When Capt. Scotty Smiley stood before 500 people Thursday, they gave him a standing ovation before he said a single word.
As the Army's first blind officer on active duty, he instantly earns respect and admiration.
But his recovery from an April 6, 2005, suicide car bombing and return to service is a tale of success that includes an agonizing back story.
Like other times in his life where things went sideways, there are moments of doubt and even anger.
“There are some memories that day that I definitely wish I don't have, but I think the more important thing to say is it's those memories that enable us to grow, if we can get past them, if we can focus on getting past them,” said Smiley, 32, of Spokane, Wash.
A West Point graduate, he gave the keynote speech for USAA's annual Veterans Day tribute at the company's headquarters.
For USAA CEO Joe Robles, a retired Army two-star general and Vietnam veteran, Veterans Day is a time “where I can salute my fellow veterans, talk to them about something that we can share some commonality about — the people that we've known, the people who passed, the people who did miraculous things, folks like Capt. Smiley there who are truly an inspiration to all veterans.”
Smiley's 10-minute speech was a talk of brushes with defeat spliced with humor and a simple theme — never quit.
There was the day he faltered at the start of his freshman year at West Point. As a new cadet, a rank he joked was “below the commandant's dog,” Smiley had to deliver laundry to upperclassmen. Confused, he had a meltdown when confronted by a sergeant.
“I just began to weep and cry, and as pathetic as it might sound, I was broken, and after she picked her jaw off the ground in shock and awe she told me to go back to my room. She told me to figure out if this is where I wanted to be,” he told the crowd.
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