“I’m a knife carrying, knuckle dragging, trigger-pulling machine,” said retired Master Sgt. David Lind during the Miramar Semper Fidelis Rotary Club meeting at the Officer’s Club here April 22.
Lind attended the meeting as a guest speaker to talk about his experiences in combat as a Marine and wounded warrior.
Lind, a Pennsylvania native, joined the Marine Corps in 1989. After serving as an enlisted rifleman in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Lind became an instructor at the School of Infantry, West, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. In 1996, Lind became indoctrinated into the reconnaissance field and received orders to 1st Reconnaissance Battalion.
Over the next 11 years, Lind deployed with the battalion to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom three times. On his last deployment, however, tragedy struck.
In June 2007, Lind’s vehicle was hit by a pressure plate activated improvised explosive device. The blast from the IED severed his legs from the knee down.
During the meeting, Lind told the story of his recovery. He described how after the blast he was moved to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where doctors told him he wouldn’t be able to walk on prosthetics for at least a year. The problem was, though, that Lind was about to be promoted to master sergeant.
“I told them, ‘I am going to walk at my promotion ceremony,’” said Lind.
With some “Marine Corps stubbornness and the attitude I couldn’t be told what to do,” Lind walked exactly two months from the day of his injury, right up to get the extra rocker on his rank insignia.
His perseverance and ability to meet great challenges are exactly why the rotary club members asked him to speak at their meeting.
“Not many people know a wounded warrior,” said Mike Stelman, one of the founding members of the club. “To see his recovery and see him move on as a fine human being is informative and inspirational.”
Although Lind spoke to everyone at the meeting, he also addressed the active-duty Marines listening to him speak.
“Value the time in uniform that you have right now,” said Lind. “Your worst day in uniform is better than your best day out of it. I say that from the bottom of my heart.”
Although Lind is retired now, he continues to speak regularly about his experiences to help spread awareness and gain support for wounded warriors.
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