Ironman 'Was a Mission' For Johnston Soldier

There are a few things you learn about Terry Rajsombath within a few minutes of meeting him: He's a dedicated soldier; he sets ambitious goals for himself; and he doesn't let anything stop him.

Rajsombath is also mature — and humble — beyond his years.

After graduating from Johnston High School in 2004 with plans to go into the Marine Corps — only to set that goal aside after speaking to someone who'd been drummed out over health conditions — Rajsombath secured an Automotive degree from New England Tech and took at job at Pep Boys.

But he never gave up his main objective of getting into the military — and, upon hearing about the Army National Guard, he saw his chance.

"I thought that, being that I had just graduated from automotive, I would enlist as a mechanic, and then I could transfer right away, because that's my whole reason for going into the military, to be an infantryman," Rajsombath said.

Like many recent enrollees to the armed forces, Rajsombath explained he wanted to serve America following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

He had to wait a bit longer after enlisting with the Rhode Island Army National Guard before his opportunity arose.

"It just so happened that Rhode Island didn't have a slot for infantry for at least three years — I waited forever for a slot to open," he recalled. "I waited for three years, I finally got a slot and I'm infantry qualified, and I figured 'Why sit around and wait for a deplyoment?' because it can take years to get a deployment, or it could never happen. So I found a unit deploying right away in Connecticut — it could have been any unit, but I hopped on with them and I'm glad I did, because they were a great company straightaway."

After going through training in late 2009 and returning home for Christmas, Rajsombath and his unit from B Company, 1st Batallion, 102d Infantry [based in Manchester, CT] shipped out for a few more weeks' preparation stateside before their deployment to Afghanistan in early 2010.

It was there, just a few months later, that Rajsombath would confront his biggest obstacle to date.

"I remember that exactly. It was July 3, 2010 — it was right after my birthday, you know? By then, we'd already been shot at, ambushed, IEDs, suicide bombers, so, you know, we're not, like, overanxious about missions — it is what it is by that point," he explained. "But this one mission, I swear I had this gut feeling. It was maybe 5 in the morning, we were getting ready to step out, and I just kept telling everyone, like, 'I just don't have a good feeling about this.' It was my last mission before I was supposed to go on leave — you're given two weeks of leave, and I had chosen to go to Peru to spend my two weeks teaching kids to speak English at an orphanage," Rajsombath recalled.

[Rajsombath also wrote a journal entry about his experiences that day. Excerpts from that entry appear in blockquotes below.]

Everything seems too good to be true, so naturally what immediately strikes my attention is Murphy’s Law. Optimistic as I am and cynical as the theory is, I have this gut feeling that I can’t shake. One of those unexplainable intuitions that alert your senses, that today you’re "that guy." Perhaps it’s mere coincidence, but this very morning, I said to myself out loud, “Yup, I’m gonna die.”

As his squad entered an Afghan village that day, Rajsombath wrote that he noticed the emptiness of the place — a sign of potential trouble — before Taliban insurgents started firing at them. After taking to a nearby road, Rajsombath found himself separated from his unit.

"I was on my right knee shooting, so my leg is pretty low to the ground," Rajsombath said during the recent interview. "The round enters my left [buttock] cheek, to my thigh, it hits the bone and explodes this way [motioning to his knee], then it explodes this way [motioning toward his waist] and it takes out my hip. At the time, all I knew is that I was hit."

Lying there on the ground, I don’t scream for help or make much noise from the pain. I don’t think of where the round came from and I don’t think of returning fire. Sprawling on the earth, all that consumes my mind and body is an intense pain that I physically and mentally know not how to bear.

Even after dragging himself down a hill, losing blood from internal injuries, Rajsombath screamed at his fellow soldiers to give him a weapon to fire back at the insurgents.

Several tense hours passed, but Rajsombath got the help he needed and soon found himself in the hospital, hooked up to IVs and a feeding tube. He would spend 10 months recovering at Walter Reed Hospital.

It’s funny, I consider myself a mentally and physically tough person. Not once during my deployment did I feel like I was going to break.  Nor, for any other time in my life, for that matter. I’ve always looked at hardship as a challenge that I’d gladly accept. Except time and time again, this place has me tapping. F— it, call it baptism under fire, then.

Despite all of the past, present and future heartache, all I can do is say “f— It” and just keep my head up.  I’m alive and made it back, I’m one of the lucky ones.

Rajsombath returned home with a new military objective — serving in public affairs — and the prior personal goal of competing in the Amica Ironman 70.3 in Providence on July 8, for which he'd trained in Afghanistan.

He earned a certain level of local fame for competing in the triathlon — though Rajsombath said he saw it as "just another thing that I wanted to do. I just saw it on the front page yesterday. I didn't think it would be such a big deal. I mean, it never crossed my mind — the only reason [anyone] knew is that I had to list the reason I needed crutches — that's the only way anyone would ever have known."

After making it through the 1.2-mi. swim and 56-mile bike sections, Rajsombath faced the most daunting part of the competition: a half-marathon through progressively steeper hills in downtown Providence.

"Once I actually got out there and did the first mile, it took so much effort to get into a rhythm and it took so much energy to use the crutches, that after the first mile it just went out the window and I said, 'Well, I'm just going to walk it, and if it ends up I have a few miles left and I'm getting close to the wire, I'll just run it,'" Rajsombath recalled.

And once he finished, Rajsombath said he felt "no real excitement, really — I was just happy to get it done. There's not like extreme jubilation, it's kind of just like a pat on the back — 'Good job, you got it done.' It was a mission, I set out to do it, I got it done."

From here, Rajsombath said he's due for annual training with his unit on Monday, getting into his new job in public affairs — and enrolling in bull riding classes.

"I figure if I fall on my bad hip, I'll just land on my arm and hope I don't break it, but if I fall on my good hip, I'll land on my good hip and I'll be alright," he explained.

Asked where he thinks the drive comes from to do such potentially dangerous things, Rajsombath explained: "I think it's the fact that I've always liked adventure. People have always told me, 'You know, you're kind of weird, but in a good way.' My whole goal since I was 16 was I wanted to be special forces. I wanted to live the life of danger and excitement — and get paid and serve my country at the same time."

With that aspiration now out of reach, Rajsombath said he's seeking other outlets for his ambition.

"I always feel that there's a way to get around things and do the things I want to do, but now I realize that because I can't run, the infantry isn't a possibility anymore," he explained. "If I could run, I'd go back to infantry in a heartbeat — but that's just not in the cards for me anymore, so I'll find something else I like and keep moving forward."

In perhaps a nod to military training, and perhaps to innate humility, Rajsombath at first demurred when asked whether he considers himself an example to others.

"I don't feel like I'm the right example — I'm doing what makes me happy. I'd like to be a good example, but I have 'F— it' tattooed on my chest," said Rajsombath, who also has "Discipline" inked on his right forearm. "I guess I'd say that I don't really want the burden of being an example, but I like to motivate people wherever I can."

When he was first approached about having articles written about him and his experience competing in the Ironman 70.3, Rajsombath recalled, "my answer was 'no' initially — I don't want my life revolving around this ambush, you know? But I was talking to a friend, and I was like, 'Well, I guess if I can reach anyone out there and touch anyone and be a positive example to them, that would be great.'"