then and there that I need to quit pitying myself, and just figure out a way to do this, because at the end of the day I have a little girl that’s is going to call me her dad- and that doesn’t change. I have a wife that says she’s going to stay by my side and get through this stuff with me, so I might as well make the best of the situation, and that’s what Walter Reed was able to let me do.
Click on the photo to visit the Travis Mills Foundation Website.
Is there any specific story from the Travis Mills Foundation that has particularly meant a lot to you?
We’re raising funds to build this camp. We were able to bring people up and show them how to kayak, canoe, boat, fish, swim and tube, and this gentleman, who is a friend of mine, came back from Afghanistan, he was on a crashed Osprey and he’s a major in the Marines. And he has four kids, and he brought them down to the camp, and he was just blown away.
So we’re building that network, were showing people that they can get out there and get after it, and be comfortable in their own skin. So we bring them in, make sure they feel comfortable and they know that if they do fail, that that’s okay, we’ve all been there and we’re going to get back up and keep going.
Photo Credit: http://www.runnersworld.com/
In what ways would you like to see the foundation grow?
So obviously we would like to endow it. But what we do is we bring veteran families up for these camp weeks, and next year we are hoping to do five to six weeks, so one every other week over the summer. And then we want to get into six to eight and eventually up to twelve weeks of summer where we’re bring in thirty-five to forty people a week, Monday through Friday, and really showing them a great time, and build their social network, so they have people to reach out to, and people to depend on if they’re having a rough day, that live the same life they live, and go through the same situations that they go through. So we want to see it grow and say thanks for your service and for your sacrifice, and watch people do things, get out there and find a way to get it done.