Veteran Salute: Being shot overseas during Operation Phantom Fury

LAWRENCE (KSNT) - Born and raised in Lawrence, Ryan Chapman enlisted in the United States Marine Corps infantry at a crucial time in our country's history.

“When I was in, it was a couple years after 9/11," Chapman said. "Things were starting to ramp up pretty quickly.” 

After only a few months of training, Ryan was shipped off to Iraq.

“You try and be prepared, it’s like having a baby," Chapman said. "You’re as prepared as you can be, but you’re never actually prepared, and when it actually happens it’s all a mess. You’re just learning as you go, and you thought you were ready but you’re not.” 

Under the infantry as a tow gunner, Chapman had a wide range of responsibilities.

“Sometimes we were highway patrol, sometimes we were going out and meeting people," Chapman said. "We’d go out to rural areas and we would take MRE’s (Meal, Ready-to-Eat), we’d take bags of soccer balls, bags of candy whatever. We would meet people and talk to people, create relationships with them. The rest of the time we were kind of 9-1-1. If somebody was out, a convoy had an incident, an IED went off or they were attacked they would call us and within 60 seconds we were rolling out the gate.” 

In early November of 2004, one mission would change everything.

“We were part of an operation called Phantom Fury, which was going through the city systematically going from one end of the city to another," Chapman said. "Checking every door, every closet, everything looking for insurgents, weaponry. We started taking fire from a building. We called out sniper. My particular system has a magnification scope on it, so I’m looking, scanning windows.”

That's when he was shot just above his left eye.  

“For the next weeks, months I had a constant migraine level headache," He said. "Obviously you know getting shot in the head you have a pretty abrupt shot, it hurt, like Babe Ruth hitting you in the forehead with a bat.” 

Even with some of the residual effects still impacting him to this day, Chapman doesn't let his traumatic brain injury get in the way of living his life.

“I try not to attach myself to what if, I wish I wouldn’t, what could’ve been," Chapman said. "It happened, and being upset about something or having emotions about it is okay, but if you hold onto that emotion too much it will rule you, it will control you and run your life forever.” 

After his service came to an end, Ryan received an industrial design degree from the University of Kansas. He's worked on designing medical devices, like dental guards for teeth grinding, and now designs custom sauna layouts for an Overland Park company.