As part of his healing following an IED injury, Sgt. Greg Stube hopes his new show, Coming Home, will inspire other service members. (Courtesy of: Service Beyond Sacrifice, LLC )
WASHINGTON – Sgt. Greg Stube remembers how thankful he was to get back home after nearly losing his life in Afghanistan and spending a year in hospitals recovering.
That memory is the basis of a new TV show that features him traveling around the world on outdoor adventures.
His own outdoor program, Coming Home with Greg Stube, will air Wednesdays on the Sportsman Channel. In each episode, the 42-year-old native of Covington, Tenn., embarks on a new adventure in different places, including Alaska, Texas, Montana and even Africa.
“My point is this: If you never leave your own home, can you accurately assess what home is or what the good things are?” Stube said. “I’d say you know best what’s so special about home when you leave it or when you lose it.”
In 2006, Stube was severely injured in an IED explosion in Afghanistan. His right leg was nearly severed by shrapnel – one piece weighing one pound – and more than half of his intestines were removed, forcing him to stay in hospitals for more than one year.
When Stube recovered enough from his injuries, he embarked on a series of motivational speaking engagements at churches and organizations around the country.
“I began feeling like a contributor to this freedom and I felt like instead of a victim, I’m a volunteer,” he said. “Wounded isn’t something that I became, wounded is something that happened.”
The recently retired U.S. Armed Special Forces Green Beret said that as part of his rehabilitation, he began hunting and fishing, which led to guest appearances on several outdoor-based television shows.
“It really, really, really emphasized my capabilities instead of my disabilities,” Stube said of being outdoors. “[It] is what I credit the most, aside from God himself, for being able to walk again unassisted.”
Stube, who lives in Fayetteville, N.C., with his wife and 6-year-old son, said the show isn’t just about being outdoors but more about appreciating what home means to everyone from every background.
Stube’s said his appreciation of family, God and diversity sets his outdoor show apart from the others.
“I don’t believe that it’s better than any other show in outdoor television but I hope that it has the kind of qualities that will make people reconnected with their natural environment and I hope it will develop our unity in this country,” Stube said.
Stube added that he hopes the lessons he learned from his injuries and recovery can help others recognize their potential.
“I did 23 years in the Army and now after being gravely wounded and serving an honorable career in the Special Forces, I have the opportunity to fulfill an American dream by hosting my own national television show,” Stube said.
He also sees his show as a gateway for others coming back from war.
“I hope that our service members coming home from a decade of fighting … see this as a way to acknowledge their own service that allows it to be a proponent of their life,” he said.
“I don’t want other people to go through…what I did in order to realize that we should treat our citizenship and our freedom as a privilege instead of stomping up and down like spoiled children insisting that it’s a right,” Stube said.