WEBVTT 00:09.354 --> 00:10.575 - [Voiceover] Throughout the Missouri National Guard 00:10.575 --> 00:13.973 you can find soldiers who have stories of resiliency. 00:13.973 --> 00:17.533 Staff Sergeant Keith Carter is one of those soldiers. 00:17.533 --> 00:19.700 - I joined in May of 1999. 00:20.589 --> 00:22.739 (laughs) So it was quite a while ago. 00:22.739 --> 00:24.908 The reason I joined was because, 00:24.908 --> 00:27.408 the benefits, the camaraderie, 00:28.216 --> 00:31.738 the challenges, the experience, the knowledge, 00:31.738 --> 00:34.051 all things that I knew I would gain 00:34.051 --> 00:36.443 by joining the Missouri National Guard. 00:36.443 --> 00:37.836 - [Voiceover] Sergeant Carter eventually accepted 00:37.836 --> 00:40.365 a full-time position with the Guard. 00:40.365 --> 00:42.076 The stability and benefits were ideal 00:42.076 --> 00:44.993 for the single father of two girls. 00:45.396 --> 00:46.790 He was going through life just fine 00:46.790 --> 00:48.208 when the weight of responsibility 00:48.208 --> 00:52.375 hit him like a ton of bricks, one day at the grocery store. 00:52.515 --> 00:56.682 - I'm sitting there looking at food for my daughter. 00:57.802 --> 01:01.467 And then Briana is, you know, pulling on my legs, 01:01.467 --> 01:05.634 and I'm looking here and, instantly I was just like, 01:06.226 --> 01:09.226 how in the world am I gonna do this? 01:09.862 --> 01:11.728 A flood of emotion came over me. 01:11.728 --> 01:13.395 I was beside myself. 01:13.402 --> 01:14.859 That was the first moment when I was like, 01:14.859 --> 01:17.359 oh my God, these two children, 01:19.131 --> 01:21.251 I'm all they have to take care of them. 01:21.251 --> 01:22.747 And that was little overwhelming. 01:22.747 --> 01:23.580 And then I said to myself, 01:23.580 --> 01:25.913 this is just something I'm not gonna fail at. 01:25.913 --> 01:27.032 - [Voiceover] Sergeant Carter got support 01:27.032 --> 01:29.903 from soldiers in his unit and throughout the Guard. 01:29.903 --> 01:31.016 They helped out with the girls 01:31.016 --> 01:32.735 when he was away on training, 01:32.735 --> 01:34.642 they helped with birthday parties, 01:34.642 --> 01:36.579 and even tackled some home-improvement needs 01:36.579 --> 01:39.242 his parents had, as his father was recovering 01:39.242 --> 01:40.825 from heart surgery. 01:40.866 --> 01:43.980 - The Guard family just grew exponentially during that time. 01:43.980 --> 01:47.077 Not because I necessarily asked it, although I did, 01:47.077 --> 01:50.165 but because people found out and they offered. 01:50.165 --> 01:51.322 And then that's what they do. 01:51.322 --> 01:52.910 That's what I love about the Guard. 01:52.910 --> 01:55.132 - [Voiceover] By 2007, Sergeant Carter had moved up 01:55.132 --> 01:58.445 in rank, and was working as the Logistics NCO 01:58.445 --> 02:01.112 for the 3175th Chemical Company. 02:01.809 --> 02:04.811 On Valentine's Day in 2011, he got word 02:04.811 --> 02:08.478 that the 3175th was being deployed to Qatar. 02:08.589 --> 02:09.853 - I received a phone call from state 02:09.853 --> 02:12.634 about getting all of our equipment in 02:12.634 --> 02:15.017 to be calibrated and what-not. 02:15.017 --> 02:18.006 And so then they were like, "Did you hear?" 02:18.006 --> 02:19.136 And I'm, "What do you mean? 02:19.136 --> 02:20.344 Did I hear what? What are you talking about?" 02:20.344 --> 02:21.177 And then obviously we find out. 02:21.177 --> 02:22.080 Everybody finds out together. 02:22.080 --> 02:23.427 They start calling people saying, 02:23.427 --> 02:24.900 "Hey, this is what's going on." 02:24.900 --> 02:27.133 And just, filters down on the call roster 02:27.133 --> 02:30.216 and everybody shows up and that's it. 02:30.428 --> 02:32.112 - [Voiceover] Although excited about his deployment 02:32.112 --> 02:34.928 and the opportunity to serve in the Middle East, 02:34.928 --> 02:37.011 Sergeant Carter did have to deal with the fact 02:37.011 --> 02:39.271 that he would be away from his two daughters, 02:39.271 --> 02:42.631 Briana and Mercedes, for at least a year. 02:42.631 --> 02:45.976 - Mercedes had just had her trach taken out that year. 02:45.976 --> 02:49.334 So it was the first time she was able to breathe on her own. 02:49.334 --> 02:50.779 - [Voiceover] So, we may have left out 02:50.779 --> 02:52.779 a big part of the story. 02:52.903 --> 02:55.574 For that we have to go back to 2006, 02:55.574 --> 02:59.634 when Sergeant Carter's younger daughter Mercedes was born. 02:59.634 --> 03:00.762 - She was born early, 03:00.762 --> 03:04.371 and after two weeks at home, she stopped breathing. 03:04.371 --> 03:06.047 I immediately take her to the ER. 03:06.047 --> 03:08.333 And where we were at, they couldn't handle what she had 03:08.333 --> 03:10.788 so they airlifted her to Cardinal Glennon 03:10.788 --> 03:12.788 and immediately put her on life support 03:12.788 --> 03:14.452 'cause she wasn't breathing on her own. 03:14.452 --> 03:17.361 She was diagnosed with Subglottic Stenosis, 03:17.361 --> 03:20.156 and that's basically a narrowing of the airway. 03:20.156 --> 03:23.053 Her airway was basically shaped like an hourglass. 03:23.053 --> 03:25.656 It was so much labor for her to breathe, 03:25.656 --> 03:26.786 her body eventually just stopped. 03:26.786 --> 03:27.703 It gave up. 03:27.791 --> 03:29.994 After multiple times of trying to take her off intubation, 03:29.994 --> 03:33.658 they said, "We probably need to give her a trach." 03:33.658 --> 03:35.182 - [Voiceover] The tracheotomy was the best thing 03:35.182 --> 03:37.052 for Mercedes at the time. 03:37.052 --> 03:39.049 It allowed her to breathe on her own, 03:39.049 --> 03:42.812 and she grew strong enough to eventually transition home. 03:42.812 --> 03:44.430 And that transition posed a new set 03:44.430 --> 03:47.094 of challenges for Sergeant Carter. 03:47.094 --> 03:47.927 - When you're a single father 03:47.927 --> 03:49.195 and you have a special-needs child 03:49.195 --> 03:51.930 and another, and a four-year-old, 03:51.930 --> 03:54.463 something as simple as going to the grocery store 03:54.463 --> 03:55.565 is a challenge. 03:55.565 --> 03:59.648 Having a Guard family to say, "Hey, I need help." 04:00.883 --> 04:02.547 And they say, "What do you need?" 04:02.547 --> 04:03.515 "Can you go to the grocery store 04:03.515 --> 04:05.818 and get me a gallon of milk?" 04:05.818 --> 04:08.392 "Yeah, absolutely man. What else do you need?" 04:08.392 --> 04:11.572 Your immediate family, sure they're gonna say that. 04:11.572 --> 04:13.905 But to have 900, a thousand: 04:15.720 --> 04:18.041 "Hey, troop, what do you need?" 04:18.041 --> 04:19.088 You know, sincerely. 04:19.088 --> 04:21.589 It's sometimes those smallest gestures 04:21.589 --> 04:23.406 that make the greatest impact on somebody. 04:23.406 --> 04:24.239 You know what I mean? 04:24.239 --> 04:25.539 It's just those easiest things to do. 04:25.539 --> 04:27.111 But to me that was huge. 04:27.111 --> 04:28.922 Because I couldn't get out of the house. 04:28.922 --> 04:29.774 - [Voiceover] So when he got word 04:29.774 --> 04:33.280 of his deployment that Valentine's Day in 2011, 04:33.280 --> 04:35.840 Sergeant Carter knew that he was going to have to ask 04:35.840 --> 04:37.673 for even more support. 04:38.270 --> 04:40.984 - It was a pretty stressful period of time in my life, 04:40.984 --> 04:44.824 but fortunately I had a lot of people to help out, 04:44.824 --> 04:47.273 whether it be soldiers or just my family. 04:47.273 --> 04:49.593 Like the girls stayed with my twin sister 04:49.593 --> 04:50.824 the entire time I was gone. 04:50.824 --> 04:53.722 So they stepped up and really took a lot of stress off of me 04:53.722 --> 04:56.649 so I could focus on actually what I was doing 04:56.649 --> 04:58.955 with the unit while we deployed. 04:58.955 --> 05:00.985 - [Voiceover] Sergeant Carter was eager to serve, 05:00.985 --> 05:02.687 because the Guard had given him something 05:02.687 --> 05:04.687 he could never pay back. 05:05.095 --> 05:08.595 - The amount of surgeries, hospital stays, 05:09.426 --> 05:12.851 in-home healthcare, prescriptions, doctors' visits, 05:12.851 --> 05:16.211 that TRICARE paid for, the insurance that I have 05:16.211 --> 05:18.192 through the military, it's one of those things 05:18.192 --> 05:19.079 where it's like, you know what, 05:19.079 --> 05:21.246 you've done so much for me, 05:21.246 --> 05:24.697 helping me and helping my daughter sustain life, 05:24.697 --> 05:26.697 ^that absolutely I'll go. 05:27.139 --> 05:28.620 ^Send me where you want me to go. 05:28.620 --> 05:29.453 ^I will go. 05:29.494 --> 05:32.021 ^It's the least I can do for you 05:32.021 --> 05:34.013 ^helping me take care of my family. 05:34.013 --> 05:36.346 ^During that part of my life, 05:36.644 --> 05:40.784 ^that was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. 05:40.784 --> 05:41.773 And if it wasn't for the people 05:41.773 --> 05:44.356 that stepped up to help me out, 05:44.483 --> 05:48.136 it probably woulda' had a completely difference outcome. 05:48.136 --> 05:49.360 And I think a lot of soldiers out there 05:49.360 --> 05:51.360 that are some in the same situation, 05:51.360 --> 05:53.693 or even in worse situations, 05:53.994 --> 05:55.063 but that doesn't take away from the fact 05:55.063 --> 05:57.486 that there's thousands of Guardsmen 05:57.486 --> 05:58.787 that at a drop of a hat would say, 05:58.787 --> 06:00.704 "Hey, what do you need? 06:01.343 --> 06:02.604 We're here to help you." 06:02.604 --> 06:04.020 I think a lot of times soldiers don't know 06:04.020 --> 06:08.187 where to go, or they're scared to ask the question. 06:08.263 --> 06:10.302 There are resources out there. 06:10.302 --> 06:11.552 You can go through your chaplain. 06:11.552 --> 06:12.893 You can go through state. 06:12.893 --> 06:14.395 You can go through your chain of command. 06:14.395 --> 06:17.744 There's people out there that want to help you succeed, 06:17.744 --> 06:19.830 and that will help you succeed. 06:19.830 --> 06:21.747 - I'm very proud of him 06:21.851 --> 06:22.934 because he... 06:25.093 --> 06:26.593 he helps our city. 06:27.663 --> 06:31.246 He protects us, and protects everyone else. 06:32.791 --> 06:36.958 - I'm thankful for him because he's just helping the world 06:37.023 --> 06:41.190 and he's helping the country making our freedom stronger. 06:41.363 --> 06:43.845 - [Keith] The Guard is just an amazing organization. 06:43.845 --> 06:45.344 Best thing I ever did was join the Guard, 06:45.344 --> 06:47.404 besides becoming a father. 06:47.404 --> 06:49.987 It's the best thing I ever did.