Explosive robs Kremer of his legs, but not of his passion to serve

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MIDDLETOWN — John Kremer is a military man. It’s in his blood, part of his DNA.

But two months ago, while patrolling a hilltop in Afghanistan for land mines, Kremer’s military career seemed to be over in a split second. You spend years training to do what you love, and just that fast, it can be taken away.

Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Kremer served on the explosive ordinance disposal group. He stepped on a land mine while clearing an area for the Army. The explosive ripped apart his legs from the knees down.

Since then, Kremer, a 2002 Franklin High School graduate who traveled extensively growing up because his father, John, was in the Navy, was reunited with his wife of seven years, Gabrielle, met his newborn daughter, Adalyn Olivia Kremer, for the first time, was fitted for two prostheses, was awarded a Purple Heart, and — get this — re-enlisted.

The man with no legs has a large heart.

I asked Kremer, who’s stationed at the Balboa Air Force Base in San Diego, why, after losing his legs, he didn’t return to civilian life. That would have been the easiest — and safest — journey, right?

Then I was reminded that Kremer is a thrill seeker. He loves to skydive, and has been trained to dispose of bombs on land and beneath 300 feet of water. He rates his day by his pulse. The faster the better.

No explosive could rob him of that.

“I like my job and I want to get back to my job,” he said, matter of factly. “That’s what I do.”

Once he completes his rehabilitation, and learns to walk again, Kremer, 27, will go before a medical review board that will determine if he can be cleared for active duty.

Kremer isn’t made for a desk job.

A return to Afghanistan?

John and Gabrielle Kremer’s daughter has the perfect name for the situation: Adalyn Olivia Kremer.

As in A-OK.

“That’s part of God’s plan,” said Rita Kremer, secretary of Spring Hill Church of Christ in Middletown and John Kremer’s aunt. “When I think of her initials, well, it gives me chills. It’s like He’s saying everything is going to be OK.”

When John Kremer, a petty officer in the Navy, lost both of his legs from the knees down two months ago while patrolling for land mines in Afghanistan, the news, although sketchy at first, filtered back to the Middletown area. Rita Kremer’s initial prayer: “I hope he didn’t lose his arms.”

She wanted her nephew, whom she called “a true American hero,” to be able to cuddle his daughter, whom he never met. Father and daughter were united in a Navy hospital in San Diego, where Kremer is stationed. He was wearing a hospital gown and latex gloves. Still, he called the experience “absolutely incredible.”

Since losing his legs, Kremer, 27, a 2002 Franklin High School graduate, has been fitted for prostheses, received a Purple Heart, and, while sitting in his wheelchair, re-enlisted and took the same oath he did in the summer of 2003. He hopes to be approved for active duty and return to Afghanistan — site of the accident — for additional dangerous missions.

He’s not about to let two prostheses keep him from his job, a job he loves.

As his aunt said: “Not only does he want to give back and do his job again, but he wants to do more than that. You have to love his attitude.”

I asked him during a phone interview from San Diego if he considers himself “a hero.”

For good reason, I thought, since Kremer’s task was to find, disarm and dispose of roadside bombs, which have become the weapon of choice against coalition forces and are responsible for more than 60 percent of coalition deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Not at all,” he said.

Then he added: “Just doing my job.”