Does this qualify as "Army Strong?"

I went to Craig's book-signing last night and then retired with Craig and some friends to an Irish pub a mile down the road. I ended up sitting across from this guy who had obviously just had some serious surgeries and realized that I recognized him from my class at the Infantry Officer Basic Course nine years prior, so we started talking and catching up. It turns out that this guy has had six reconstructive surgeries on his head and face from where an EFP almost killed him in 2007. He's still in the Army, still on the line, and he had flown to Washington just a few days ago to have this surgery. He woke up out of his anesthesia around six yesterday evening, and a buddy of his from West Point dropped by to check up on him. His buddy said he was on the way to Craig's book-signing, and he said, "Craig wrote a book? Let's go!"

So this dude throws on some deodorant, puts a woolen cap over his bandaged head, borrows a belt from his buddy, and gets in the car to attend Craig's book-signing. I mean, the guy was there one hour after he woke up out of surgery. He then went to the bar and nursed a glass of ice water while we sat around telling stories (mostly true) and feting Craig. How freaking hard-core is that?

In other news, Craig is on the Daily Show tonight. He better be funny.

Update: I forgot to include my favorite part of the above story. I asked my friend's West Point buddy what would have held him back from coming to the event. Um, kryptonite? was the reply.