My friend Tony Rossi of the Christophers just alerted me to this story, and an interview their program recently did with Capt. Scott Smiley, the Army’s first-ever active duty blind officer:

Given short notice that he could go on leave from his tour in Iraq on April 2, 2005, Captain Scott Smiley decided to delay that leave by one month. On April 6, while on patrol with his platoon, a suicide bomber exploded a car bomb that sent shrapnel and debris into Captain Smiley’s eyes and brain permanently destroying his vision. 

Captain Smiley was “crushed” by the news he would never see again. Despite coming from a Christian family, he admits, “I definitely questioned God, whether He really existed.” Also, hatred for the bomber led Captain Smiley into months of depression. 

He was moved toward forgiveness by contemplating the Biblical mandate to “love your brother as yourself…Until I made that conscious effort to forgive him and realize he may have been lost, he may have been tricked or duped into doing what he did – that’s when I was able to move out of depression and begin to…really start taking a positive step forward.” 

When Captain Smiley told his doctors he wanted to pursue an MBA, their reaction was, “Oh my, I don’t know about that.” As someone who’d always been inspired by St. Paul’s statement, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” the officer – with assistance from his wife Tiffany and a tutor – accomplished his goal. 

Blindness didn’t turn Captain Smiley into a homebody. He learned to get to work or the gym by memorizing the number of steps and turns it took to get there. He also realized there’s no shame in asking for assistance when you need it. In fact, he relied on the assistance of others when climbing Washington’s Mt. Rainier with the Camp Patriot program which works with wounded warriors. 

Captain Smiley now teaches leadership to Army cadets at West Point because he remains committed to living a life of service to others. When asked if his injury has taken his trust in God to new levels, Captain Smiley explained, “That belief in God has strengthened not only my resolve and my ability to do more, but it’s given me the motivation to wake up every day with a smile on my face, to love my wife, to love my two boys, to just live every day to its fullest.”

You can listen to a podcast of the interview with him right here.