'Laughing is healing': Fort Bragg combat veteran uses humor after roadside bomb injuries
FORT BRAGG — Retired Staff Sgt. Bobby Henline considers three his "lucky number."
That's because during his fourth deployment to Iraq, Henline was the only survivor of an April 7, 2007, roadside bomb that detonated under the Humvee he and fellow paratroopers were in.
The blast killed Capt. Jonathan Grassbaugh, Spc. Ebe Emolo, Spc. Levi Hoover and Pfc. Rodney McCandless, all part of the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.
Henline woke up from a medically induced coma a couple of weeks later at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, with nearly 40% of his body burned and part of his ear missing.
His left hand was later amputated from the injuries.
Henline turned to comedy to cope.
After an occupational therapist heard his jokes, she challenged him to go to an open mic night.
Henline, who said he isn't someone who likes to get up in front of people, even as a sergeant, relented to "prove the therapist wrong."
“I’d bombed worse before,” Henline said by phone Friday. “But, it was kind of a release and therapeutic.”
Henline has headlined at Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club, Laugh Factory, Hollywood Improv, corporate and nonprofit events and appeared in documentaries and shows including Comedy Warriors: Healing Through Humor,” “Man’s Best Friend: MBF” and “Shameless” on Showtime and has more than 1.4 million TikTok followers.
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Returning to Fort Bragg with comedy show
Henline is now teaming up with fellow comedian and combat veteran RJ Ryan for the “Accidental Discharge Comedy: It’s Never Too Soon Tour” that will be coming to Fort Bragg this week.
Ryan served in a Seabee Battalion in the Navy in the early 1990s, deploying to the Caribbean and Okinawa and joining the Army as a combat medic after 9/11, serving in the Ranger community and as a flight medic with the 1st Infantry Division.
Ryan jokes about situations faced in the military and stateside and has performed at comedy clubs across the U.S.
The show will be 7 p.m Friday at the Iron Mike Conference Center, 2658 Reilly Road on Fort Bragg.
Tickets can be purchased at the center or at Leisure Travel Services.
Henline and Ryan will host a meet and greet from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at the Fort Bragg USO Center, Building 4-2843 on Normandy Drive.
Inspirational humor
Henline, who’s known as “the well-done comedian” by audiences and “burnt Pa" by his grandkids, said he wants to open the dialogue between himself and other burn survivors with strangers, instead of being met with stares of fear.
“If you could see something funny in a bad thing that’s happened, it sheds light on the situation,” Henline said.
He uses humor to address his physical appearance — there are jokes about going to firework stands, being asked by motel workers if he’s in the area for wounded veteran events, or asking for a cremation discount.
Henline wants to audience to know it’s OK to laugh.
"Laughing is healing," Henline said. "Humor is healing. Inspirational comedy is what I call it."
Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Military vets to bring comedy show to Fort Bragg
