ABOUT
About war damn wetzel
In October of 2023, Josh met with staff members of Iron Tribe Auburn and discussed how fitness as a retired Army amputee had left him in need of a plan. Immediately, the staff was willing to adapt to Josh’s needs and write him a training plan to obtain his first goal—completing the Murph by May of 2024. Josh crushed this goal by March of 2024. Soon following the completion of The Murph, Josh’s coach, Austin Boone, wrote the next hero workout for the Iron Tribe community.
All proceeds from this event will benefit the Auburn University Veterans Resource Center to equip and empower veterans of the Auburn Family.
Meet Josh Wetzel
On May 31, 2012, Army Sergeant Joshua Wetzel lost both legs in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Mushan, Afghanistan. While leading his weapons squad in the 1-23rd IN, 2nd Infantry Division, SGT Wetzel’s metal detector failed to pick-up a non-metallic IED, and he subsequently stepped on it, throwing him seven feet into the air. The medic treating him–who was also his best friend–was shaken up, so SGT Wetzel tried using humor to lighten the mood. As he was loaded onto the helicopter, he asked the pilots if they could not strap his arm down so he could shoot his fist up in the air to let his fellow comrades know he was okay.
Josh didn’t arrive back in the U.S. until June 7. When Josh finally saw his wife at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, he began to cry. “What’s wrong?” Paige asked when she saw her husband. “I lost my legs,” Josh responded. “Well, we know where they’re at,” Paige answered. “We’re just not going to go back and get ‘em.” This moment of levity set the tone for Josh’s recovery, which included nearly two years at Walter Reed. Paige, along with Josh’s mother, stayed with him at the hospital “at all times.” Paige motivated him during his recovery and rehab. Former President Barack Obama was pictured praying with the couple, in a hospital room decorated with Auburn posters. Josh received his prosthetic legs just before Christmas 2012.
continued recovery
Joshua has not let his injuries prevent him from doing the things he loves and pursuing his goals. Since December 2012, Joshua has learned how to walk, run, swim, hand cycle, monoski, drive and most importantly be a father. He and his wife, Paige, became parents to a baby girl, Harper, in August 2013.
The loving pursuit of the Auburn Family brought the Wetzels to The Plains in 2014. Josh elected to finish his Bachelor’s Degree while Paige pursued volleyball coaching opportunities at Point University, AUM, and Auburn University. In 2016, the Wetzels moved into a specially adapted home, Josh finished his Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Auburn, and they welcomed their second daughter, Payton, to the family.
While all evidence says that Josh and his family were thriving in the civilian world, the hardest part about leaving Walter Reed Hospital was the lack of support for his physical health. Josh tried CrossFit gyms, rec centers, and home workouts, but each came with discouraging barriers that kept Josh from seeing progress. Movement and equipment adaptation was up to Josh to figure out what made an exercise routine unsustainable around a full-time job and parenting.