Soldier and Comedian Bobby Henline
I wanted to spend a few minutes on Bobby Henline, former U.S. Army soldier turned comedian. But there is so much more to Bobby’s story. He enlisted in the Army in 1989 at 17 years old and was Honorably discharged in 1992, then came the September 11th attacks against the United States and Bobby found himself re-enlisting back into the Army and served three tours in Iraq. On his last tour with the 82nd Airborne Division, the convoy he was in hit an IED, and Bobby and four other soldiers he was riding with were all killed and Bobby was set ablaze as a result of the explosion. He suffered severe burns to over 40% of his body, head and face.
After some 48 surgeries and six months of treatment, including multiple skin grafts and reconstructions, Bobby was medically retired as a Staff Sergeant after serving 13 years in the Army. Bobby also lost a hand as a result of all this.
During his initial six-month hospital stay, Bobby remained upbeat, and positive, and relied on humor to get him through each day. Putting nurses in headlocks, trying to keep other wounded soldiers’ spirits up by telling them jokes, and singing a ditty over and over garnered the attention of his occupational therapist. She challenged him to go to an open mic night and try his hand at comedy, making him promise with a pinky swear. He kept his promise, and that experience started a new chapter in his life. Comedy helps Bobby keep his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Anxiety at bay and allows him to share his story and positively heal with others.
Today, Bobby is a professional comedian, performing as the “Well-Done Comedian”, touring around the United States.
The video doesn’t do him justice, the crowd was afraid to laugh at him and unless you were part of the military, you just don’t get the dark humor. Dark humor is deeply embedded in the military and it is everywhere. I don’t think that I had ever eaten a meal at the show hall without someone discussing something that was very dark and not appropriate for the general public.
