- [Bret] Right there.

Right there.

Shoot him, John.

(gun fires) Hit him again.

(gun fires) One more time.

(gun fires) - Come on.

- Oh no!

(both laughing) - Blair Walsh.

(both laughing) - Welcome to "Prairie Sportsman".

I'm Bret Amundson.

Minnesota National Guard Vet John Kriesel was severely wounded in Iraq in 2006.

Today he's a motivational speaker, a former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, and spends his Friday mornings on "The Power Trip Morning Show".

We asked him to come duck hunting and tell us his story.

(light music) ♪ I know, I know, I know ♪ There's a place for me ♪ There's a place for me ♪ I know, I know - [Bret] Today we're in western Minnesota, setting up in a pond with some friends, including Tony Crotty from Midmigration Outfitters.

Do you need earplugs or anything?

- I suppose.

- I got some extra ones.

- [John] I suppose I'll do.

Save what hearing I have left.

- [Bret] I'm a big proponent of hearing protection.

- [John] I used to not.

Why not?

There's ducks coming in now.

(duck quacking) ♪ Getting started - Right, go ahead and get them.

- Go ahead and shoot, John.

- Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot.

- [Bret] Take one out.

(gun fires) Heck yeah.

- [John] Yeah.

- [Tony] Nice shooting, John.

(gun fires) ♪ We're just getting started - Love it.

- That bird.

- It's a good problem to have is saying- - Back.

- [John] "Which one am I gonna shoot at first?"

- [Bret] Where is it?

Left side?

Okay.

- [John] Yeah, I think it fell right about there.

- She should be on it now.

I mean, duck hunting is like that, right?

You get out here, you get set up, and before you can even try to start a TV show, there's ducks bombing into the decoys.

So it's been a great morning so far.

John Kriesel is out here with us.

And John, this is the second time you've ever duck hunted?

- Yep.

- What do you think?

- Love it.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

- It's fun.

- I love the pace.

- It can be- - A lot of action.

- It can be crazy.

- Mm-hm.

- The pace can be sometimes too fast.

He's gonna come around.

- [John] Okay.

(duck call blowing) Beautiful.

(light music) (duck quacking) - Well, that was a surprise.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- My full-time job is I'm the director of veteran services for Anoka County, so I help veterans get VA benefits.

Very rewarding job.

It's awesome.

I also travel, telling my story, overcoming adversity, motivational speaker type stuff.

And then bought part of Northland Vodka.

So that's become a part job.

And my weekly appearance on KFAN.

So it's- - Three and a half jobs.

- Three and a half jobs.

Yep.

For half of a person.

- For half of a person.

(upbeat rock music) (duck call blowing) (duck quacking) (upbeat rock music) (duck quacking) (upbeat rock music) - All right, go ahead and shoot them ones up front.

(gun fires) Nice.

(gun fires) - Well.

Did that first one go down or just the second one?

- I think just the second one.

- Back?

- Yeah, I didn't hit one.

- You hit one.

Did anybody else shoot?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- [Bret] Oh, okay.

It looked like you tickled that first one, at least.

- I think.

Yeah, I saw something, but it wasn't gonna... - All right.

- That's probably gonna be our shot.

- That's fun, huh?

- Getting some shooting in.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- They're doing it perfect.

That's awesome.

- I like my percentage at the beginning, though.

(both laughing) - One for one.

- Yeah.

- You know, usually, when we take people out like this, we always do, like, a safety talk.

Make sure they know their way around firearms.

Have you shot a gun before, John?

- Couple times.

Couple times.

- Couple times?

First of all, thanks for your service, man.

- Thank you.

- Appreciate that.

You were in the guard here in Minnesota?

- Yep.

- Okay.

Tell me about your service.

- 10 years.

So I joined on my 17th birthday 'cause I knew when I was 10 years old and saw the first Gulf War on TV, that's when I was like, "That is what I wanna do."

Then 9/11 happened.

And deployed to Kosovo.

And then the whole time in Kosovo, we kind of felt guilty 'cause we weren't in any danger.

We were doing important work, keeping peace in an area that hadn't had it for a long time.

But we would always see the news updates of Iraq and Afghanistan, and we were an infantry unit.

When our unit got back, my contract was expiring, but one of my buddies called me (clears throat) and said that there was a deployment to Iraq on the docket.

And so I reenlisted.

And then those of us who had been in the Kosovo deployment, the guard couldn't make us go on the Iraq deployment 'cause we hadn't been home long enough.

But you can sign a waiver to waive that- - Oh, really?

- Period.

And me and a bunch of those guys, probably around 20 of us, had said, "We're not gonna sit back at fort living room."

So we signed that, the CO-T TAD waiver, ended up in Iraq in 2006 during a pretty, pretty busy time there.

- Yeah.

(somber music) - I was wounded on a combat patrol near Fallujah, Iraq, on December 2nd, 2006.

We drove over a 200-pound bomb that killed two of my best friends, Corey Rystad from Red Lake Falls, Minnesota, and Brian McDonough from Maplewood, Minnesota.

And I don't remember flying through the air and I don't remember landing on the ground, but I remember waking up on the ground.

I didn't, I hadn't yet opened my eyes, but I heard rocks falling, rocks hitting the ground, rocks hitting metal.

It sounded like a large hailstorm.

I heard my buddy yelling, "What's going on?

What happened?

Where's Brian?"

And I felt myself start to get very, very cold.

Like coldness creeping through my body.

I don't think it takes a trained EMT to realize that a good Minnesota boy on an 80-degree December day in Iraq should not be feeling cold.

So I was pretty sure things were wrapping up.

So I remember praying hard, wanting to survive.

I mean, I said, "Tell my family I love them."

I woke up eight days after the blast.

And like, during that time, I had been shocked back to life three times.

I didn't expect to survive.

I mean, laying on the ground, seeing the injuries, there's no way.

So when I woke up, and the medically induced coma medication was wearing off, and I realized that I was alive, I was so thankful just to be alive.

Hearing that my friends had been killed at that moment was like, I have nothing to complain about.

The same incident they were in, I survived.

So I promised to not waste this second chance at life.

(light music) ♪ Oh, I know, I know ♪ What's meant for me (gun fires) ♪ There's a Northern star ♪ Where you are ♪ That I follow - [Bret] You ever shot a goose?

- [John] With a golf ball.

(both laughing) ♪ I know, I know, I know ♪ There's a place for me - So, as a radio guy, I always like hearing how people get into radio.

And as somebody that actually spent some time working at KFAN back in the day and then running a KFAN station in Fargo.

And then, you know, just being a fan of KFAN and "The Power Trip" in general, like, I mean, me and half the world right now.

That show is a monster.

- It is.

- It's crazy how big it's gotten.

- It is a blast to be a part of, for sure.

- Sounds like so much fun to be in that room.

How'd you get to be a part of that?

- When I was at Walter Reed, about, it was close to six months after I had been wounded, my friends were having a fundraiser to help make my house wheelchair accessible.

And the National Guard PR guy brought me around when I was on "The Power Trip".

We just hit it off.

Chris Hawkey said, "When you're back in Minnesota for good," 'cause the estimate was that I was gonna be in the hospital for two years.

'Cause he said, "Let me know when you're back and we'll have John Kriesel Week."

- [Bret] John ended up spending nine months at Walter Reed having 35 surgeries and has now been on "The Power Trip Morning Show" for 17 years.

Just a year and a half after returning home, John was talked into running for a seat in the House of Representatives.

He won.

- I served one term, and then decided not to run for reelection.

I promised myself, I promised my friends that I would not change who I was and I'm gonna get out before that can happen.

And it was, I left at the right time because people were like, "We wanted you to run again.

We wanted you..." - Yeah.

- And that's the perfect time to leave.

- [Bret] After his short political career came to a close, more and more people were learning about what he went through.

He was then asked to speak at a fundraiser.

- They had a huge turnout.

They raised a bunch of money.

It was awesome.

And as I was walking to my vehicle afterwards, a gentleman named Jim Cosmo, I saw a guy kind of following me, and he was like, "Your story is amazing.

It should be a book, and I wanna write it."

- [Bret] During some promotional book tours, John found a way to communicate to an audience that not only helped them understand his story, but helped him heal.

- When I'd get a little choked up about it, that I would inject humor.

And that was for me.

But I saw the audience be relieved and laugh too.

And that's when I thought, "Okay, I think we're onto something here."

If I can inject humor to make sure that the audience is able to walk away uplifted and inspired.

I already believe what I did over there and what my buddies did was worth it.

This makes it even more worth it.

You gotta laugh.

Sometimes things get so bad, as a Vikings fan, understanding that as well, that all you can do is laugh.

♪ I know, I know, I know ♪ There's a place for me - And you don't have to be at one of those events to appreciate a morning like we had out here today.

- My goodness.

This was awesome.

This was a highlight of my year.

- Oh.

- Really, this was one of my highlights of the year.

'Cause it's been a good year, but just- - That's awesome.

- Getting out here before the sun came up, taking a break from all those things we talked about.

I have a very busy life.

- Yeah.

- Which is awesome.

I wouldn't change it for the world.

It makes me 100 times more appreciate a morning like this.

Not just the stuff I've been through in my life too, but sitting out there with... I didn't know any of you guys before this, but I feel like I've known you guys for years.

You know, a morning in the field.

Didn't know if that was a booger or what.

Just hanging.

Or if it was a bug.

A picture perfect morning.

- It was fun.

And you even hit a couple.

- I did.

I did.

Yep.

A broken clock even works twice a day, right?

- [Bret] John's story is inspiring.

It'd be easy to be mad about his circumstances, but he isn't.

His positive outlook on life is infectious.

- I'm not wired to be like, "I wish this didn't happen."

'Cause of course I wish it didn't happen, but I know I can't change that.

So I don't ever dwell on that kind of a wasted energy, wasted thought.

I really am thankful for the lessons I've learned.

In a weird way, because I wouldn't have this perspective- - [Bret] Yeah.

- If I hadn't gone through what I did.

I know not to take simple moments like sitting in a duck blind, watching a sunrise.

That's special to me, you know?

♪ There's a place ♪ For me ♪ There's a place for me ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh