Lost an Arm and a Leg at 24. Men’s Health Cover at 33.

Noah Galloway1:27

Well, you know, I would say that back then I didn't know how to play as a be a team player.

Noah Galloway1:35

You know, that's something that I developed later on in life. Which I I would have benefited or learning it earlier, but I didn't.

Noah Galloway1:45

Uh you know, I mean, this isn't a knock at my family. I mean, I love my parents. They were whatever, you know, things they were dealt with in life is what they were dealt with, but you know, my father is uh an alcoholic, you know, a narcissist, my mom's an enabler, and it kind of just left me and my three sisters to fend for ourselves, which put us in different places and in situations that I wouldn't have I couldn't imagine my children being in. So, you know, but you work through that.

It you know, you develop things from that as you mature as an adult, and you once you start learning what those traumas were and you respond to them and then you learn how to better respond to them. Feel like I'm a better person because of it. I'm grateful for the things I learned, but now I've adjusted as the way I am as a parent, a man, so.

Noah Galloway2:36

I didn't. No. I I never enjoyed school. I hated school, and um as soon as I started ninth grade, uh I just wouldn't go to class. And then I had just turned 16, and one morning my mom, before she went to work, came in my room and said, "You're either going to school and you're passing, or you're dropping out. And if you drop out, you go to work. You don't live in this house anymore." And I I'm pretty sure my parents, now being an adult and having older children, I'm sure there was a long conversation, "How do we do this?" Um and then she left, and I sat there and thought, "Well, I'll never pass.

I didn't I haven't gone to class in weeks." So, I dropped out, and as soon as I dropped out, you know, I'd worked every summer. I actually was happy with it. I went straight to work, was able to live on my own, and

Noah Galloway3:28

I started off doing landscaping first. I did landscaping for a while. I had done a lot of construction over the summers leading up to that, so then I did landscaping, and then when I turned 18, I started working in a plant just north of Birmingham, and did that uh for about 2 years, and then took my GED. Someone advised me into getting my GED. I took the test, scored well on it. They convinced me to go into college. I you know, I was about to say enlisted.

I enrolled at the UAB, and my first semester was in 2001. So, on September 11th, after witnessing that on the news, I just never went back to class. And I have an uncle I'm real close to that served with the 173rd in Vietnam, and he always told me if I went in the military to go airborne infantry, so I'd be right up front. And that's what I did, end up the 101st, and was in the invasion of Iraq in 2003. And

Noah Galloway4:32

Oh, you did?

Oh my god. Look, that's you know, looking back at my life, I am so grateful that things didn't go the way I thought they should go.

I'd say. Cuz I'll tell you and what I'm about to say, no offense to anyone else.

Noah Galloway4:48

Uh everyone has their goals in life and what they're going to do. But, I worked night shift in this plant. And there was a gentleman that I really liked and looked up to who was the night shift manager. And here it was, I was a young man, and this is a an adult with a family and children. And he got to where I'd I'd have dinner with them. You know, they become really good friends of mine. And I really respected this person. And I'd go to their single wide trailer and have dinner with them.

He had a pickup truck that ran sometimes. And I remember thinking, "I want what this man has. This this this life, this family." You know what I mean? It just all seemed comfortable, which it did.

You know what I mean? Like, the happiness, the love, those things.

But, I wasn't looking at the struggles that come with his life. Uh cuz I did I was like, "This is what I want." And now, fast forward 20-plus years, and I still, you know, I I've achieved now that that loving family

Noah Galloway5:50

That he has, but I don't have the the stresses that would have come with, you know, the struggles in life

Noah Galloway5:58

That I know he dealt with.

Noah Galloway6:02

Uh refractories. So, um if you ever saw if you ever went by a plant that has the big stacks and the flame is coming out of the top, well, that concrete that lines that is a refractory.

Noah Galloway6:15

Uh, or if someone if a company is making brake pads and they're pairing, you know, pouring liquid, you know, metal into something to form the brake caliper, that form needs to be poured into a refractory. So, it's a it's like a fire brick. So, we would make that.

Noah Galloway6:35

No, no, I'll tell you what, I learned more about different sized rock and sand than I ever wanted to know. Uh, you know, and then you'd be covered in just dust and you know, I'd stop at a gas station and someone might say, "I didn't know there was a coal mine around here." You know, cuz that's what I looked like. I looked like a coal miner and then I worked, you know, night shift, so I never saw the sun.

Noah Galloway6:57

Oh, we were supposed to. Of course, I'm a kid. I didn't, you know, I'm thinking, you know how it is when you think it, I remember doing roofing as a as a teenager and not wearing gloves when we were tearing roofing off cuz I wanted tough hands. You know, when you're a kid, you're not thinking longevity.

Noah Galloway7:26

Well, I'll tell you. So, I have a son right now that will be 19 next month. He is at Fort Benning, Georgia in basic training right now and they just finished that first 3 weeks. It's always the hardest, that red phase, and now they're in white phase and he finally got to call me yesterday.

Noah Galloway7:42

And I had told him before he went to basic, you know, he was a little nervous but not really showing it, but I said, "Buddy, I said, look, I'm going to tell you something. You're going to enjoy basic training." I said, "But don't be telling people because they won't be enjoying it and that might make them a little upset." Cuz he's just like me.

Noah Galloway8:00

And when he called yesterday, I said, "How are you doing?" He says, "Man, I'm loving it." He's like, "You know, the physical side's easy and I'm enjoying it." He says it can the mental side sitting around waiting, you know, that hurry up and wait.

Noah Galloway8:12

Um but I was not surprised because that's how I was.

Noah Galloway8:16

Uh I I enjoyed it. I remember being in basic training and dreading it ending because once you get into the system, you know how it works, you just roll with it. I was the I remember being deployed to Iraq

Noah Galloway8:26

And guys getting upset with me because I wasn't as miserable as

Noah Galloway8:42

Mean, I was the same way going into it. It's It's once you settle in, you're like, "Okay, I can handle this." Yeah, the beginning I mean, I think that's for most when I talk to other parents who would love to see their kids go into the military if they're you know, not sure what they're going to do or the kid doesn't know or they are intrigued by it. I've told them all. I said, "You know, it's the fear of going in." You know, you feel like you're signing this contract, you're giving them your life, but you know, I'll be honest I tell people all the time, "Military's actually a pretty easy job."

Noah Galloway9:11

You know, cuz in civilian life, you have a lot of decisions to make. As in the military, you kind of know what's going on. You know, once you're in for me and then everybody thinks of basic training. It's not like that day-to-day. You don't have someone just yelling at you all the time. Uh so I think that initial phase, yeah, it can be nerve-racking, but once you get in, it's like, "Oh, this isn't even hard."

Noah Galloway9:35

No, so I was there so it was right after 9/11 happened and there was this mad rush of people going in.

Noah Galloway9:42

Yeah. But what was interesting was I met a lot of guys who Here it was, it was 2001 and we're going in the infantry and a lot of guys were like, "Oh, we'll never see combat. It's all play

Noah Galloway9:56

And so I think there was a lot of people that weren't expecting to be in the fight.

Noah Galloway10:04

Yeah, and there and there was guys like me that was like, "Yeah, put me right up front." You know, not you know, just

But not expecting to be in a fight like Oh, [ __ ] thought Yeah. And I'd mentally accepted that. And the hardest thing I dealt with was waking up in a hospital in the in-between. You know, I I I wasn't staying in the military and I wasn't dead, but I was severely injured. So, what am I going to do? And I struggled with that I I struggled with that for a long time before I realized how much I was struggling with it.

Noah Galloway13:10

Went through basic, went through jump school, and then went to

Noah Galloway13:14

Oh, I mean, I loved it. Uh you know, I remember So, any one that hasn't been through jump school, I think the hardest part of jump school is just you're constantly running. You get up every morning, you run in formation out to where you do PT, and then you run on a track, you run back, you have breakfast, you change, you run in formation out to where you train, you run back for lunch, you run out. So, you're just constantly running. It's not at a fast pace, but you're just constantly running.

Noah Galloway13:41

And then, in the mornings for PT, you would run in a formation that if you couldn't reach out and touch the person in front of you, you're a fallout, and that was it. And I remember we're running, and I just got in my head, and I was like, I don't want to do this anymore. What am I doing? You know, just one of those thoughts.

Noah Galloway14:01

Yeah, yeah. And you're like, "I'm done." And you know, this was back when you know, the infantry there was no females, so I just spent weeks uh a couple of months, you know, I'm a young teenage boy, you know, 20 21 you know, I think I was like 19 or 20. And no females within here I am on this run and I'm thinking I don't even care, you know, I'm just ready to be done. And then this female black hat runs up the middle of the formation and I smelled like her deodorant or perfume.

I was like I can do this. And that was it. Then I was good and then got my orders to go to Fort Campbell, Kentucky and serve with the 101st.

Noah Galloway14:51

To a company. So I you know, you your brigade, battalion, and your company and I get to my company and I met my platoon sergeant that I had at the time and he's going through his blah blah blah, you know, this and that. It was me and like two other new privates.

Noah Galloway15:09

And of course I had just went through jump school so I had my airborne wings. And then he asked if we had any questions. I was like when do we jump? He's like oh we don't jump anymore. You'll have to go to air assault school. So I was like what? I went through jump school, did all that. And so then I went to air assault school. And now, you know, looking back if, you know, when you're airborne qualified in the military, it's it's not realistic. When a C-130 flies over everyone bolts out and it's static line and as soon as you jump that parachute opens up.

And it's like you know, low, you know, you're low to the ground but you're a sitting duck up there.

Noah Galloway15:44

So it's not realistic. You know, air assault school, you know, repelling out of helicopters, all that is awesome. But at first I was like man I can't believe I'll always be known as a five jump chump because I did five jumps at jump school never again. But those parachutes aren't like the ones you see when people jump into a football game and they land softly on the ground. Yeah. You can't control it. In fact, you're taught how to how to land and fall gracefully. And so you hear of a lot of guys who jumped every month and they have injuries, severe back injuries, things like that.

So, I'm actually grateful that I never had to jump again. So, I wasn't I hadn't have a problem with that. But yeah, once I got there and started training and working with everybody, that's when I really fell in love with the military. At first, I was just there because I wanted to go to war. But once I got in, I enjoyed wearing the uniform. I enjoyed working with the guys I was with and that's when I kind of fell in love with the military. I was deep embedded in it when I was like, "Oh, this isn't bad."

Noah Galloway16:56

It's all about when things open up and there was a good year before or more before I went to Air Assault School. You have to wait for a slot to open. Then depending on where you fall in the ranking system, if someone else is going before you. So, it took a little while for me it to open up for me to go and then I I went and did that.

Noah Galloway17:20

Oh, just constant training.

Noah Galloway17:23

No, not yet.

Noah Galloway17:29

Yes, I'm on the waiting list for that. I had also done the physical and uh the PT test and everything. I wanted to go Special Forces. So, then I'm also waiting for what's called selection to come forward.

Noah Galloway17:45

Green Berets.

Noah Galloway17:46

Yeah. Where I messed up and I've I've had this conversation with my son Jack who's in basic training now. I'm like, "Look, if Ranger School comes up, go immediately. Do not hesitate." Where I messed up was I let my um I had a platoon sergeant that actually I'm going to his retirement next month. 36 years, sergeant major over Fifth Corps which is I basically everything from Fort Knox to Belgium. Um this guy is amazing, incredible leader. I am so grateful to have him as someone that I can say I've served under and I'm friends with.

Noah Galloway18:20

Uh yeah, well, the top enlisted be Sergeant Major of the Army.

Noah Galloway18:23

Yeah. So, I mean, he's right there.

Noah Galloway18:29

So, and he has earned every bit of where he's at. Well, he had told me when he was my platoon sergeant one time, he goes, "Galloway, go to Ranger School. I was a Ranger instructor. It's just a suck fest. You enjoy that stuff, so it'll be easy for you. And every Ranger instructor has a favorite, and you'll be that guy. So, you won't even have to work as hard." Well, that was a turn off to me. So, I was like, "Ah, well, I don't want to go to Ranger School."

Noah Galloway18:55

Oh, so Ranger School, I mean, I don't want to mess this up and somebody from a Ranger battalion get mad.

Noah Galloway19:00

Um, but I will say this, Ranger School is a great leadership school.

Noah Galloway19:04

You learn a lot about leadership. That's why I've told my son, I was like, "If it comes up, go." And you get that Ranger tab, and you know, in the Rangers, you know, you have people who are in other groups that have the Ranger tab, then you have Ranger battalions.

Noah Galloway19:17

You know what I mean? And that's a special operations group. So, they're amazing. They're awesome. Uh, your special forces historically have been your teachers. Like, they're the ones who go to these third world countries, and not only, you know, can can fight, but then they train them how to take care of themselves.

Noah Galloway19:38

Yes. And looking back now looking back, I know I would have fit into that perfectly.

Noah Galloway19:44

Like, you know, I come from a family of military and educators. So, why not more merge the two?

Noah Galloway19:49

You know? Um, but I really wanted to do that, and so I was more focused on it than I was Ranger School.

Noah Galloway20:03

No, I ended up going air assault school. So, yeah, that came up, knocked it out, no problem.

Noah Galloway20:11

It's all repelling.

Noah Galloway20:16

Yeah, I heard about

Noah Galloway20:18

Did he?

Noah Galloway20:27

To happen? Yeah.

Noah Galloway20:28

Yeah. I saw the I saw the um the headline for it and I just thought, man, that's tough.

Noah Galloway20:40

I mean I I enjoyed it. I Since then I've In fact, even after I've been injured, I've done some events. There's a group that's uh nationally and people hire them to come to do fundraisers. And I forget uh over the top or something like that where they do a fundraiser of people pay and they'll choose a tall building in the city and you get a chance to rappel down it. And I've always enjoyed going to those things because missing an arm and a leg and I rappel quickly that like, you know, I show them I know what I'm doing.

Noah Galloway21:09

Uh so that's always been fun. Now, I I enjoy rappelling.

Noah Galloway21:15

Oh, I you know, it could have been a a whole plethora of things like, you know, depending how the rope uh how the equipment was, if there's a malfunction. You know, that's what they say one thing about even jump school. Uh they say if you ever, you know, are about to go jump and you're not nervous, you quit jumping because you need to check everything more than once. And then when you're like when you're in the plane, you check the person in front of you. Like when their back is to you, you're checking their back and the person behind you is checking your back.

Your chute and everything. So if you're not nervous, you may skip something. Not saying that's what happened. I have no idea what happened, but there's a whole list of things that could have went wrong. It'd be interesting to see uh as this comes out what happened because hopefully that'll prevent this from happening again in the future.

Noah Galloway22:04

Uh so I mean Air Assault school, like that was just went to a school and then you go back to your company and keep doing your thing. Uh and of course then I was in the invasion Iraq in 2003.

Noah Galloway22:16

Yeah. So the way that the invasion Iraq went, there was a huge, you know, bombing campaign. We were there in Kuwait waiting for that. And then the Marines and 3rd ID, which is a a bunch of tanks, went in uh straight up the middle. Yep. And we, the 101st, would uh helicopters would leapfrog us to different villages that we'd we'd hit and take over so they could move forward, and we just kept doing that all the way into Baghdad. Uh and for me, that was the most exciting thing I could have done.

Noah Galloway22:56

We would land just short of the city. You know, they'd land in the desert, you'd jump out, dust flying everywhere, the helicopter would take off, and then boom, you'd move forward.

Noah Galloway23:06

Yeah, and then go into the city. There were times I you know, I always thought this was cool was we were going in I don't know if it was Najaf, Karbala, where we were going, but we're walking into the city, and you you experienced it in training, but it's different when it's really happening. You got artillery firing from way back there. You don't know where they are. They're firing, and you could hear, you know, uh the sound barrier break as it would pop right over your head.

And at a certain point, you know, someone with us would call for a shift fire, so they'd know to shift their fire not land on us. And I remember thinking, I hope they they're good at what they're doing.

Noah Galloway23:53

Oh, it was like we were a parade. You know, cuz like, you know, it would either be us rolling through a city and everyone comes out to see us.

Noah Galloway24:01

You know, cuz they're like, "Oh, well, here's these people that are here." Um or there was they did this thing with psyops where there were these vehicles that had these huge speakers.

Noah Galloway24:13

And they were announcing things to the town as we would roll in. And I found out years later from a general that the way Petraeus designed the invasion of Iraq, we, the 101st, were appearing to be a much bigger force than we were as we were rolling into these towns. Which was cool to learn what you were doing. That's funny. Uh so they were making us appear to be this massive force as we would push through even though we weren't. Uh and it was it was exciting.

Noah Galloway24:49

There would be a little bit here and there but most of it no, they were dispersing which was smart on their part. Like it's just like I always remind people when you know, guys would be like, "Ah, you know, they're not fighting fair." I'm like, "Well, yeah, we didn't fight fair against the British. Remember that?" You know, they they said because we weren't standing in a field wearing bright uniforms and hiding behind bushes and trees and barns, we weren't fighting fair. But no, that's we couldn't take the British on you know, headfirst.

Yeah. They couldn't take us on that way. So they would disperse and we would find a lot of weapons caches and there'd be warm food sitting there, you know, they just left. And they did what was smart. As we pushed through, they let us settle in. Then they started hitting us. And which was, you know, it was smart.

Noah Galloway25:37

Would be we would take over a building. I remember so we had our company commander uh it was Captain Stanton back then. Now I think he's got his third star.

Noah Galloway25:48

Yeah, like this guy is no and nobody's surprised. He was just a stud. And but he was all about taking on all the objectives and pushing us as far as he could, which we loved. Um he Petraeus loved him, you know what I mean? So we got to really be pushing forward. And he would update us that the other companies, like they would do two or three objectives in a day and we were knocking out six or eight. You know, and then at a certain point you would hit a weapons cache in a building and we just take it over and sleep there for the night and then boom, take off the next day.

Noah Galloway26:26

Lack of sophistication.

Noah Galloway26:29

Yes. Yeah, everything's very basic, you know, your your AK's, uh mortars, that was the majority of things that they were using. Uh and then, you know, one of the things they would do cuz we would constantly mortars were easy for them to do. Somebody had explained to me that there was something they would do with the mortar rounds and freeze them in ice, make them like a block of ice cuz then they could set it up in the tube and then leave. Cuz then once it it the it thawed and it dropped and then hit its target, you know, our systems would pick up where it came from and drop something there but there's no way

Noah Galloway27:07

Cuz they were just They were actually I everything they did was you know, was very basic but it worked.

Noah Galloway27:19

Uh well, I mean, yeah. I mean, everything they did. I mean, the average you know, you you could tell a difference from a roadside bomb from if it was highly sophisticated or if it was just a local who made it. But still impressive yeah. Cuz I'll tell you what, I don't know how to make a bomb. And you know, the fact that you know, these people were capable of doing that was impressive. I don't know if there were guys going out and and showing them how to do it or what.

Uh I know for me, not to jump ahead, but there was the roadside bombs in the beginning they would set them up and run a wire and lay in the bushes and have a detonator.

Noah Galloway27:55

And so when they would do that, if a bomb went off to our right side, we just shoot up the bushes right there.

Noah Galloway28:01

Well, then they started using Motorola pagers. Well, then a company designed antennas that went on all the Humvees that would scramble the signal. So, all the time you would hit bombs that they would go off just in front of or just behind you. You know, somebody's just hitting that detonator and they would go off. Well, when I got hit, the night I got hit, we're it was at night and we would drive with your headlights off. So, it kind of gave away your you didn't give away your position you wear your night vision goggles.

And with night vision goggles, you can see well but you can't see everything. And what I didn't see that night was a trip wire stretched across the road. So, that was very clever.

Noah Galloway28:37

I was.

Noah Galloway28:37

And we took off down the road and when I hit it and it hit my door, like this explosion was big enough that this armored Humvee was 9,000 lb.

Noah Galloway28:47

And it sent it flying through the air, tumbling, and landing in a canal running adjacent to the road.

Noah Galloway28:53

So, it was you know, it was very well done the way they set it up because it was effective. You know, here it was, we were beating them with technology. So, they took a step back and it worked.

Noah Galloway29:08

Oh, I mean every There was multiple times we'd get into fights and sometimes they would drag on. Sometimes it ended as quickly as it started. You know what I mean? They were really good at popping off some shots

Noah Galloway29:24

And disappearing.

Noah Galloway29:25

Uh I remember one day we would we took over a building. So, here it was, it was my second deployment and we're in what's known as the triangle of death.

Noah Galloway29:35

And we would

Noah Galloway29:36

Yeah. We would spread out and we had different locations we had take over and our one platoon A platoon platoon is about 30 guys. We were at uh this building that we'd stay at for a few days and there was an intersection and we had a Humvee sitting there and uh 240 Bravo machine gun on top of it and just you'd take turns being up either on the roof or in the vehicle, you know, pulling security. And it was my shift to go be in the Humvee, you know, be the gunner and I'm standing there and we had uh a couple of Iraqis that worked with us because it was an intersection.

So, as people would drive through, they'd have to go through this checkpoint.

Noah Galloway30:19

So, we were working with them and there's nobody out there. We're just standing there and my medic uh Harley Shanklin he come out. And he's like, "Hey Galloway." I he he brought me a cookie. I don't know where he got the cookie from, but he brought me a cookie and a Gatorade.

Noah Galloway30:35

And I was like that and I turn around and I'm like, thank you. And I'm getting this cookie, and then I hear this boom noise. And I see the Iraqi's eyes get real big. And I just kind of hunch over, and boom, an RPG goes off right near us. And I turn around, and there's a vehicle, and I just start lighting it And then as I I'm shooting this machine gun, it's loud, it's rapid-fire, I hear this pop pop pop going off. like, what is that noise?

I look over, and our medic, Harley, is shooting. And I was like, yeah! You know, it was one of those moments like in a movie you're like, get it! You know, we were both just shooting at this vehicle.

Noah Galloway31:16

I know, cuz the medic doesn't do anything. You know what I mean? He's constantly taking care of us. So, it was things like that that were always exciting, cuz you never knew what was going to pop off.

Noah Galloway31:27

Yeah, my second deployment. That second deployment was when I got injured.

Noah Galloway31:33

I was I think I was only there for 3 months.

Noah Galloway31:37

About a year.

Noah Galloway31:39

Yeah, and it was a bad deployment. We lost a lot of guys before I even got injured.

Noah Galloway31:43

And then after I was injured, we just kept losing guys. Uh so, they wrote a book, uh Black Hearts, One Platoon's Demise in the Triangle of Death. And uh that was about first platoon. I was in second platoon, um but it all tied together. It was just We had bad leadership. Uh we had a colonel that ended up with the book came out. Uh he was pushed out of the military cuz it just it exposed everything. And in fact, he never came to our area. And here it was, I'm I'm waiting to go special forces.

It's like I have this dream you know, that I want to follow this this line and he came to our area and said, Galloway, pack your stuff. You have selection. And I looked at him and I said, no, sir. I'm not leaving the deployment for a school. And he looked at me like I was an idiot. Because it was it was a bad deployment, and I To this day, I made the right decision because if I would have left my guys to go to a school in those conditions, I would have felt horrible.

Now, 2 weeks later, I got hit by roadside bomb and my deployment was over, but I didn't choose that.

Noah Galloway32:50

So, that I can live with.

Noah Galloway32:59

You know what? I don't think so. Uh I worked with some good guys that would have been excited for me, but I couldn't have dealt with that.

Noah Galloway33:12

Nighttime.

Noah Galloway33:16

So, we Okay. So, that day we had two different missions missions our one platoon had to run. So, like I said, there's about 30 guys, so half of us went to do one mission and the other half of us went to another. And the group I was with, we'd finished what we were out there doing. Like, we were I think we were looking for weapons they were hidden somewhere. I don't know. We didn't find anything.

Noah Galloway33:40

And we headed back to an old potato factory we were living out of. And when we got there, I laid down. You know, because I always tell people when you live in a combat We never lived on a camp.

Noah Galloway33:50

When you live in a combat zone with the locals and you get a chance to rest, you take it.

Noah Galloway33:54

Well, just as I started to doze off, my platoon leader, Lieutenant Jerry Edson, woke me up and was like, "Hey, Galloway. There's nothing important going on. We're just going to take the Humvees to go pick up the rest of platoon. There's nothing important going on. We're just going to pick them up and come back. Just wanted you to know we were leaving." Well, that was when I was like, "No, I'm going and I'm driving the lead vehicle."

Noah Galloway34:14

No, no, no. I was with You know, it was a old group of us.

Noah Galloway34:17

And even the potato factory, we would rotate um different platoons that would pull security

Noah Galloway34:23

On it. So, we were three platoons and a headquarters platoon, but three platoons that are constantly rotating in different areas.

Noah Galloway34:33

I jumped up and said, "No, I'm going and I'm driving the lead vehicle." So, that's when we took off.

And now I hit the um roadside bomb before we ever picked up the rest of the guys. Who was in the Humvee with you? It was me. I was driving. My platoon leader, Lieutenant Jerry Edson, was the passenger, and then we had a gunner. Everything hit my door. Um the all the bulletproof glass carry uh cut Jerry all up, shattered his left wrist. The gunner got some shrapnel in his legs, but nothing severe. In fact, he never left country. They he went to Baghdad, was taken care of there, and then went back to the company.

Jerry went back to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, um to heal up, and then just stayed there, and then I was, you know, severely injured. So, I was transported from there. They drove me back to the Tater Factory. Medics worked on me there. Helicopter picked me

Noah Galloway35:26

No.

Noah Galloway35:29

None of it. None of In fact, I don't, you know, they from there to Baghdad, hospital there, from there to Germany, Germany to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in DC. I briefly woke up in Germany. Uh I remember little things happening, didn't know what was going on. Uh and then went back to sleep, and then woke up the night of Christmas Day at Walter Reed. It In fact, that's one thing that was impressive about the care for the troops in combat now. These numbers, you know, I I'd read this years ago, so hopefully they're factual, but, you know, I was told that I read once that in Vietnam for every one soldier killed, seven survived.

So, but the around the time I got injured, for every one soldier killed, 27 survived. That's because of better better body armor, you know, armor on the vehicles, uh first aid, you know, medics training, all that. There's all these things that go into it. And they can get you out of country and back to the States within 24 to 48 hours. It took them 6 days to get me to the States.

Noah Galloway36:32

I was never stable enough to fly. In fact, they were going to fly my family to Germany for their goodbyes.

Noah Galloway36:39

And then, before they flew to Germany, they got a call that said he's stable enough to get to Walter Reed. So, they're able to get me to Walter Reed and then, you know, a lot of surgeries, but, you know, I survived.

Noah Galloway36:54

I'm not real sure. Uh I don't know. Now, I was told by a medic that um I had went cuz now I was thrown in the water. And they said the water was up to my chest and I was in the water for a while before people were able to get there and help the two guys that were injured, you know, they couldn't get me

Noah Galloway37:12

For them to get me out of the water. Well, you know, if you're in water, your blood can't clot.

Noah Galloway37:17

And the pictures I have of my Humvee, after they pulled it out of the water, it was in the water so long that you can see the waterline and blood is still pouring out of it. So, I was told by a head medic that he goes, "Noah, you went so long without blood to your brain, I knew you'd never walk or talk again. I was just trying to save your life."

Noah Galloway37:38

So, yeah, there was a lot of complications that, you know, I was going through, but I pulled through.

Noah Galloway37:53

Well, so, I wake up as my parents were walking in.

Noah Galloway37:57

And I remember when I saw my mom, something in the back of my mind said, "Smile so she knows you're okay." You know, and I don't know why that was I just my first thought. And it was actually my mom who told me what condition I was in because it was late at night, there was nobody there. Usually the parents are greeted by somebody, but when they they got there late at night, too. Like and they just went straight to my room. They found out where I was and just got in there and yeah, it was you know, even though I'm laying in that hospital bed missing two of my limbs and then severe injuries to my right hand, my right leg had no feeling, my jaw was shattered, so my mouth was wired shut.

Like, I didn't know what I had, what I didn't have, what hurt, what didn't hurt. Like, I was just laying there. And yeah, it was all news to me the condition I was in.

Noah Galloway38:49

Uh she said she goes, "No, you've lost your left arm above the elbow, your left leg above the knee, you have severe injuries to your right leg, there's no feeling in it, they can't get it to work, you have severe injuries to your right hand, and your jaw was shattered, so your mouth is wired shut."

Noah Galloway39:05

Cuz I I had a my trach was you know, I had you know, my throat was opened up and I had this little piece that had to go in there

Noah Galloway39:14

So I could even attempt to talk.

Noah Galloway39:16

Um and I would wake up and it'd be across the room. I think my sisters were trying to keep me from talking too much.

Noah Galloway39:27

Yeah, well, you know, and then not uh you know to add insult to injury my wife at the time, we have my oldest son together. We didn't have a good marriage. Um she left me.

Noah Galloway39:43

Yeah, while I was in the hospital, yeah. And I think she married the guy she was dating while I was deployed, and then they divorced and uh her I think her fifth or sixth husband she just had died 6 months into their marriage. I remember I asked my son, they don't really talk. I was like, "You think she killed him?"

Noah Galloway40:03

So, I don't know, you know, what you know, you know, I'm not trying to be you know, in in in her defense, we were young and

Noah Galloway40:09

Whatever. I got no anger towards anyone.

Noah Galloway40:13

I'll tell you what, but when I look back, when I went through the healing process of that it wasn't until recently. And I didn't even realize it was something I was holding on to. I was I went into therapy one day and was doing uh EMDR, eye movement

Noah Galloway40:28

Whatever it I don't know what it stands for. Um

Noah Galloway40:32

But it's very effective. Brings up things. Well, I had a session and then worked through some stuff with my ex-wife, and then I got in the car and I called one of my sisters. And my ex-wife's name is Brandy, and I said uh I said, "Brandy really effed me up. Yeah." And uh she goes, "Noah, we've been waiting 20 years for you to say that." And it really hit me. I I don't miss her. You know what I mean? In fact, I don't think I was ever really I I never was in love.

Um but to have something like I was in my early 20s. And to just bottle that up then made me very cynical to anyone I ever dated or was with after that. And it wasn't until I healed that I was able to see how I was in my relationship with my wife, Amanda, that I love and adore and I want to give her the best life I can, but I was constantly on edge of thinking she's going to leave me. She's going to cheat on me.

You know, whatever it is. All the things that were ingrained in me at a young age that thinking this is how women treat you. When that's not true. You know, there are women that will and there are men that will do it to women, but that doesn't mean everyone's doing it. But when you're when you're convinced they are, it's hard to get that out of your head. And then you can't change it until you heal what caused it.

Noah Galloway42:08

You know, and now I'm very open with it. I'm Not only am I open with it, I love I'll give you an example. A couple months ago I was down in Orlando, uh spoke at a fundraiser for the Children's Miracle Network. They provide funding for children's hospital. Well, they wanted me to be their keynote speaker. Well, anytime I go and speak, especially for a fundraiser, my goal is I want to give a speech that you know, helps raise more money than you'd raise before. So, I go into it and I had worked out this speech where and I didn't I'd never shared this part of my story.

Just never came up, but my oldest son, Coston, who's in the Coast Guard now, when he was born prematurely, he lost 85% of his small intestines. And we spent 3 months at Children's Hospital in Nashville. Well, so I shared part of the speech was that. 8 minutes of me talking about my son and how Children's Hospital was there for for me and my family. Second half of the speech was the fact that living in Birmingham as a double amputee, I get invited to Children's Hospital all the time to meet a child who recently who's recently become an amputee.

Years ago, I got a call for a young man named Quinn, lost his leg to cancer. I go, I meet him. Great time. Uh well, then after that, turns out the cancer was all over his body. Well, then I started going and sitting up there while he was doing chemo. That evolved into me driving, you know, an hour and a half out of town to go pick him up to take him back to Birmingham for his appointments. Him staying at the house with me and my wife and the kids.

We became very close. At 19, he graduated high school. I was at his graduation and then shortly after that, he passed away. I shared that. Um and it was it was interesting when we did the call about this fundraiser, they mentioned that the auctioneer was right after me. And he was doing they said, "He's going to do a paddle raise after." I said, "Oh, so he's going to do a fund-a-need." They're like, "Yeah, how did you know that's what it was called?" I said, "Well, I'm also an auctioneer.

I went to auctioneer school." So, I knew what was about to happen. So, a fund-a-need is where the auctioneer gets up and says, "Okay, if you want to donate, for example, $1,000, raise your paddle, we'll get your you know, so handful of people raise their paddles, get their numbers, they're going to donate a thousand. Then it's like, "Who wants to donate 500? Who wants to donate 100?" So, it gives everybody an opportunity to donate something and that adds up. So, knowing that that was right after I spoke and me choosing to share those stories, when I spoke about Quinn and the connection I had with him and then I mentioned that I have a 3-year-old son now whose middle name is Quinn.

Uh you know, I did that intentionally because Quinn was a part of our family and we love him. And I got emotional sharing that. They wanted to raise $700,000. They raised over a million dollars that night. Now, it wasn't just me, there was a whole program that went on and it was amazing. But, after I spoke, the amount of people that came up to you, especially the men.

Noah Galloway45:05

I had a guy come up to me and say, "I'm not a crier, but you had me and everyone at that table crying." I love being the guy that you know, some may see as this tough guy that's went and done all these things, but I can show this softer side of myself.

Noah Galloway45:21

You know what I mean? I'm not just a weakling walking around, but I'm not afraid of my emotions. And I feel like that's my goal in life right now is to be someone that shows others it's okay. Yeah. In fact, you know, I've told people if you can show sadness, that prevents that anger for coming from coming out cuz for about 40 years of my life, it was always anger until I learned how to uh truly react to my emotions.

Noah Galloway45:53

Look, I am, you know, always tell people, you know, therapy doesn't make you a different person, but it also makes you a different person. Yeah. You know, I mean, if you really break it down, we're always changing. I I When I walk out of this studio, I'll be a different person than than walked in, but who I was for 40 years of my life and who I am now, very different.

Noah Galloway46:15

My reactions to things are much different. I don't get triggered. I don't fly off the handle like I used to. You know, everything that I've experienced in life has been an evolution and that, you know, has because I do therapy. I go to my therapist. I have experimented with a lot of psychedelics. I've done a lot of inner work that um I choose to continue working on because I'm happy with the person I've become.

Noah Galloway47:12

You want it to. You want it to.

Noah Galloway47:19

Oh, I have done Ibogaine. Yes.

Noah Galloway47:21

Okay, so well I have to so I the the list of psychedelics I've experienced started with psilocybin.

Noah Galloway47:30

And my wife was living out in LA running some yoga studios. So she was introduced to psilocybin. So then we were talking, you know, for a couple years. Then I moved out to Alabama and in the beginning of our relationship she spotted my issues.

Noah Galloway47:59

When I say she spotted my shortcomings, they were pretty obvious. You know what I mean? Like and I told I remember I told my oldest son when him and his wife began their relationship I was like, "Look, when two people live together all of their traumas going to come out."

Noah Galloway48:13

Like you it's it's forced out. So, you know, be cautious of that and work through it. So, mine was coming out. And it wasn't healthy, wasn't good. And she introduced me to psilocybin. Now, I will admit uh first time I did it I was like, "Yeah, I'll do drugs."

Noah Galloway48:30

You know what I mean? Let's do this. So, I never truly went into it.

Noah Galloway48:34

You know, with the right intentions. But I always say that was the first crack in the armor.

Noah Galloway48:39

And then I did it a few more times. And with psilocybin and I'll get to the Ibogaine question.

Noah Galloway48:46

Okay, so still what it did for me and I was doing hero journeys. So they were like four or five grams. And so you lay down cover your eyes, music, boom, you're in it. I would I would cry uncontrollably. And my wife was like, "I've never seen anybody react like this." Like she's trying to wrap her head around it. Like it was every sadness I've ever had in my life was coming up. And I needed it. Uh so it was this healing process of learning to cry.

Noah Galloway49:21

No, it was it was never scary. Psilocybin was never scary. Um I mean there was a few times I think cuz I've done it like uh six times or so, may have had moments that were a little dark.

Noah Galloway49:33

Or they would touch on an emotion.

Noah Galloway49:35

Usually it was about my kids.

Noah Galloway49:37

Feeling like I wasn't doing it I haven't done enough as a father. Well, after psilocybin I went and did my wife found uh Heroic Hearts Project. And so I went to Peru and did ayahuasca. Now, ayahuasca 3 days in a row uh of doing ayahuasca. And that you know that can last Psilocybin can last like 4 hours. Ayahuasca can be 8 10 hours. Dark.

Noah Galloway50:08

My Look, my experience Everybody's experience is different. But like what they say is they call her Mother Ayahuasca. And Mother Ayahuasca is going to show you your drama whether you want to see it or not. And mine was miserable.

Noah Galloway50:24

But the After the second night, the third day I was like a prisoner of war plotting my escape. I'm like, "Okay, how do I get out of here?" We're in the jungle. Okay. Like I literally was thinking In fact, when we went into the maloca that third and final day and us eight veterans you're in there and we have our yoga mats and I'm laying there and the lady's kind of leading them through a little meditation and breath work to lead up to it. And I remember her saying, "Or just lay there.

That's okay." cuz I was just angry.

Noah Galloway50:50

Want to be. The next day the other guys were like, "Were you okay yesterday?" I was like, "I didn't want to be here, but I'm glad I did that third night, you know."

Uh cuz it did. Uh I needed all three to to do the healing. And I you know, of course you come home from an experience like that and you're on this high, but it is it's the work you do afterwards that keeps it.

Noah Galloway51:25

It was just all over his face like you could just see it in him. And he had he told me his wife had he's has even talked about leaving him. And I remember I said to him I said remember what we just experienced they haven't. And just like my wife like I want to be I want to improve as a husband, but just because I come home in a good mood she's going to wait and see you know if there if it keeps going. Just because I'm super happy and awesome for a month does not help our relationship.

Cuz she's seen years of evidence that that isn't temporary. And now And it was it was kind of like I was on this high from it at first and then it kind of fades away. Well, then I got a chance to try 5-MeO-DMT. And 5-MeO-DMT they call it you know, the Bufo frog which actually is from the Alvarius frog, but

Noah Galloway52:25

This was actually crystallized frog toad venom. Yeah, the toad venom. And of course you know, I'm go big or go home. Like you know, they're like hit this take it inhale it. I'm like like I'm taking it all in. Same. I remember as soon as I inhaled it I remember saying the first time I did this in Malibu I remember saying nothing could prepare me for this. And then you're like and then your whole head explodes. You know, and then my experience was so my wife is there I take that huge hit and she said I went back stiff as a board.

Yep. And then I became violent.

Noah Galloway53:05

And she said that cuz afterwards like even to this day it's been a long time. She's like you should reach out to Bill again and thank him because she told and he told me he goes no if you'd have had all your limbs I could not have held you down. He had to get on top of me to hold me down.

But I was having this peaceful experience internally. So when it was done you know for

Noah Galloway53:32

Yeah and then but for me the next couple of weeks after I had these like reintegration moments where they say can happen where it would just pull me back in and it was so eye-opening. It was bringing things to light. So I was benefiting from it. Well then about two months go by and the opportunity to do 5-MeO-DMT comes up again. I'm like I want to do it again. Now I go into it the second time. Didn't tell anyone this didn't tell my wife this but I was my my mind had gone back into my depression.

And I've said for years I've never been suicidal. But what I've learned in my healing is no I was never going to take my own life but I kept putting myself in situations where it was okay if I lost my life.

Noah Galloway54:25

Was this darkness inside of me that I was healing so I could enjoy life.

Noah Galloway54:30

Well I was in this place where I just didn't want to be here.

Noah Galloway54:34

So I just was looking forward to a moment of leaving reality. So this is what I was going into.

Noah Galloway54:41

Didn't tell anybody and I hit the pipe and my wife said that I just softly sat back laid there peacefully a smile on my face but when I came to I leaned up and I grabbed her arm and I was like I need you. I had this terrifying experience. I don't remember any of it but then over the next couple of days it started I started realizing that whatever my brain showed me or told me in that 20 minutes was basically you do not belong here, you belong there.

So then suddenly I wanted to be with my family more. I wanted that time with my wife, my time with my children. That's what I I I gathered from it. So it was completely different reaction.

Noah Galloway55:28

All right, within a couple of months, I'm sorry I'm rambling. I you know I have

Noah Galloway55:34

I go to I get invited uh I had a veteran and another guy from England that had bought this this land and we're trying to create a retreat center in the Dominican Republic. Well, they reached out to me and a couple of other veterans that I'd never met and invited us to just experience what they built, maybe do some brainstorming, you know, whatever. Uh so I was like, yeah, I'm not going to turn down a free trip to the Dominican Republic. Go, had a great time, Samana.

Have you ever been there? Like it is amazing.

Noah Galloway56:06

So we go and I meet these other veterans and people are talking about Ibogaine. And I'm like, I want to do Ibogaine. You know? Well, and I'll I'll I'll say this, my wife's one of these people, I've never been one that has been like, oh, you know, the universe will give you what you need.

Noah Galloway56:28

Two days after we had this conversation, I get an email from the CEO of Beyond, which is in Cancun. Tom

Um and he just randomly reaches out to me. He's reaching out to people that have, you know, some followings on social media and invites me to come do a free treatment of Ibogaine if and I'd be comfortable sharing it on social media. And I'm like, your timing is perfect. He didn't know any of the people I was with. Like this was just pure chance or divine intervention, whichever you want to call it, but it worked. And within 2 months I was in Cancun doing Ibogaine. Now, I've I've shared my psilocybin, my ayahuasca, 5-MeO-DMT.

Well, now I'm in Cancun going to do Ibogaine. Now, before I went, I reached out two friends of mine who had done ibogaine. And both times I said, "Look, I know we're not supposed to compare, you know, everyone's experience is different, but I am just curious. What was your ibogaine experience like?" And both of them were like, "It was miserable." You know what I mean? I was like, "Oh, crap. It's going to be like ayahuasca again." And I'm like, "Dang it." So, I go into it.

I do I take my dose. Now, ibogaine, as you know, is a lot more There's a lot more that can go into it. Like, they're monitoring your heart. There's just a lot more risk there.

Noah Galloway58:29

Well, there were Well, there were two people when I was there. One of them was an older gentleman who his heart He had had some heart issues in the past, so they had him doing uh microdoses. Uh which they they feel like is just as effective. Just takes longer. And then there was another woman that the day of her ibogaine, they were monitoring everything in the morning of. They were like, "You're not going to be able to do it." You know what I mean? Cuz they are.

They're they're And you want a facility like Ambio or Beyond that

Noah Galloway1:00:14

Well, okay. So, yeah. So, I go into doing mine and for like 8 hours I dry heaved.

Noah Galloway1:00:27

Yeah.

Noah Galloway1:00:29

After I did it and then I was done and they took me back to my room and then they got your room set up. You know, they got you know, the lights on the wall. Um I was still in it

Noah Galloway1:00:40

For hours.

Noah Galloway1:00:43

I don't remember there being a buzzing at

Noah Galloway1:00:47

Now, let me ask you this. This is like when I tell people Okay, so I dry heaved for a long time. I did have some visions. And then we did 2 days later a uh smaller dose.

Noah Galloway1:00:59

Did Yep, cuz ambio does the DMT and then beyond does a secondary dose. Uh you know, 2 days later.

Noah Galloway1:01:18

Yeah, you know, well, here's what happened to me is it wasn't none of my visions were were negative. Uh it was very intro very eye-opening. I had some like in fact mine was more of the first vision I was removed from the planet and was able to see the planet from the distance and then another experience I left the entire universe.

Noah Galloway1:01:41

And but then I was fine with it. Uh and I I think it had something to do with you know constantly feeling like I have to perform.

Noah Galloway1:01:49

You know, and just being okay in my own skin and just accept you know all these different things you kind of find. But for me the day after and then the day after I did the secondary dose the morning was miserable. Uh I was in such a dark place for the first few hours. Uh in fact you know, I always had negative thoughts that just run through my head and get caught in a loop. I'm you know, like so many other people. But the even when you're in a negative thought process, there's at least a part of your brain that's like, well, you know, that may not be true.

Well, these two days each day after I did uh ibogaine until about noon that part of the brain that says maybe this isn't true would never come on. So then those negative thoughts really took me I mean one morning after that first experience, I got up and it was like 2:00 in the morning and I get up and I walk out. There's the the nurses' station and then I walk into the you know, past it and there's a living room and there's two couches and there's each one of the nurses is still you know, fully clothed but they're laying down asleep.

I was like, I'm not going to bother them. Yeah, because it's the middle of the night. And I didn't want to bother them and then I walk down the hallway and then just lean up against the wall, slide down the wall and just start sobbing. And then the nurse hears me, he comes over and I'm like, I'm a horrible person. You know, what I mean? He's like all these bad things are just replaying in my head. Uh but then by noon, boom, I was back to my normal self.

You know, and but it was those experiences that I had. Now, leaving uh Beyond after doing ibogaine, by pure chance, in fact, I took the call while at the retreat center, someone had told me about Wisdom Dojo. Have you heard of that?

Noah Galloway1:03:39

So, Wisdom Dojo is these two gentlemen, one of them's a veteran, but these two gentlemen that met at a like working under like a Buddhist monk somewhere, whatever. They decided, "Hey, let's create a program that is targeting veterans on how to teach meditation, but using it in a format that's like fitness. You know, your repetition and then learning the movements."

Noah Galloway1:04:04

And so, I was like, "That sounds interesting. Like, I've never been one to meditate, but I'm I'm entering this world of bettering myself." So, I set it up while in at the retreat. In fact, I was like, "Yeah, I just did ibogaine yesterday." You know. So, when I come home a week later, I start this 10-week program of meditation. So, you do a call every week, and then each call starts with you leading the meditation after what you learned the week before. And you have videos you watch throughout the week, and for me, that was the best reintegration.

Was to come off of ibogaine and do a 10-week meditation course. Because when people have asked me, "Which psychedelic You can't say which one does what." And and what someone should or shouldn't do is all on their own.

Noah Galloway1:05:05

Really?

Noah Galloway1:06:00

Ear yeah.

Noah Galloway1:06:25

Was a woman in fact she called me left me a voicemail the other day I need to call her back but she was in the bed next to me there's a the curtain in between us

Noah Galloway1:06:35

Cuz there's a nurse sitting there monitoring us and then all of a sudden it'd been several hours

Noah Galloway1:06:41

And she's like it didn't work it didn't work it's not working like she was like in her head

Noah Galloway1:06:57

Yeah.

And then she like when she got home she would have these it didn't like her integration hasn't been well

Noah Galloway1:07:06

What I mean she's really struggled uh and I think she wants to go back and it does I met a guy that had battled with um addiction and it was his third time there and you know when I tell people that I say it's not because Ibogaine doesn't work

Noah Galloway1:07:22

It's because you can do this just like we were saying and then go home to the same [ __ ] and end up and he said the other two times I did not prepare myself when I got home but now it's prepared for me to not go back into that life because just like the first time you ended up on heroin you weren't a junkie then

Noah Galloway1:07:42

But you ended up there and you can you know what they have found is impressive about Ibogaine is how it resets your nervous system and what it has done for addicts and then also people with addiction and then depression and all these different things but you can ease yourself right back into That's right. One of the things I love to say about mental health is for me my experience for 40 years I viewed the world through dirty lenses.

Noah Galloway1:08:08

It wasn't that it just got dirty all of a sudden because of a deployment. No, my entire life they've just been getting dirtier and dirtier and I didn't know the difference

Noah Galloway1:08:16

Until they were cleaned. Now my lenses can still get dirty

Noah Galloway1:08:20

But I'm prepared to continue washing them so I never experience viewing the world that way again.

Noah Galloway1:08:27

That was what was Now did you cut out caffeine before I don't know was caffeine a thing for Ibogaine?

Noah Galloway1:08:40

For me it was I I didn't really truly give it up. I was kind of cheating the system everything else was fine but the caffeine was hard. Then I got I was at the retreat center and they had coffee there.

Noah Galloway1:08:53

And I was like oh so I guess it's not that big of an issue with Ibogaine but I didn't drink any and then I remember I talked to my wife one day I was like hey babe I was like they got coffee here and I haven't had any.

Noah Galloway1:09:02

She goes no you don't like coffee you just like caffeine. I was like oh yeah good point.

Noah Galloway1:09:11

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

Noah Galloway1:09:23

I jumped I started jumping ahead I'm sorry.

Noah Galloway1:09:32

So, for me they told me I'd be there for 2 years.

Noah Galloway1:09:38

Yeah, like the first couple of months was just one surgery after another. I don't even remember most of them. Exactly the first couple of months like I was kind of in and out of it. They had me so highly medicated. I wasn't really sure what was going on.

Noah Galloway1:09:53

But then once they cut back on the medication and I started moving around yeah, I was uh I was bitter and angry.

Noah Galloway1:10:04

And in fact and again not to jump ahead, but my mental health journey is what has taught me a lot about what I was going through at that time. And what I realize now is I was in denial of my injuries. You know, it's not that I didn't believe I was missing an arm and a leg. I just wasn't facing it. Or the fact that suddenly a career I'd found you know, I went in the military just to go to war, but then once I got in I fell in love with the military and I wanted to do it for the rest of my life and that was over.

So, there was a lot to to take in and because of that denial I didn't want to be around the other injured guys. Uh I pulled away from the men I served with. Uh like we would talk here and there a few of us, but I just wasn't I wasn't engaging with them the way I needed to. Uh just complete denial. You know, and I've told a lot of them that since is like I've apologized for pulling away, but an example I had um a doctor at Walter Reed say "Why don't you do things with the other veterans?" And I said "Why would I spend time with a whole bunch of cripples?" And so that was me judging, you know, forcing judgment on them thinking that I was better than them.

Not wanting to acknowledge my own insecurities of me losing an arm and a leg. Yeah. My entire life I've been physical. I did construction. I you know did landscaping. I worked in a plant. I was in the infantry. You know what I mean? Everything was physical and then two of my limbs are gone and I'm like I'll never be physical again. My wife leaves me in the hospital. No one will ever want me. But I just pushed all those emotions down and tried to just keep on going about life like nothing was wrong.

And so I was going through all these feelings. I didn't want to go to physical therapy. I just wanted to either sit in my room in silence and just be in my own misery or I wanted to get out of that hospital as quick as I could. And within like 7 months once I got a prosthetic leg and started moving around I just left and moved back to Alabama. Of course now you still have a a chain of command that you have to you know answer to.

And I'd already I had dressed out my chain of command for being an [ __ ] Wouldn't go to formations. Was like nah I'm not doing this crap.

Noah Galloway1:12:36

After the injury. I'm at Walter Reed but you still have accountability. You're still in the military. You still have you know a chain of command. But I was so angry and didn't care. I didn't care. So I didn't do what they wanted. In fact when I left Walter Reed I just left. And bought a house.

Noah Galloway1:12:56

Well I bought a house and then one day I get a phone call. Where are you? I'm in Alabama. What are you doing in Alabama? Oh I live here. You live there? Yeah I bought a house. I've been here for the last couple of months. And this guy was so angry with me that he just hangs up. And then a day later you know this E-6 calls me. Hey Sergeant Galloway this is uh Sergeant you know Staff Sergeant so and so. I'm I'm going to do your out processing for you at Walter Reed so you don't have to.

I was like well I appreciate that. Thank you. You know so they decided you know what we'll just do it ourselves and just get rid of this guy. So, that's how I ended up at a Walter Reed.

Noah Galloway1:13:39

What I did at first the first couple of years, you know, my house is like 3 and 1/2 hours from Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Noah Galloway1:13:48

So, once my guys returned back from their deployment and then I moved back to Alabama, oh, a group of them would come down every weekend and we partied like rockstars, you know, and just drank and drank and drank. And that was the life I was living. I rushed into a second marriage.

Noah Galloway1:14:07

Had two more children and was just a [ __ ] show of a human being.

Noah Galloway1:14:13

And my wife at the time had battled with a lot of uh addiction and I'd just cleaned up. But she started falling back into that. And then I decided one day, I need to change what I'm doing. Fitness was something I always loved. So, then I joined a 24-hour gym and started going in the middle of the night and just teaching myself how to work out again. So, as I start improving and you can see this, it's really hard on relationships if you have two people that are out of shape and then one of them decides to change and the other one doesn't.

Noah Galloway1:14:51

And it's unfortunate because the person everyone should be responsible for their own well-being and to and to motivate themselves. But if one person's improving the other one isn't and the other one hasn't found that motivation yet, which is easy, you know what I mean? You don't know what they're going through, depression, things, you know, undealt with trauma, whatever's causing it, well, then they're either going to sabotage or they're going to judge the other person. And the better I got, the worse she got. And then we split.

Noah Galloway1:15:24

So, second marriage failed and then, you know, I started doing my own thing and just started pushing myself physically and going back to the um denial of being injured, there are great programs out there, organizations, all these different things for someone like myself, a double amputee, to get into basically whatever sport I want.

Noah Galloway1:15:48

And do well. Like there's a a young man that was born with one arm, uh grew up in Birmingham, now he's in North Carolina. He's one of the golf pros at, you know, this big country club.

One-arm golfer, one of the best. In fact, he was the best one-arm golfer in North America for a long time, but now him and this Canadian one-arm golfer go back and forth. And he had told me one day, he's like, "Noah,

You need to join the one-arm golf association." And I was like, "Brother, I'm not the kind of golfer you are." You know what I mean? Like he's crushing it.

Noah Galloway1:16:18

And I can do well just to not slow the game down.

Noah Galloway1:16:20

And he's like, "Yeah, but it's all categorized." He's like, "And you're a double amputee. You're also missing your leg above the knee. There's only like two other guys you're competing with." I'm like, "Oh, that's actually a great idea." But back when I got, you know, early on in my injury, I couldn't see that. In fact, I didn't want to be around other injured guys.

So I started running races like Tough Mudder, Spartan races, marathons, things like that to push myself, which was challenging, but I was also avoiding competing against other people with disabilities.

Noah Galloway1:16:54

Like I was the first one of the first guys with a disability running those obstacle course races.

Noah Galloway1:17:00

And gained a lot of attention. And the amount of people I've met with disabilities afterwards, even people who aren't disabled, that know my story from Tough Mudder.

Noah Galloway1:17:09

Like early on, I would go to a Tough Mudder race, and I was a rock star. This was before anyone else knew me, but they knew me at Tough Mudder. They'd announce me over the intercom. Like it was a big deal, and I loved it. Oh, yeah. That attention I was just feeding off of it. And I I Yeah, you're exactly right. If I was competing against other injured guys, I wasn't going to stand out. So yeah, so there was a lot of ego involved. But I was doing all that, and you know, that's you know, part of what even though it was a lot of uh, like I was saying earlier talking about my upbringing and all these different things.

You can't change your past, but there's a lot of ways that we evolve as humans that we adapt to things and my childhood actually benefited when I got injured to challenge and push myself to these crazy levels which got me attention.

Noah Galloway1:18:00

Which I benefited from, but I'm grateful that I eventually was introduced to mental health.

Noah Galloway1:18:05

And now I'm I'm I'm going into things with a different mindset.

Noah Galloway1:18:10

Uh, but I can't change what I've gone through, but I have benefited from it. So, I'm grateful for it and yeah, so from Walter Reed to the gym to the races and then, you know, cover of Men's Health and and getting that out.

Noah Galloway1:18:24

Yeah, that was I was so proud of that because when I was in the military, I was I was the guy that when other guys after work would go drink, I'd go to the gym.

Noah Galloway1:18:34

And so I I'd made comments that one day I'd be on the cover of Men's Health. And then when I was injured, I remember I told a friend of mine. I was like, you know, realistically I'll never be on the cover, but I created all this. I I'm training myself. This is at least worth a story, a mention. And then I end up on the cover and called the ultimate guy. And that was a huge That was the the best recognition that I could have taken for what I have pushed myself to do.

Yeah, you know, like you know, you mentioned like yeah, because of that I went on Ellen and then ended up on Dancing with the Stars, but I'll get into that in a minute, but being on the cover of Men's Health was that proud moment for me.

Noah Galloway1:19:31

So, I go on Ellen.

Noah Galloway1:19:33

And after they aired that episode, the phone started ringing.

Noah Galloway1:19:38

Survivor called me first.

Noah Galloway1:19:40

And

Thought, man, that'd be amazing. Uh of course here it is at this point I'm twice divorced, have three kids. With x amount of weeks no contact back home. You get loaded off there's no contact back home. You stay with the crew. They keep everything quiet.

So I was like, thanks but no thanks. I have three kids here in Alabama and I can't leave for that. So I had to turn it down. And then another show called super cool, you know what I mean? And I was excited about it.

Noah Galloway1:20:08

And it was on the tails of I had done Spartan Death Race.

Noah Galloway1:20:12

And 100 people showed up. I'm the only one with a disability and only 20 of us finished and I was one of them. So

Basically this show was going to be like the Death Race.

Noah Galloway1:20:23

Which I thought, man, that'd be even cooler if people could see how awesome I am. But again, I turned it down because I couldn't leave my kids for cuz it was going to be a TV show.

Noah Galloway1:20:33

It was like that that Death Race was 58 hours long.

Noah Galloway1:20:38

But then it's over.

Noah Galloway1:20:39

But if you're making a TV show, it's going to be more than 58 hours. Yeah. They even told me they were like, look, we're inviting like professional athletes. It ain't going to be as hard as that Death Race you did. So already it was kind of a turn off. It was like, oh, so it's going to be watered down. Whatever.

Well, then I didn't expect anyone else to call. Then Dancing with the Stars called and I told them. I was like, I've never seen your show. I've heard of it. Like I had no desire to be part of it.

And they're like, we'll put you in a house in LA for the duration of the time you're here. And I was like, thanks but no thanks. I got three kids here in Alabama and I can't do that I can't leave them for that long. And then Deena Katz, the executive producer, was like, that's okay. We'll send the dancer to you and you rehearse in Birmingham for fly back and forth to LA for the live show. I was like, dang it. All right, I guess I'll do it.

And I thought I'd do like a couple weeks. I ended up doing all 10 weeks and came in third place.

Noah Galloway1:21:27

So and I'm really grateful for it. Like the show was really good to me. Everyone that was there and the amount of attention I got, the amount of people that have reached out to me because of it. Like it was very inspiring and it motivated me to keep doing the show.

Noah Galloway1:21:41

Uh so I'm glad I did it, but

Noah Galloway1:21:44

I I sucked. You know what I mean? Like yeah, the fact I came in third like I was people liked me on the show. They told me I was getting all the the votes. Like you know, I brought in a demographic that never watched the show veterans. And for me it wasn't just like there were some people who could rehearse just a few hours each day and they were fine. I didn't know what I was doing so mine were hours long. And just trying to just do the bare minimum.

And so it was but it was an interesting experience. I'm glad I did it. Cuz it was very positive for me, but then once that was over I was like I'm not dancing anymore.

Noah Galloway1:22:25

They were so young. They they in fact my daughter doesn't remember it at all.

Noah Galloway1:22:32

Yeah, yeah, they you know, they were my oldest son like he is always been my biggest supporter. Like he'll have my logo as a silhouette of me and our running my running blade and he would stick those stickers all over his dirt bike and everything. Now my other two kids it's not that they didn't appreciate it. But before I got custody of my oldest son, he was like an hour and a half away.

Noah Galloway1:22:57

So every weekend I'd pick him up and every Wednesday I'd pick him up from school and we just hang out in the area go bowl we did that for a couple years we went bowling. And then then when I got custody of him there was more time, but my other two even before I got custody of them we lived in the same area. So they would just be at the house all the time. And for them they dealt with even now my daughter who just turned 17 makes a joke about it, but if we go eat dinner her and I you know, go out to a restaurant she said oh no, if I go have dinner with you it's like we're having dinner with the entire town.

Cuz people are going to talk to me, you know, and I'm a talker so I'm going to talk back. But they as young children they learned to deal with that. If someone stops me they just kind of hang out and wait. So they weren't such like for them it's not that they weren't they didn't like the attention I got, but it affected them differently. Yeah. So, I would they weren't going to name drop me like my oldest son.

Noah Galloway1:24:21

Well, you know, like for me I like it doesn't happen as much anymore. I always tell people it's been like 11 years since I was on Dancing with the Stars. In the reality TV world, that was 100 years ago. I don't exist anymore. Um so, when it does happen, like I love it. Yeah. And what's interesting about it is I always tell people I was introduced to fame just a small portion of it, just enough to see

Noah Galloway1:24:51

How it affected other people.

Noah Galloway1:24:53

And I didn't want it.

Noah Galloway1:24:54

Like I love being the guy that people know around town. And even if I never would have been on Dancing with the Stars, look, I talk a lot, I mispronounce a lot. You're going to know who I am.

Noah Galloway1:25:03

But as in fame goes I don't want it.

Noah Galloway1:25:08

You know, I've seen how uh how it affects affects people, their mental health. I will never be someone that you'll see on social media that ever says anything negative about someone who's in the spotlight. Like it's easy to do.

Noah Galloway1:25:22

But you don't know what they're going through. And

You make that comment and you think, "Well, they'll never see this." But what if they do?

Noah Galloway1:25:29

I don't want to be that person that's putting negativity out there.

Noah Galloway1:25:34

What's funny is like when I was single and I'd gotten all this attention I mean it was it was strange because I would be out somewhere and there'd be a group of women that you know, a bunch of them recognized me, they're super excited to meet me and there'll always be that one female that would just want to just they thought they were doing something cool. I mean, I don't know who you are. Yeah. I don't know who you are. And just I'm like, okay, that's okay.

I don't know who you are either. I know what you know what I mean? Don't have to be rude about it. And then they the amount of times I've heard people say, you probably appreciate it when people don't know who you are. And I always want to be like, why would you think that?

Noah Galloway1:26:10

And the example I'm going to use, I'm going to name drop somebody that I am friends with and this was before I got attention that I met this person and I have a lot of respect for him, Bret Michaels.

Noah Galloway1:26:20

From Poison.

Noah Galloway1:26:21

Uh and so Bret is non-stop.

Noah Galloway1:26:26

He's either doing big shows with Poison or he's hitting up little venues with his other band who's just Bret Michaels. And he just doesn't stop.

Noah Galloway1:26:35

And I was he came to Birmingham, so I went, you know, his manager was like, hey, we're going to be in town. So I went and I like hanging out backstage with him. And then I drove my motorcycle.

Noah Galloway1:26:46

And it's and in the back and he's like, is that your bike out there? I was like, he goes, let's go get a picture with it, you know what I mean? So we're going over there, take a picture, then we're talking and they were performing Def Leppard was also performing. And I've done other events with him and some other bands and now I'm not saying anything bad about Def Leppard. So I I I apologize for pointing them out, but I did say to him, I was like, Bret, you know what?

I got to tell you, you're aging better than your counterpart. You look amazing. And his eyes lit up.

Noah Galloway1:27:13

And he's like, no, that's why I love you. You know what I mean? Cuz and that the example the point I'm going to make is people think that celebrities like it when they're not noticed as celebrities. Now, not to say there's not some people out there that don't want to be recognized, but when you're constantly in the if if your job is to be in the public eye,

Noah Galloway1:27:32

Well, you also know realistically that is going to end one day.

Noah Galloway1:27:36

And that's your identity. Veterans deal with it, you know, when you lose that identity. Well, they're holding on to it. So why would I not tell my friend, dude, you're killing it.

Noah Galloway1:27:47

You're doing awesome. You know, you're still popular, you look great, you sound great, everything. Why would you not want to hear that? Why would I come at with you to be that one person that's trying to give you Oh, cuz I had I had several friends that thought they were the only friend that were quote-unquote keeping me humble. Yeah, exactly. And I was like, you know, everybody I hang out with is an [ __ ] to me?

Noah Galloway1:28:10

Cuz they're all trying to humble you. It's like, no, you're all doing that. Maybe I like being told I'm cool.

Noah Galloway1:28:19

Yes, exactly.

Noah Galloway1:28:24

So, my day-to-day, I mean, hands down number one is my wife Amanda and we have our 3-year-old who'll be four next month. And I still have my daughter who's 17 that's in high school at the house. And then I've got my son Jack in basic training and my older son Coston who's in the Coast Guard. They're my main priority. Uh more than has ever been in my life. Like I I've told them constantly, I wish I'd have known this when you were younger. Their entire childhood would have been different.

Um but it's where I am and that's my main focus. Uh when I'm home especially with our 3-year-old, me, my wife, and our 3-year-old are always together. We have different, you know, story times that this library on Wednesday, this library on Thursday, this library on Friday. Yesterday we were at the zoo. You know what I mean? The other day we were at the fall festival. The couple days before that we were at a pumpkin patch. And then when things come up, I still do a lot of uh speaking, you know, whether it be fundraiser, corporate events, whatever it is.

And I do those. You know, and then little things come up here and there. Uh but at the same time I've been very fortunate because I don't put the effort in that I should to promote myself as a speaker. Uh cuz my wife's always like, you need to be putting this on social media. I'm like, yeah, it's fine. Um but I've been fortunate that I still have people that are reaching out to me.

Noah Galloway1:29:46

But it could be better. I'm not real good at posting on social media. And I'm not consistent. Like I know the things I need to be doing, but I'm not doing it.

Noah Galloway1:29:58

Yeah, like no, and that's what I need to be doing because I enjoy it. Yeah, I love being on stage. Yeah, I love uh sharing my story. Uh one of the best things I You know, when I get to go somewhere and be part of a program that I can sit and there's a moderator and we're talking, we're taking Q&A from the audience. Like I love that. Uh I want to share my story. I want to share the things I've learned about leadership or about, you know, mental health, all these different things.

Now, what's really in I got to bring it back is Remember what I mentioned I was in the Dominican Republic with a group of veterans? Well, two of the veterans I was there with, uh one of them Sam Juan, who is a female with the Army who what was one of the first females to volunteer and then was one of the first veterans to be embedded with SEAL Team Six.

Noah Galloway1:30:47

Uh has a a lot uh in her story from childhood to, you know, trauma and then trauma in the military as a female, all these different things. And I I'm And then this other veteran from uh Oh, man, I'm embarrassed that I'm going to get the Norway. He's Dutch.

Noah Galloway1:31:06

Denmark.

Noah Galloway1:31:09

Sorry, Anton, I got that wrong. But Anton Nootenboom, I may get that wrong, too. But anyway, this guy is amazing. Both him and Sam are so professional. Both have been deployed to either

Noah Galloway1:31:28

He's from overseas. Let's go with

Noah Galloway1:31:32

And and he's tall, long hair, like he looks like just, you know, like a model. Um but he was special operations and was deployed to Afghanistan and has dealt with a lot of mental health. And then he said he was living out in uh Australia in an area that you just stay barefoot. Now, where he's from, you don't walk around barefoot. But here he is in Australia. He's walking around barefoot. And then he decides to walk across Australia barefoot to raise awareness for men's mental health.

That does well, and he's like, "Well, there's got to be something else to get attention for mental health." Isn't like he's not someone looking for attention himself. This is a I mean, I know him well. He's a good human being. And so, he decided though he broke a world record for being the first person to walk to base camp at Everest barefoot.

Noah Galloway1:32:18

And I asked him, I was like, "Well, would you cover your feet at night?" He said, "No, the rules were he could never cover his feet the entire time." So, he does that, and he's also walked from LA to New York barefoot. So, this they call him the barefoot Dutchman. Amazing human being and so done so much mental health work and and encouraging other people to take care of their mental health. And right now, he's about to kick off out in Europe. He's going to do 26 marathons in 26 days all barefoot.

Noah Galloway1:32:47

Going to break another record, and that's just constantly raising attention for men's mental health or mental health in general. Now, I meet him and Sam, and after a couple days, I pull them aside, and I said, "Listen, guys, I've had this idea for years, and y'all are the first people I want to share it with cuz I think y'all are who I need to do it with. As a speaker, I constantly had people that are like, 'I want to hear you speak,' but it's always, you know, private events that I'm doing.

So, I was like, "Well, how do I do these where it's open to the public?" Well, then I get into mental health. I'm like, "Well, how can we do more for mental health?" Well, I meet these veterans, and I say, "Hey, I want to create a program where we as veterans are traveling around, renting out venues, and putting on a show. I want it to be a show where we each, you know, 15-minute speeches, and share part of our story, and show that arc of our struggles, our depression, and how we overcame it.

You know, cuz I envisioned it as being something that between our three stories, someone's going to relate to something that we say, and see that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. So, we create this team, and then I said, "Hey, we need one more person. I want it to be moderated by someone who's a professional, like a psychologist or something like that." And Sam's like, "I know the guy." Sam ended up being the rockstar that has introduced us to everyone.

Noah Galloway1:34:11

And so then we got our fourth, Dr. Mike. He is a psychologist. He's also a Buddhist monk. You know, he you know, has been doing psychedelic assisted therapy for people for years. So, we have this team, and we're putting together this program called Unmasked Warrior.

Noah Galloway1:34:29

Yeah. And so, and we're partnering up with different I don't want to mention them yet, but we're finalizing these deals with these sponsors so we can start putting together these programs. So, we can travel the country and do these shows. And on top Yeah, we're talking about mental health, but what's funny and I I love to put this out there. Our LLC is called the Trojan Horse. And I came up with that cuz I said, "Look, I want it to be called the Trojan Horse because if we called this a mental health

Noah Galloway1:34:58

Event, no one would show up."

Noah Galloway1:35:02

Yeah. But if if it's a veteran storytelling event, and we make it theatrical and enjoyable, but we're talking about mental health.

Noah Galloway1:35:10

Well, then we're kind of tricking them into it.

Noah Galloway1:35:12

And you know, of course I'm not afraid to put that out there, but that's where it came from. But the program is Unmasked Warrior. And we're super it we're our first event looks like it is probably going to be in San Diego next year, and then we'll just start growing from there, and I'm super excited about it.

Noah Galloway1:35:42

Oh, no. I I I've been so excited about doing this interview, about coming up here. I mean, it wasn't bad at all to drive up here and and see you and spend time with you, and I really appreciate it.

Noah Galloway1:36:00

You.