Search
Home

If you ever think you’re having kind of a bad day or a tough time, consider the story of Marine Corporal (RET) Zach Briseno.

Briseno said he wanted to be a police officer since he was a kid.

But first he wanted to be a U.S. Marine. It ended up being an unimaginable detour.

In 2007, during his second tour in Iraq, the Humvee in which he was traveling hit a roadside bomb.

He thought he was going to die and told his buddies to send a message to his 2-year-old son back home. “I just remember telling them, ‘Hey, tell my son I love him.’ ”

Briseno didn’t lose his life. But he lost both legs.

However, Briseno had something much more powerful: courage and determination.

Briseno endured multiple surgeries and got new prosthetic legs — and started working on his dream of becoming a cop.

“That part of people saying it’s a disability, that’s all in your mind,” he said. “You’re psyching yourself out at that point if you say, ‘I have this problem.’ No. How bad do you want it? How hard do you want to work for it?”

Briseno wanted it a lot, apparently.

He worked hard in the academy, meeting all the rigorous physical requirements, including running miles.
And the Purple Heart recipient didn’t let a little thing like Covid-19 to derail his dreams. Briseno got the coronavirus and was hospitalized for 10 days. But he returned to training and graduated with 23 other patriots in Class 148 in Fort Worth, TX.

During graduation, instructors give an award to the most dedicated and determined recruit. In addition, the graduating class members vote on their own” most respected” award.

Briseno received both awards. Of course.

At the ceremony, his family helped pin on his new badge, including his now 15-year-old son — who was just two when his dad lost his legs.

The Fort Worth police department says Briseno is the second double amputee full-time police officer in the country. He will soon be patrolling the streets of Northwest Fort Worth.

When you think of the contempt and derision police officers have to endure on the mean streets of this nation, and the whining and complaining from little snowflakes on college campuses, this man’s resolute bravery stands like a shining beacon.

But Zach Briseno remains humble and positive.

His experience gave him the most amazing life lesson we could all do well to adopt.

“Don’t give up,” he said. “Leave the past in the past and keep moving forward. Our time tomorrow isn’t always promised. You’ve got to make the best today.”

A-friggin-men.

450 Fort Argyle Rd,

Savannah, Georgia, 31419