048 "Hope Unseen": Major Scotty Smiley - the Army's First Blind Active Duty Officer

Given the orders to hunt down a suicide bomber in an Iraqi  town of two million, Officer Smiley spotted what appeared to him to be a suspicious vehicle - an Opel (a common car driven in Iraq) that was weighed down heavily by something in it's back seat or trunk. Summoning the driver, there was a defiant response. After two, out-of-harm's-way warning rounds by Smiley, he heard a boom, and as he explains on the show, "my world went black". The Army's first blind, active duty officer, Major Scotty Smiley joins us on the show to help us celebrate Independence Day and to share how forgiveness is cleansing hope is always visible.

Quoting Amazon: "Since the moment he jumped out of a hospital bed and forced his way through nurses and cords to take a simple shower, Captain Scotty Smiley has climbed Mount Rainier, won an ESPY as Best Outdoor Athlete, surfed, skydived, become a father, earned an MBA from Duke, taught leadership at West Point, commanded an army company, and won the MacArthur Leadership Award."

Get a copy of Scotty's amazing book - Hope Unseen.

Pivotal moments and events Major Smiley shares

The anger and resentment that caused him to walk away from God;
The darkness that followed;
The healing power of forgiveness (he was able to forgive the terrorist that blinded him);
His triumphant return to active military life
The earning of his MBA;
The unexpected release of his first book. 

Follow Scotty and Hope Unseen on Facebook.