Vietnam veteran turns war wounds around

  • Published
  • By Spc. Tamika Dillard
  • 3rd MEB PAO
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON Alaska --  I attended a Spiritual Resilience Breakfast at the Lee Reserve Center Sept. 2, and little did I know Dave Roever would rock the place.

Many learned a valuable lesson that day: When you're having a bad day, it helps to talk to someone who's had a worse day and made it through.

Roever, a Vietnam veteran, injured in the war, used his life experiences to get his message through all ranks and services in attendance.

"I was a gunner's mate in the 'Brown Water Navy' in Vietnam," Roever said. "I was on patrol when tragedy struck. I was getting ready to throw a white phosphorus grenade at the enemy when a sniper fired at my head, missed my head, hitting the grenade in hand. A few seconds longer was all I needed and that grenade would have been out my hands."

He told of only having half a face and how his right ear was burned completely away.
Through all this pain and shock he looked down to only see his heart beating through this large opening in his chest.

God truly had a plan for this Sailor.

"When the medics finally fit me on the stretcher I did not realized that they thought I was dead," he said. "They loaded me on the helicopter, but why are they not helping me. In their mind, they believed I was already dead."

"I had to do something to let them know that I was still alive," he said. "I reached deep inside myself and summoned all the strength left in me and yelled 'Medic!' That got everyone's attention real fast."

As he began to overcome his physical injuries, he had to slowly begun to overcome his mental injuries.

"I tried to disconnect the IVs that were keeping me alive," he said. "But I realized that I pulled the wrong one because when I woke up I wanted a cheeseburger. No one wants to die of starvation. At that moment I knew it was not my time to die."

Barely having left the hospital, Roever began his speaking career in Texas, and from there he has traveled all across the world sharing his enthralling story with humor and tragedy, listeners laugh as they cry, and find hope again to overcome their own tragedies.

So when life hands you a lemon, you can either toss it aside and wait for an apple or you can take life as it has come to you and make a glass of lemonade to share with others through the positive light and influences that you emit.

The gift of giving always finds a way to give itself back to you - a thousand times over and only you have the ability to decide which path is best.

Roever told Soldiers and Airmen "Thank you for all you do for this country. When you are having a bad day, it helps to talk to someone who's had a worse day and made it through."

Applause rang out across the room as he walked from behind the lectern. Listeners lined up to shake his hand, get his autograph and just say "Thank you".

He did not leave without one final souvenir, which brought him to tears.

"On behalf of the Trailblazer family, I would like to present you with the 3rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade coin and invite you to the club," said Col. Barry K. Williams, 3rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade commander.