Wounded in combat
In March 2011, he was unlucky. During the mission, they were watching a patrol of foreign fighters. All were well armed and on a mission. They took a house from a villager, and that’s when they were launched. Holland’s team mission was to eliminate two individuals that had walked out into a palm grove behind the house. As they came in on helicopters, the individuals started shooting at them, so they returned fire with a grenade launcher wounding one of them.
The other one ran deeper into the palm grove. The team landed and eliminated the wounded individual that was still shooting at them and pursued the other. Holland was directed to the insurgents’ location. When he rounded the corner of the villagers’ house, the insurgent opened fire with a belt-fed PKM machine gun from 20 yards hitting him in the chest just above his armor plate+, immediately paralyzing his left arm. Another round glanced off the weapon magazines on his chest, and another shot his radio in half, which was on his side.
Holland dove into an irrigation ditch as the individual kept firing his 200 round belt of ammunition at him, hitting the pack he was wearing multiple times. He then started firing at Holland’s team, and when he realized he wasn’t being shot at anymore, he raised above the water, laying his weapon on its side on the mound of dirt in front of the ditch started shooting at the insurgent’s muzzle blast. Insurgent then came running at Holland as he was shooting at him. Insurgent was shot in the foot, and that’s why he fell nearly on top of Holland and hobbled out of the gate where he was captured.
After about 10 minutes, Holland got out of that ditch, found his team, got patched up, walked out to the helicopter, and flew to the nearest base.
MSG Kevin Holland spent the whole time at rehabilitation until he retired from active military service in 2013. The doctors told him they do not have a lot of data on his wound because not a lot of people survive being shot through the chest where he was shot, so they don’t know a whole lot about how long it will take the nerves to come back if they come back.
Among over 30 awards are seven Bronze Stars, two awarded for valor in combat, and two Purple Hearts.