thedrifter
07-27-08, 06:38 AM
Out of war injury, veteran found a new purpose: cooking
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, July 27, 2008
People stumble into careers in all sorts of crazy ways, but Lenny Watson's story may be the very best.
And worst.
His path to a career as a chef winds through the U.S. Marine Corps, the war in Iraq and a gruesome, disfiguring injury.
And he has never been happier. "I have found my passion," he said last week.
Lenny, 24, joined the Marines straight out of his California high school in June 2002. He turned 18 in boot camp.
Less than a year later, he was among the first wave of U.S. troops to enter Iraq. "Man, that was rough. We were sleeping in holes in the ground. I didn't take my boots off for three weeks," he said.
By August of 2004, Lenny was back in Iraq for his second tour of duty and engaged in intense combat in Najaf.
In a nighttime firefight in an alley, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded at his feet. "I remember thinking, 'Uh-oh. This is not good.' "
No, not good at all. Shrapnel wounds covered his body. And the worst of it – most of his lower jaw was blown away.
Lenny led a machine-gun squad. "I was trying to talk to my guys, and I couldn't say anything. Nothing came out."
Within weeks, he was in a U.S. military hospital, beginning his long, grueling recovery.
And that's where a career choice was born.
"Without a lower jaw, I couldn't eat. They would just come by a few times a day and squirt some Ensure down my throat," he said. "I was hungry all the time, just starving to death.
"So all I could do was lie in that hospital bed, looking at a little television, trying to find cooking shows or Outback Steakhouse commercials or anything that showed food. It all looked so good, I vowed to learn to cook when I got out of there."
Rebuilding Lenny's face was a slow process. Bone was taken from his hip to reconstruct his jaw. False teeth were implanted to replace those blown away. Skin from his neck was stretched over the wound.
When he went out in public, people stared and whispered. "It was a few years of pretty solid depression," he said.
But true to his vow, he enrolled in culinary school. Though he had never cooked anything beyond microwave popcorn and Kool-Aid, he loved it from the start. His spirits began to rise.
But he said his real breakthrough came suddenly. "One day I had this self-realization that if I'm going to be happy, it's up to me," he said. "Nothing in my life was going to change. Only my attitude could change."
As a Marine, Lenny had adopted a gung-ho personal motto: "Whatever it takes."
In his moment of insight, he adopted a new motto, one that guides him to this day: "Happiness is a choice."
Last summer, one of Lenny's Marine buddies called and said he was moving to Dallas. He invited Lenny to join him.
Lenny's rent was going through the roof in Southern California. Someone had just stolen his cooking gear from his Jeep. It seemed like a good time to make a change.
So he now owns a home in Lancaster that he shares with his friend, Will Anspach.
Lenny works at Milestone Culinary Arts Center, where he cooks for catering clients and teaches cooking classes. He also attends culinary school.
"He's just a delight," said Milestone director Sharon Van Meter. "The moment that anybody starts to complain, you look over at Lenny, being so positive. He's going to go far in our business."
The reconstruction of his face is remarkable. Some scars and a slight droop to the corner of his mouth remain. But it's hard to believe he ever suffered such horrible injuries.
And Lenny can't believe those injuries became the path to a life's calling and such happiness.
"I definitely wasn't expecting that," he marveled. "But I love it."
Ellie
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, July 27, 2008
People stumble into careers in all sorts of crazy ways, but Lenny Watson's story may be the very best.
And worst.
His path to a career as a chef winds through the U.S. Marine Corps, the war in Iraq and a gruesome, disfiguring injury.
And he has never been happier. "I have found my passion," he said last week.
Lenny, 24, joined the Marines straight out of his California high school in June 2002. He turned 18 in boot camp.
Less than a year later, he was among the first wave of U.S. troops to enter Iraq. "Man, that was rough. We were sleeping in holes in the ground. I didn't take my boots off for three weeks," he said.
By August of 2004, Lenny was back in Iraq for his second tour of duty and engaged in intense combat in Najaf.
In a nighttime firefight in an alley, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded at his feet. "I remember thinking, 'Uh-oh. This is not good.' "
No, not good at all. Shrapnel wounds covered his body. And the worst of it – most of his lower jaw was blown away.
Lenny led a machine-gun squad. "I was trying to talk to my guys, and I couldn't say anything. Nothing came out."
Within weeks, he was in a U.S. military hospital, beginning his long, grueling recovery.
And that's where a career choice was born.
"Without a lower jaw, I couldn't eat. They would just come by a few times a day and squirt some Ensure down my throat," he said. "I was hungry all the time, just starving to death.
"So all I could do was lie in that hospital bed, looking at a little television, trying to find cooking shows or Outback Steakhouse commercials or anything that showed food. It all looked so good, I vowed to learn to cook when I got out of there."
Rebuilding Lenny's face was a slow process. Bone was taken from his hip to reconstruct his jaw. False teeth were implanted to replace those blown away. Skin from his neck was stretched over the wound.
When he went out in public, people stared and whispered. "It was a few years of pretty solid depression," he said.
But true to his vow, he enrolled in culinary school. Though he had never cooked anything beyond microwave popcorn and Kool-Aid, he loved it from the start. His spirits began to rise.
But he said his real breakthrough came suddenly. "One day I had this self-realization that if I'm going to be happy, it's up to me," he said. "Nothing in my life was going to change. Only my attitude could change."
As a Marine, Lenny had adopted a gung-ho personal motto: "Whatever it takes."
In his moment of insight, he adopted a new motto, one that guides him to this day: "Happiness is a choice."
Last summer, one of Lenny's Marine buddies called and said he was moving to Dallas. He invited Lenny to join him.
Lenny's rent was going through the roof in Southern California. Someone had just stolen his cooking gear from his Jeep. It seemed like a good time to make a change.
So he now owns a home in Lancaster that he shares with his friend, Will Anspach.
Lenny works at Milestone Culinary Arts Center, where he cooks for catering clients and teaches cooking classes. He also attends culinary school.
"He's just a delight," said Milestone director Sharon Van Meter. "The moment that anybody starts to complain, you look over at Lenny, being so positive. He's going to go far in our business."
The reconstruction of his face is remarkable. Some scars and a slight droop to the corner of his mouth remain. But it's hard to believe he ever suffered such horrible injuries.
And Lenny can't believe those injuries became the path to a life's calling and such happiness.
"I definitely wasn't expecting that," he marveled. "But I love it."
Ellie