Arnold Schwarzenegger may play the ultimate Terminator onscreen, but few are more heroic and unstoppable as Staff Sergeant Robert Henline, the T-82 (82nd Airborne). This real American action hero, served four tours in the Army before his Humvee was bombed on his personal Judgment Day in 2007, leaving him with burns on 38% of his body. However, this Terminator would BE BACK after years of physical therapy, far too many painful reconstructive surgeries and repeat skin-graph operations.
This is Robert Henline now, a war hero turned motivational speaker and comedian, with the ability to use humor to heal.
SSG Henline is unstoppable! Another similarity he shares with a Terminator is that he has cyborg parts. That’s right; he now has an enhanced, removable arm!
Henline: “It’s made out of some kind of plastic resin. It has sensors in it that read my muscle movements in my forearm to operate the hand. By moving my wrist up, it opens the hand, and down it closes the hand.”
This particular silicone best mimics the human skin. The outer silicone cover custom aesthetics were developed with touchbionics. The I-limb pulse hand (with multiple hand grasps) patters with computer adjustable bluetooth programmable software. Henline uses two electrodes for hand opening and closing as well as the function of the other grasp patterns.
In 2007, when his Humvee was bombed, Bobby was sitting shotgun. He was the only survivor. After he awoke from a coma, Bobby, having a vision and a surge of faith, questioned his purpose in life.
Henline: “There’s a scar on the front of my neck that actually looks like an angel. I was born in the Bay Area there, and I was raised Catholic. Then I went Atheist, but after I got hurt, in my coma, I remember being on a giant iceberg and it wasn’t cold. It was nighttime. There were stars out and there were voices telling me I was going to be okay and that my family was waiting for me. That was the point when I realized that God was there judging me. That’s when I decided that I could do something for Him, and that’s why I’m here and know how I can serve: through speaking and comedy.”
Last year Bobby won Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Holiday Heroes” contest and as his prize, he and his son got to meet The Oak at the Texas premiere of The Last Stand!
Henline: “I’ve always admired Arnold and would work out heavily in the Army (thanks to him). I have been showing Arnold’s videos to my son, and now my son has been working out. He’s fourteen (now 15) and he’s seen different Schwarzenegger workouts on YouTube.”
And what of his favorite Schwarzenegger films?
Henline: “I have to go with Kindergarten Cop. I like to see him out of his physical roles too. I mean, Conan is a classic, but I do like to also see him out of the roles as the big, buffed superhero.”
I love the fact that Bobby had made such an inspirational impression on Arnold at the Last Stand premiere that Schwarzenegger continues to mention him. Recently Arnold gave a shout out to Henline on Reddit.com and honored the comedic warrior on Veterans Day.
Henline has spread awareness of burn victims to large audiences throughout his tours and as a guest on several talk shows. He was a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and he has even met Michelle Obama! Now on his comedy circuit, he is continuing to meet more celebrities and comedians (and Jeff Ross too).
Able to laugh at himself, the soldier-turned-comedian even compares himself to Freddy Kruger in his act. Henline tells me he’s considering getting into the movie business.
Henline: “Yes, definitely. I thought about doing different types of movies but also creating awareness for burn survivors. I was thinking about doing one about a fireman who gets burnt. I want to write a romantic comedy.”
Comedy Warriors, a Showtime original documentary about wounded soldiers turned comedians is currently airing on the cable network and Bobby is one of the main players.
Henline: “I performed in Vegas with Jimmy Walker. Brad Garret from The Comedy Club showed up. He’s huge – I gave him a hug, and I came up to his armpit. I was just talking to Bob Saget the other day. He critiqued me. I’m making a documentary about wounded warriors, called Comedy Warriors. There’s myself and four others. The four others never did any comedy before this. We were searching for wounded warriors who wanted to become comedians, who would want to meet with writers and comedians and coach us, so this documentary is following all of that. We were shooting in L.A. last week at The Improv, and Bob Saget came out with Jeffery Ross. Oh, and Zach Galifianakis – he wasn’t able to make it, but he wants to reschedule and get with us. Also Lewis Black wants to help out. So we’ve got some big names to help. We all did our set in front of Bob last week at The Improv, and I didn’t know how quick and witty he is. I pulled out my raunchy stuff for him. He had a great line for us, SAVING FACE.”
Henline, tattooed with ballsy paratrooper airborne wings, is the greatest war hero / Terminator I know. Make Arnold proud and be heroic by supporting Bobby, the troops and www.ComedyWarriors.com. Now get ya ass to Showtime and see Bobby and his friends in Comedy Warriors and later this year see Arnold on Showtime in the documentary The Years of Living Dangerously. It’s Showtime for our greatest heroes!
