Still Standing

by Jim Kosmo

When SSG John Kriesel lost his legs and two buddies in a roadside bomb explosion, no one expected him to survive. He died three times on the operating table. Miracles, a lot of miracles, starting with a few grunts who refused to let him die in Iraq, ripped the young warrior from the grip of death and sent him on to four hospitals, thirty-five surgeries, and months of recovery and rehabilitation. Medical miracles put his body back together, but it was an incredible confluence of angels at every step along the way that breathed life into his shattered body.This is not just another war story. This is the story of an ordinary young man who overcame extraordinary challenges with a lot of help from others, including many strangers and he emerged stronger and more in love with his country, his wife, his children, and ultimately, his own life.

312 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 20, 2011

About the author

Captain Jim Kosmo is a national award-winning journalist and author, a US Coast Guard-licensed Mississippi riverboat pilot, and former partner of Padelford Riverboat Company in St. Paul, Minnesota. Before joining the family riverboat business, he was a newspaper editor in Nevada and Minnesota and a corporate public relations executive in Minnesota and Illinois.
Kosmo’s newest book, Monsters in the Hallway, is an award-winning mystery novel based largely on his childhood in Eau Claire, WI. His previous book, Still Standing: The Story of Staff Sergeant John Kriesel, is a nonfiction account of a soldier who lost his legs and two buddies in an IED explosion near Fallujah, Iraq. The best-selling motivational book won eight national book awards and is in its eleventh printing.
Kosmo served as president of the Rotary Club of St. Paul (2013-14), founded the Minnesota Valley Branch YMCA, was chair of the Rivers Region of the Passenger Vessel Association, and was mayor of the city of Bayport, MN. He also is business representative on the Minnesota National Guard Senior Advisory Task Force and sits on several health care and education boards.
Kosmo and wife Shelley have a blended family with eight adult children and twelve grandchildren.

Reviews

[Charlie Sherpa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Minnesota Army National Guard soldier John Kriesel deployed to Iraq in 2006 as part of the 1st Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (1-34th BCT). In December of that year, an Improvised Explosive Device (I.E.D) large enough to take out a Bradley armored personnel carrier instead detonated under Kriesel's decidedly less-hardy Humvee. He lost both legs, and two buddies.

This is more than a war story, or a medical memoir. This is a story of a family.

There is heroism here, and humor, with equal helpings of grace and grit. Buddies stop by before an unconscious Kriesel is evacuated from Iraq, and mark their visits by handing off their combat patches to attending nurses. Kriesel's wife works at a global logistics firm, and its employees repeatedly deliver the Kriesels help: expedited passport, Christmas gifts, donated vacation time. In the hospital, an upbeat Kriesel announces he'd like to meet President George W. Bush: "Here's the deal," he tells visitors. "I'm not mad at the president; I love the guy slightly less than I love my wife. I just want to meet him and say thanks for supporting us." [p. 156]

Together with former newspaper journalist Jim Kosmo, Kriesel has written well-paced and engaging account of his experiences in the National Guard. He puts a random IED blast in context of a whole career, and of a continuing commitment to country and community. Readers walk away not only with insights into the high-tech, high-touch medical system that supports U.S. wounded warriors, but also a sense of what any citizen-soldier may face on any deployment, and after any homecoming. [...]

[For the full review, visit: http://www.redbullrising.com/2011/04/...]

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Kriesel is an amazing man with an amazing story. Having heard him countless times talk with the guys on KFAN 100.3FM, I was excited to read his story. This man went through Hell and back and came out a true American hero. I will never forget the sacrifices that men and women make every day defending our freedom as Americans, and I am so proud to live in this country. John tells his story from beginning to, what to (almost) the end, through his recovery, to the present in this unbelievable story of pain, hardship, and faith. I am glad I could read this and believe that everyone should learn more about what the true heroes go through every day across enemy lines. God Bless America!

[Brandie Adel]

Loved! I might be a little biased being from MN myself, but what a great story!