Warrior Care Month ‘Show of Strength’: Airman survives attack, finds faith Published Nov. 25, 2014 By Kimberly Woodruff Staff Writer TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- (Editor's note: November is the Department of Defense Warrior Care Month and all this month the Take Off has featured a Tinker warrior who has stepped up with a great "show of strength.") Every day is a day of Thanksgiving for Giovanni Flores. Now separated from the Air Force, then-Senior Airman Flores was injured and survived an attack on Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, May 19, 2010. That attack was the largest on an air base where security forces held the perimeter since the Tet offensive in South Vietnam. Airman Flores received the Purple Heart for gallantry in the line of duty. Mr. Flores recounts that it was just a normal day until around 2 or 3 a.m. when he and Staff Sgt. Deante Brooks, who is now stationed at Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., heard the mortar attack while hanging out in a Humvee. After hearing four loud booms, they decided to move because they were located at the fuel cells. There are sectors at Bagram Air Base, and Alpha sector was getting fire. Airman Flores and Sergeant Brooks positioned themselves by two towers that had short hesco barriers. Two Marines were already there and saw someone jump over the fence. While calling in the attack, Airman Flores was also loading his .50 caliber M-2 machine gun and couldn't pull back the pin -- it was jammed. The sergeant in the tower with night vision goggles confirmed there had been insurgents who jumped over the barrier. An untold number of insurgents were surrounding the area. The Marines didn't wait for backup and unloaded several rounds on one of the intruders. The intruder threw a grenade... Next thing, Airman Flores sees a flash near the Humvee. "It made the ping sound just like in the game 'Call of Duty,' and the next thing I knew, I felt the pain and there was a lot of blood," he said. "I will be honest, I didn't believe in God until that day," said Mr. Flores. "A woman at my parents' church had given me a small Bible, and I had it in my pocket that day. After I was hit, I began to pray right then, 'Thank you, God.'" "As we were ambushed by several Taliban insurgents, I will never forget the scream from Giovanni, 'I'm hit, I'm hit, I'm hit!' said Sergeant Brooks. "I was driving Giovanni to safety and I remember him pulling out his Bible from his ballistic vest and saying the Lord's Prayer, and I started saying it with him." Airman Flores was hit by shrapnel on the back of his neck and was bleeding from an arterial wound, so Sergeant Brooks drove him to the closest hardened facility -- which happened to be the female dormitory -- for immediate aid. Sergeant Brooks said although the drive was only about two minutes, it felt like forever. Laughing, Mr. Flores said, "Crying in front of the girls wasn't my proudest moment. After I stopped crying, I looked around to see where I was and thought, 'yes, if I'm going to die, this is the place.'" With individual first aid kits, they were able to stabilize him or he could have gone into shock or bled to death. Mr. Flores credits Staff Sergeant Brooks with saving his life. Sergeant Brooks was obligated to get back out to the fight, but the thought of his gunner being injured weighed heavy on his mind. "I finally got the opportunity to see him and I remember the tears of joy falling when I saw my brother with a smirk on his face," said Sergeant Brooks. "Having to make a decision on whether to stay in the fight or get my Airman medical attention was probably the quickest and toughest decision I have ever made. I'm damn proud of the decision I made! I truly learned what it means to be an NCO on that day." After surgery, Mr. Flores was on morphine and called his dad and told him he almost died, but it was no big deal. After the morphine wore off, Airman Flores thought he was going to die. "It hit me right then," he said. "Now I know that the M-2 jamming was a blessing. The gunner is always the target, so if I had been able to get off a shot, everyone would have been aiming for me." During the attack, Airman Flores thought, "[Crap], I'm going to die." Doctors told him he should have died that day with all the blood he lost. "I'm thankful to be alive," he said. "My gun malfunctioned, and I'm still here." He said now he can appreciate things that most people take for granted. "It makes me mad to see people throw away food because I saw children who were starving," he said. "I can be thankful for water because there were times when water was scarce there in the desert." Mr. Flores went to the Mental Health clinic here at Tinker for a year and a half. "I'm not the same person I was," he said. "I'm cheerful, but I still have trouble trusting people, especially those in higher positions. "My view has changed, and I'm more stable," he said. "I've matured. I think in the long-term now." Mr. Flores said he returned home to an empty airport, but that shouldn't happen when wounded warriors come home. "My dad was there and a couple guys who had to be there to bring their stuff back. Dad even asked where everyone was," he said. "The next day all the leadership said how worried they were. I held a lot of hatred for that, but I'm over it now." He said he wants those in leadership positions to know how important it is to take care of the warriors. "No one should ever have to come home to an empty airport," he said. Mr. Flores separated from the Air Force in August. He has gone back to school and works in a restaurant downtown. "I'm loving life," he said.