{"id":37866,"date":"2018-06-27T22:05:13","date_gmt":"2018-06-27T22:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/06\/27\/a-reason-to-continue-fighting-our-veteran-of-the-years-positive-message\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:39:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:39:37","slug":"a-reason-to-continue-fighting-our-veteran-of-the-years-positive-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/education-transition\/2018\/06\/27\/a-reason-to-continue-fighting-our-veteran-of-the-years-positive-message\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A reason to continue fighting\u2019: Our veteran of the year\u2019s positive message"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUse the weight\u201d is a philosophy that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/off-duty\/2017\/10\/22\/marine-amputee-tackles-a-month-of-marathons\/\" target=_blank>Marine veteran Rob Jones lives by<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s not only the name of his podcast, but it\u2019s a perspective that has pushed him to bike across America, run 31 marathons in 31 days, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/off-duty\/military-sports\/2018\/02\/28\/cheer-on-these-warrior-athletes-at-the-paralympic-winter-games\/\" target=_blank>medal in the Paralympics<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/video\/2018\/06\/05\/the-taliban-gets-new-punk-uniforms-and-the-2018-warrior-games-begin\/\" target=_blank>Warrior Games<\/a>, and secure an invite to<a href=\"https:\/\/rebootcamp.militarytimes.com\/education-transition\/2017\/06\/15\/prince-harry-promotes-invictus-games-in-canadian-interview\/\" target=_blank> this year\u2019s Invictus Games <\/a>\u2014 all on a pair of prosthetic legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His credo is akin to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/off-duty\/military-fitness\/2018\/01\/03\/pursuit-of-power-9-training-tips-from-elite-lifters-in-uniform\/\" target=\"_blank\">a weightlifter\u2019s mentality:<\/a> The harder you lift, the stronger you\u2019ll become. But this is more about life\u2019s triumphs than pushing pounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s about using challenges and tragedies to your advantage instead of being destroyed by them,\u201d Jones told Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=71f82b0b-757f-4fdb-8808-60cb15352c15\" poster=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/video-poster-71f82b0b-757f-4fdb-8808-60cb15352c15.jpg\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rob Jones completes a month of marathons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And Jones knows a bit about fighting tragedies: The now-retired Marine Corps sergeant stepped on an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2010, losing the bottom of both of his legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jones\u2019 post-accident positivity, impressive athletic accomplishments and role as an encourager for vets and civilians alike have earned him recognition as the first-ever Military Times Veteran of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jones says he always has had a personal mission to enjoy each day and live a meaningful life. That mission propelled him to join the Marine Corps Reserve during his junior year of college at Virginia Tech, and onto deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan as a combat engineer.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/off-duty\/2017\/10\/22\/marine-amputee-tackles-a-month-of-marathons\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"227\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DNTV-175-Seg-3-Rob-Running-06-18-17.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Marine amputee tackles a month of marathons<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Rob Jones was a combat engineer in the Marine Corps when he stepped on an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan and lost the bottom of both of his legs.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Sangin, Afghanistan, Jones stepped on an IED when clearing a path. It was a calamity that could have crushed him, but Jones decided he wanted to turn any propensity toward despondence on its head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>\u2018I saw an opportunity\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After months of painstaking recovery, Jones learned to walk on two bionic knees, and, eventually, to run on blades. He\u2019d dabbled in a few sports in high school, but it was after losing his limbs that he dived headfirst into the athletic arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI saw an opportunity for myself to be an athlete in a way that I couldn\u2019t have before,\u201d Jones said during a 2017 training run near his home in Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He started by doing pullups on a triangle bar in his bed. He saw rowing was a Paralympic sport, so he found a partner and a place to train \u2014 and ended up taking bronze in the mixed double skulls at the 2012 London Paralympic Games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He met Pamela Relph in London, where she was rowing for England. They got married in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2013, Jones rode his bike 5,180 miles across the U.S. to raise awareness and money for wounded vets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2017, he took on the challenge of running 31 marathons in 31 days in 31 cities across the U.S., U.K. and Canada, which he says was a success.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=a790f2f5-a748-4787-a4e3-90f039293d2d\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Defense News TV profiles Marine Corps veteran Rob Jones, who won a bronze medal in the Paralympics, biked across the country and now is training to run 31 marathons in 31 days.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In June, he participated in his first Marine Corps Trials and Warrior Games, competing in track, rowing and swimming. He came away with multiple gold medals, and even \u201cbeat a few able-bodied guys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The veteran will be running track and rowing at the Invictus Games in Sydney this October. Until then, he\u2019ll continue traveling the country speaking to vets and drafting a fiction book about veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI want to show other vets who have experienced trauma that there\u2019s a path,\u201d he said. \u201cA reason to continue fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s important for service members past and present to be unguarded with aspects of their experience, Jones said, to close a civilian gap of understanding, and to help each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe all have to be willing to share our story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Get more of that story, including Jones\u2019 podcast, at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.robjonesjourney.com\/\" target=_blank>www.robjonesjourney.com.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cUse the weight\u201d is a philosophy that Marine veteran Rob Jones lives by.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":41960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":69,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[9,13,21],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3424],"class_list":["post-37866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education-transition","category-military-honor","category-service-members-of-the-year"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"JLOAGGUR6ZFV7BLC4IOHBQP2DM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2018\/06\/27\/a-reason-to-continue-fighting-our-veteran-of-the-years-positive-message\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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