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Operation Healing Heroes S03E03
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00:00Welcome to Operation Healing Heroes. Join us as we honor Major Troy Gilbert at the Coca-Cola 600
00:09this Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte Motor Speed. They served for us. They sacrificed for
00:21us. Their stories deserve to be told. Every military veteran has a story to tell. Join our host Jay Garstecki as we honor the stories of our true American heroes, one soldier at a time. The mission today is Operation Healing Heroes.
00:48Brought to you by Great Clips.
00:53Memorial Day weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina is home to the annual Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race. Prior to the race, it's here at the famed RFK Racing Garage that we connect with NASCAR Cup Series driver, Chris Boucher.
01:14To honor the memory of Major Troy Gilbert through the eyes of his gold star spouse, Ginger Gilbert Ravella.
01:21It's an absolute pleasure having you here. Honored to be riding with Major Troy Gilbert on board with us.
01:30I think you two would have a lot in common. You like to drive fast things.
01:36Thank you for asking about him. He was an amazing man of God, husband, father, and dedicated Air Force officer and an incredible fighter pilot. He flew the F-16. It was his dream since he was a little boy. Maybe yours was to drive race cars. His was to fly jets.
01:55Troy knew he wanted to be a pilot when he was a little boy. He grew up on Air Force bases. And though his dad didn't fly, he watched the planes every day. And it was his dream. It was his dream. And his dreams were my dreams. That's kind of how military life is.
02:12Troy's dream was always to be a fighter pilot. So was that the same for you? Did you always want to be a race car driver?
02:19I always wanted to go fast, at least. And my dad was just a big hot rodder. So we grew up with fast cars in the garage, in the driveway. And I just always enjoyed being out there with him and working on stuff. And that kind of evolved from going to car shows to actually catching a bug and wanting to drive race cars.
02:48It was great to hear his story about how he came up through racing and how he paid his dues at RFK Racing, worked there for many years, hung out around the shop until he had an opportunity. And now to look at him as a young man and a family man, right? He's got two young kids and a wife. And it's just, it's great to see that, right? It's grassroots America right there. I love it.
03:14I love it. So it's an honor to be here at RFK Racing. And unfortunately, Memorial Day weekend, we recognize those who have fallen, right?
03:23We work very hard to make sure that this does not become a talk about a three-day weekend, that it doesn't become talk about barbecues, that this is to remember those that have made a sacrifice,
03:37the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice for us to be able to enjoy what we do day in and day out, right?
03:42When Troy deployed, our life was busy. It was full. Lots of little kids, a messy house.
03:50But he was ready to go. He trained his whole life to fly in combat and to go to war. And after 9-11, he was even more committed.
04:01And so I knew that I couldn't hold him back. I knew that this is what he was supposed to do. It was a calling on his life.
04:10But I do remember a conversation that we had right before he left. And I just said, what if something happens to you while you're gone?
04:20And he said, nothing's going to happen to me, but you'll know if it does, that it was God's will.
04:28Operation Healing Heroes is brought to you by Great Clips, Northern Clearing, and by Enbridge.
04:40Operation Healing Heroes is a non-profit organization dedicated to documenting the lives of our U.S. military veterans.
04:51In addition, we also provide financial support and treatment for post-traumatic stress.
04:56Your donation will help heal our heroes.
05:04Obviously, we started off pretty poor.
05:07And as a second lieutenant in the Air Force, you're not making very much money.
05:11And he was trying to get his private pilot's license because at that point, he was just trying to get into pilot training and he needed to have some experience.
05:19So I had a little job and I would work and we'd save up about $100 and he would go fly because it was $100 an hour for time in the aircraft.
05:29And so one hour at a time, he eventually got his private pilot's license.
05:34And so he was always grateful to me because I kind of helped him.
05:38I kind of helped him get started.
05:40I remember on graduation day and I got to pin his wings on him.
05:45And I thought there's a lot of significance in those wings that he wore on his uniform.
05:52And I had no idea what ultimately that would cost our family.
05:57But I was so proud of him.
05:59And I think besides probably the days that we had our children, it was the happiest day of his life.
06:06I can't be with you this Christmas and it breaks my heart.
06:11I miss you guys.
06:12I love you very much.
06:14I do want, obviously, to do what we've always done.
06:18And I want to read for you out of Luke, a Christmas passage.
06:24So hopefully you guys can play it and know that I'm there with you in spirit.
06:29I love you.
06:29I miss you.
06:30I wish I was drinking, babe, drinking your hot cider right now and in your orange.
06:37Kids, I wish I was there to help you open a presence, give you a big hug and a kiss.
06:43And I can't.
06:45You know, it's just a Monday morning after Thanksgiving.
06:49Christmas tree was up, all the lights on.
06:52We were going to decorate it when the kids got home from school.
06:55And so our boys were in kindergarten and second grade.
06:58They were at school.
06:59My little three-year-old was jumping on the trampoline.
07:02The babies were down for their naps.
07:05And suddenly I heard a knock at the front door.
07:07And I thought, that's strange.
07:08You know, it felt really early in the morning for an unexpected visitor, but didn't think anything about it.
07:14And walked to the door and I opened the door and I saw the Air Force dress blues through the screen.
07:26What was your immediate thought of that?
07:28I think for a split second, I wonder what they're doing here.
07:31And then I saw their faces and saw.
07:35Something was wrong.
07:36Yeah.
07:36Saw it in their eyes that something horrible must have happened or they wouldn't be there.
07:41I remember they asked if they could come in and they said, Mrs. Gilbert, on behalf of the United States of America, we regret to inform you that your husband, Major Troy Gilbert, and his F-16 have gone down west of Baghdad in a combat mission.
07:59And I remember screaming, this can't happen to us.
08:04We have five kids.
08:06This can't happen to us.
08:08In that moment, knowing that you still had a bunch of family to take care of, right, five kids, how do you start balancing that by yourself at that point, trying to take care of everybody?
08:23Because you still have five lives depending on you all the time, right?
08:28I remember thinking this was not going to be my kids' story, that they were going to be fatherless.
08:39And sitting down to tell them that their dad had gone home to be with the Lord was probably the second hardest day of my life after that knock at the front door.
08:52And, but, you know, kids have a faith sometimes that's even greater than ours because they don't question.
09:00And I just said, Daddy's gone home to be with Jesus, and we're going to see him again someday.
09:05Operation Healing Heroes is brought to you by Great Clips, Battle Born Batteries, and by SKB Cases.
09:22When you put this thing in the winner's circle this weekend, just make sure that, you know, we remember Troy and we honor his need for speed.
09:32Yes, we have.
09:33I think you two would have been good friends.
09:35I can, I can see it, absolutely.
09:37If you'd like to see more behind-the-scenes footage, follow us on social media and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
09:44If you're a U.S. military veteran in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, or beautiful sunny Florida, log on to our website.
09:52Take a Vet Fishing dot org to find an event near you.
09:55The U.S. Central Command Air Force is today identified Air Force Major Troy L. Gilbert as the pilot of the F-16 that crashed approximately 20 miles northwest of Baghdad on Monday.
10:11Major Gilbert's status is listed as duty status, whereabouts unknown, pending positive identification of human remains retrieved from the crash site.
10:22That fateful day, Troy was flying a surveillance mission, and he had gotten a call over the radio that a downed special operations unit had had a crash landing on the open desert floor, and they needed help.
10:37Immediately needed help.
10:38They were being overrun by about 15 Iraqi insurgent vehicles.
10:44So Troy came in and saved the day.
10:46His wingman was refueling, so Troy was flying solo, and he was eyes on the target, you know, trying to take out one enemy truck after another, save the good guys.
10:57And I remember hearing from one of the soldiers that Troy saved, and months later, and he said, it was a chaotic situation, and we were absolutely about to be annihilated.
11:10And he said, but when your husband came over the radio, he was so calm and so collected, and he brought everything in order.
11:19And he said, I've got this, I've got you, and he said, we nicknamed him Frosty.
11:24And so Troy came in using the gun on the F-16, couldn't drop a bomb, would have killed the good guys that flew low and fast, maybe 500 miles an hour, 250 feet above the ground.
11:36Eyes on the target, eyes on the good guys, and on his last pass, his tail clipped the ground while taking enemy fire, and he lost his life.
11:45Tragically, horrifically, would be that last insurgent truck would turn after the crash and get to Troy's body before the men and women of our U.S. military were able to.
12:00They unharnessed him from his jet seat and rolled his body up in a carpet and threw him in the back of a truck and took off, and he became their war trophy.
12:12So when did you finally get Troy home?
12:17It was a long 10-year journey to bring Troy's body back to the States.
12:24Seven years after the crash, I get a call from the general, and he said, we want you to come to the office.
12:31We have some news for you.
12:33He said, a year ago, an Iraqi citizen turned in some very small bones from Troy's foot.
12:41And so he said, we just wanted to give them to you.
12:45I don't know what would you like for us to do.
12:48And I said, well, we'll go back to Arlington, and we'll bury those with what we have.
12:54And I remember talking to the medical examiner and asking him specifically, what do I have buried?
13:00I feel like I was in a fog for a long time and didn't fully maybe understand from 2006 to 2013, those two recoveries.
13:10What do I have?
13:11And he said, well, ma'am, you only have the top of your husband's skull and you have the tip of his toe bones.
13:17And so I remember pausing for a moment and just weeping over the phone and saying, so you're telling me that I only have the top of his head and the tip of his toes.
13:27And he said, yes, ma'am, I am.
13:29And I said, well, I believe that that's a message from the Lord telling me that he's got him head to toe.
13:37Never Alone Widows exists to love the widow well through weekend encounters, national gatherings, local chapters, and online resources.
13:54Go to NeverAloneWidows.com for more information.
13:57If you'd like to personally thank a veteran that you've seen in one of our episodes or nominate a veteran to be featured in a future episode, log on to our website, OperationHealingHeroes.org.
14:11Operation Healing Heroes is brought to you by Fastenal, AquaView cameras, and by Temple Bay Lodge.
14:22So fast forward to the fall of 2016, almost 10 years to the date that I'd gotten that first knock at my front door, that fateful morning, I get another call from the general.
14:42And this time, it's the news I've been waiting for 10 years for, that I'd been praying for 10 years for, which was that Troy's body had been recovered.
14:52At long last.
14:53And it was an epic mission of heroism on the men and women who risked their lives, special operators, NCIS, Green Berets, SEALs, that all went in and had found him.
15:08As I learned the details of the mission and how they risked their lives to bring him home, and ultimately, the unit that he saved was the unit that brought him back to us.
15:22And I thought, isn't that just a full picture of the brotherhood of the military, that they didn't know Troy, he didn't know them, but yet, they risked their lives for one another.
15:33And they did not want to leave any man behind on the field of battle.
15:37Some helped him God, and they didn't.
15:39At last, after 10 long years, Major Troy Lee Gilbert was home.
15:49And so we had a third and final funeral at Arlington.
16:11And, you know, this time, hundreds of people were still walking behind me, but I looked back, I remember, as we were walking those beautiful hills at Arlington with the marble gravestones and behind the horse-drawn carriage with the flag-draped coffin once again for the third time.
16:28And I looked back, and so many of those people that had come with us didn't know Troy.
16:35They had just known his story and known me and the kids, and were just like, we're with you.
16:40We're seeing this through with you.
16:42And so I think, you know, to me, that those are the people that get it, that get what Memorial Day is really about.
16:50What does it mean to you to be able to represent Troy on this race car this weekend?
16:53To have Troy on board our race car this week, riding along with us.
17:00So he loves speed, so we're going to harness that together.
17:05A couple of Texas boys doing some math.
17:06A couple of Texas boys going as fast as they possibly can.
17:09That sounds like a lot of fun.
17:12Tell me about Jim.
17:13So Jim, he is an answer to a lot of prayers that people prayed for me.
17:18And I never thought I'd find love again after being loved so well.
17:23Jim never planned on loving anybody else either.
17:26He had a wonderfully happy marriage to his wife for almost 25 years.
17:31But when we met, I just knew, you know, that there was something really special about him.
17:37And it was a sweet bonus that he and Troy both flew fighters for the Air Force.
17:42And he's just done a beautiful job of coming alongside me, but also not trying to replace Troy,
17:50just trying to help finish the race for Troy.
17:52I always say that I think Jim has been Troy's ultimate wingman.
17:57So it's been our privilege to have RFK Racing, have us in this working garage this weekend to be able to do this interview.
18:05And on behalf of RFK Racing, Fastenal Corporation, and Operation Healing Heroes family,
18:10I'd like to present you with your very own Fastenal Race shirt, RFK Racing, Operation Healing Hero shirt.
18:18That's for you so that you can wear it proud this weekend when we cheer on Chris into Victory Lane and Troy into Victory Lane also.
18:26So match right in with the crew.
18:29Yeah, can I ride?
18:30Can I get a ride?
18:31Yeah, we don't have a passenger seat, but we got ratchet straps.
18:34So brave are you?
18:37Thank you for sharing your story with us and with the world.
18:40We appreciate it.
18:40And thank you for Troy's sacrifice.
18:42It never goes unnoticed.
18:43The day before the race, during practice, Chris, with Troy riding along, posted the third fastest time in the field
18:53until a blown rear tire would send the 17 car into the wall.
18:59Can you believe that they built this car overnight for us to be able to be here today and race?
19:02No, and it looks exactly like the other one did yesterday.
19:05Amazing.
19:06Yeah, thank you for everything you did for that car today.
19:09I think he's going to be watching.
19:10It's race day at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the Coca-Cola 600 is underway.
19:21Due to his crash during practice, Chris was unable to post a qualifying time,
19:27landing him in the 39th position to start the race.
19:31So, after a long night at the RFK Racing Garage,
19:35the rebuilt Operation Healing Heroes Fastenall car had plenty of ground to make out.
19:42With Major Troy Gilbert riding along,
19:45Chris Boucher was able to find the speed he was looking for from the 17 car
19:50and at one point being recognized as the biggest mover in the race.
19:55Finally, after starting 39th in a 40-car field,
19:59the Operation Healing Heroes Fastenall car was able to rally all the way into the top five,
20:06but lost ground in the final laps during Chris's final pit stop
20:10when his car was boxed in on pit road.
20:14But on this day, at this race, it was just two Texas boys riding together,
20:22chasing their need for speed.
20:25If you'd like to personally thank a veteran that you've seen in one of our episodes
20:34or nominate a veteran to be featured in a future episode,
20:38log on to our website, OperationHealingHeroes.org,
20:41and click on the nominate button.
20:42For more information, please visit www.jurps.gov.co.uk
21:01www.jurps.gov.co.uk
21:05www.jurps.gov.co.uk
21:10www.jurps.gov.co.uk
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