Noah Galloway lives post-combat life with No Excuses.
Story and photos by Cara Clark and courtesy the Galloways
As the early days of August bore down with heat and humidity on Alabama, Army veteran Noah Galloway joined fellow soldiers and the nonprofit organization Sheep Dog Impact Assistance to ascend Tanzania’s famous Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak at 19,340 feet. With freezing nighttime temperatures and thin air at high altitudes, the contrast between Galloway’s home state and the site of his latest adventure is extreme, but as a man accustomed to extremes, Galloway takes it in stride, both literally and figuratively, overcoming traumatic injuries sustained in combat in Iraq.
Galloway regained consciousness in a dramatically altered world while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2005, he lost his left arm above the elbow and left leg above the knee and sustained other significant injuries when the Humvee he was driving hit a tripwire attached to an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). It was his second deployment to Iraq with the 1st of the 502nd Infantry of the 101st Airborne Division.
The now retired Sergeant Galloway will serve as an honorary co-chairman for The World Games 2022 and participated in the Kilimanjaro “Climb for a Cause” with Sheep Dog Climb to support their mission of “Improving the lives of our nation’s veterans and first responders in need by helping them Get Off the Couch and reengage in living…”
It’s even more important to Galloway today to demonstrate the grit and determination to overcome obstacles because of the difficult days he endured in the wake of his life-altering injuries. And the inspirations for that forward impetus are his children Colston, 16; Jack, 13; and daughter, Rian, 11.
The young soldier who lost so much in the blast in Yusufiyah, Iraq, has journeyed through pain, depression, despair, and climbed to unanticipated new heights. During his darkest days though, he became the couch potato he now encourages others to combat. “One day, I walked into the living room, and my three kids were on the couch watching cartoons,” Galloway says. “It hit me then. I had two boys, and I needed to show them what a man should be. I had a little girl, and I needed to show her how a man should act. I decided to change what I was eating and ease back into fitness. I had to learn how to work out again.”
Adapting exercises to make up for his lost arm and leg, Galloway began exercising at the gym at times when fewer people were there. As he rebuilt his confidence, he began competing in Cross Fit events, marathons, Tough Mudder events, and Spartan races. “People started following me on social media, and I ended up on the cover of Men’s Health and on the Ellen Show,” Galloway says. “Then, I was on Dancing with the Stars. If all of that had happened a year earlier, it would have been way too much for me to handle, but it was a gradual climb.”
The Men’s Health magazine cover came after the publication’s first search for the Ultimate Men’s Health Guy and features a ripped, shorts-clad Galloway with the subhead, “Are you focused on what you’ve lost, or what you’ve got? Noah Galloway knows which is more important.”
As the metaphor of climbing persists through his life, Galloway surges forward to meet and summit the obstacles. He explains that when he was injured, he was still maturing. Part of the grieving process he went through after the IED blast was the loss of his recently discovered raison d’être.
Galloway was a student at UAB while working nights when the September 11, 2001, attacks occurred, and the young Midfield native felt compelled to enlist and fight for his country.
“After 9/11, I never went back to class,” Galloway says. “ I went into the military and I fell in love. I loved everything about it. I knew I had found my place in life. What really hurt me and sent me into a depression was that most people go their whole lives without finding what they want to do as a career. I had found that.”
Galloway, part of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, felt the adrenaline rush that came with the dangerous job. “At first, I loved the excitement and the danger, and then I took in the big picture of war and the people around me,” Galloway says. “I loved going to these places most people wouldn’t dare go and connecting with the locals. It was camaraderie. And it was a struggle of knowing when to be tough and when to win hearts and minds. It’s a complex role. I had accepted that one day I might die in combat. That was okay. I loved my job and felt like I was good at it.”
As a motivational speaker, Galloway has talked to military troops and to NFL football players with whom he has a strong sense of simpatico. “When these players are reaching their 30s and retiring, they have a high suicide rate,” Galloway says. “That has a lot to do with not having a future. What I do is get people motivated to get back on track. If I can worry about what I eat and exercise missing my arm and leg, that can motivate them to get into better shape mentally and physically. I know what I’m doing with my life now. Sometimes I can make a difference in other people’s lives, and that’s enough to make me happy.”
From looking at a lifetime military career, Galloway has shifted his goals to helping others. He’s a magazine cover model, third-place winner on Season 20 of Dancing with the Stars, a successful motivational speaker, and author of Living with No Excuses: The Remarkable Rebirth of an American Soldier. He will carry the American flag on July 7, 2022, in the opening ceremonies of the World Games in Birmingham, an honor close to his heart. “This is the first time ever a multi-sporting event will include able-bodied events and those with disabilities in the same event,” Galloway says.
Galloway is now in a relationship that has made his life extremely fulfilled. He met his wife, Amanda, when the two fitness enthusiasts were in New York and set up a discussion about how her experience in yoga could help injured veterans. After a six-year friendship and in the midst of the pandemic, they committed to one another, and Amanda moved her collection of plants from California to Alabama. They married this summer and are working together to organize a September golf tournament under Galloway’s charity, the No Excuses Charitable Fund. Planned for September 17th at Timberline Golf Club, the tournament will raise funds for Sheep Dog Impact Assistance. “I started a charitable fund 16 years after I was injured,” Galloway says. “I wanted to do something to make a difference. We’ve already donated $5,000 to the Alabama YMCA. Our intention is to hold the golf tournament annually and give to different, worthy charities each year.”
It was Galloway’s uncle, a Vietnam veteran, who introduced him to golf and began a new sports obsession for the soon-to-be-40 fitness buff. “I’m obsessed now,” Galloway says. “I never thought I would be into golf, but it’s something I really enjoy. My kids come out with me a lot, too, and it’s another way we spend time together.”
Galloway dedicated his book to his children, whom he credits with helping keep him grounded and healthy, mentally and physically. “I’m someone who has been very vocal and open about mental health issues,” Galloway says. “I went through a difficult time. I’ve experienced post-traumatic growth. In my book, the meat of it is my depression. It felt good to be open and honest as I relived things.”
With his many successes, Galloway could have settled anywhere, but says he never considered any home except Alabama where his children are. “I’ve had incredible opportunities and traveled to so many different places, but living here is absolutely perfect for me,” he says.
Golf Time
Join Noah and company for some golf on September 17 at Timberline Golf Club in Calera, hosted by the No Excuses Charitable Fund. Proceeds will benefit Sheep Dog Impact Assistance, which works to improve the lives of veterans and first responders. The tournament will feature silent auction prizes and special guests, many of whom Galloway has come to know over the years.
11:30 a.m. – Arrival Time & Check In
12 p.m. – Lunch and silent auction
1 p.m. – Shotgun Start
5:30 p.m. – Dinner and silent auction closes
The club is located at 300 Timberline Trail, Calera, Ala. 35040
For more details, visit noexcusesgolf.com.