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"They practice aero-demonstrations all over the world, fifty different states and forty-five different countries," says Dana. "They are Good Will Ambassadors, good speakers, good jumpers. They land right on target and they perform for our United States military."
Before long, Dana fulfilled his dream and became part of this prestigious unit.
"Now I’m on the best parachute team in the world," he says. "Once a year the Golden Knights practice in Yuma, Arizona, for the upcoming show seasons. We go out there and do about 150 jumps together and we kind of pick the teams. Then you pick partners also.
"The
maneuver that my partner and I were to perform was called the 'Diamond Track.'
Two jumpers exit the aircraft at right around 12,500 feet. They fly away from
each other, gaining speeds of right around 150 miles per hour. As they exit
the aircraft simultaneously, they pull their smoke canisters that are connected
to their left legs. Now the spectators on the ground can watch the beginning
of this air show. They continue to fly away from each other, still gaining
the speeds, and then they have to turn around 180 degrees and fly back toward
each other. So the split seconds and the weights, they all have to be precise
because you have to try to make a perfect diamond in the sky."
On February 6, 1994, Dana and his partner, Sgt. Jose Aguillon, attempted the Diamond Track over the skies of Yuma, Arizona .
"We’re flying back toward each other to finish the bottom half of the diamond, and you’re supposed to cross safely at an altitude of right around 3,500 - 4,500 feet, around 20 feet away from each other. Well, as my partner and I were to cross at this altitude, we happened to be doing this over and under, and as I looked up, I saw for a split second that I knew we were going to collide. I could see his eyes. I could see the distress in his face. And believe it or not, he stuck one of his arms out and he went to veer off to the left. We were so close that his right arm caught my legs," Dana recalls.
Jose was in a free-fall until 750 feet, when his automatic opening device deployed. But it wasn’t enough to save Jose, who died six hours later. Dana’s parachute opened on impact, and he landed in a parking lot. He wouldn’t regain consciousness for two days.
"After
I woke up in the hospital, my buddies, my teammates, were right there. They
said, 'Dana, Jose died, and on top of that you lost both of your legs.' I
looked down and believe it or not -- we don’t really think about it,
but when you’re in bed you pull the sheets up and your feet are under
it; you can see them -- there was nothing there. I mean, I lost one above
the knee, one below the knee, so there was not a whole lot left on there.
A tear fell. That’s when reality set home. Why me? What happened?
Things were going in and out of my mind. I could see Jose the last instant,
but I thought it was a dream."
As if the loss of his legs and his best friend weren’t enough, things got worse.
"I had just gotten married when I joined the Golden Knights, and my wife left me," he says. "Everything was crumbling down around me. Why was this happening to me? Then the military came up and said, 'We want you to sign these papers. The Veterans Association is now going to take over and you’re going to be discharged from the military.'
"I didn’t want to be discarded. So many people in the world are discarded because of -- what? -- their beliefs, their disabilities, their abilities. Let’s show them what we can do, and I did. But you can’t do it alone; it takes God to point you in the right direction, to give you an extra boost and let you know that there’s a light on the other side of the tunnel, really there is."
Armed
with faith in God, his bond with the Golden Knights, and a new pair of state-of-the-art
prosthetic legs, Dana took action.
"I was at the hospital in Walter Reed Army Medical Center and I ended up sneaking out one weekend. I went back down to North Carolina. I made my first jump, and I made my jump with team members of the Golden Knights," explains Dana. "We came together as one and I leapt out of that aircraft not really knowing if I could do this or not, but I had faith that I could do this. I didn’t look back and say the tragedy was there. Some people say you got back on the horse. Well, there was no horse to get on. This is all about faith; this is all about believing and moving on and showing people what you can do. And I did it."
Dana’s successful jump was enough to convince the Pentagon that there was still a place in the military for Sgt. Dana Bowman. Just nine months after his accident, Dana became the first double amputee to re-enlist in the United States Army. And he did it in style -- another parachute jump with the Golden Knights.
"I could still march. I could still jump. I showed them. I had to show everybody. My story may be a story of inspiration, drive, teamwork; it's all in there, but it all goes right up to the top to God," he says. "If you have faith, you can do anything. When something happens, a lot of people blame God. They shouldn’t. Give Him a chance."
Dana retired after an 18-year career in the U.S. Army, but he hasn't slowed down a bit. He's a snow skier, a water skier, and a scuba diver. Plus, he has more than 500 parachute jumps since his accident. That’s not all.
"I wanted to be a pilot, something that was unspeakable," Dana says. "You can imagine some of the instructors and the pilots out there saying, 'Dana, there’s no way. You’re going to have limitations.' Why? Can’t I show you what I can do? Sure enough I did. I ended up landing my private-pilot airplane, my instrument, my commercial, my multi-engine instrument, also my c-plane rating. I became the first double amputee helicopter instructor in the world."
Since
the accident, Dana has found love again. He and new wife Jennifer have two
sons and their hands full with 2-year-old twin girls. Upon our visit to the
family, another baby was just a few weeks away. Dana is a conqueror, but life
is not without its struggles.
"Every day for myself and my family, there have been a lot of obstacles out there that we have to overcome and show people that we can still continue on. We have to do the best we can. We have to live by the path that God has given us each and every day. Even myself, it's hard for me, but I continue on. I ask my wife to support me and the kids. I want to live a Christian life. God gave me a chance to live. I have to give something back. The devil tried to take everything that I had, and guess what? He failed; he failed miserably. Now he’s really ticked and there’s nothing he can do," says Dana.
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