Major General Daniel Walrath- Combat Casualty and Inspirational Leader: An Inside look at the Military Medical System from Point of Injury to Recovery

WarDocs - The Military Medicine Podcast

In this episode, MG Daniel Walrath describes his experience with a life-threatening combat injury in remote northeast Afghanistan as Commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division in 2012. While on combat infantry patrol, his unit encountered 2 suicide bombers who detonated explosive vests that resulted in the death of 4 soldiers and injured several critically including MG Walrath. He describes his experience leading up to the event and from the point of injury through evacuation through Afghanistan, Germany, and Walter Reed all the way to his rehabilitation at the Center for the Intrepid in San Antonio. Hear an amazing story of survival through the military chain of evacuation and his inspirational story of recovery, rehabilitation, and triumph using the Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis (IDEO) brace. The IDEO brace and his remarkable determination has allowed him to continue serving in the Army, rising to a 2-star General and passing all physical requirements for the job and even running the Army 10 miler. He also details the impact of injury on his family, gives advice to military health care providers as they deliver medical care, and hear of the expectations of Military Medicine from the perspective of an Infantry Commander from the Platoon Level up to Senior Commands in the Army.

Find out more about MG Walrath at wardocspodcast.com/guest-bios and visit our webpage at wardocspodcast.com.