Jeremy Renner is THE MAN.

I just watched the Diane Sawyer interview with Jeremy Renner after his accident. This is one of the most amazing stories I have ever seen. If you haven’t seen it, you need to watch it. Your faith in the human spirit will be reinvigorated, I promise.

There are a lot of things about his story that struck me. His mental strength, his determination to live, the people that helped him survive the initial injuries, and the team of people helping him recover, especially his family.

The short version of the story is that he was run over by a SnowCat, which weighs about 14 thousand pounds, trying to keep his nephew from being runover. He admitted what he did was stupid leading up to the accident itself. He owned it. Humility in every form. Luckily for him, he was only hit by the tracks and not caught under the roadwheels, but the damage was significant. Thirty bones broken, including facial fractures that popped his eye out of the socket. The fact that he is alive, let alone walking with a cane and conducting interviews, is amazing.

I’ve always been a fan of his. I loved him as a good guy turned bad in the movie SWAT. I’m not a huge fan of The Hurtlocker, but his performance was incredible. Hawkeye is my favorite Avenger, mostly because of the personality he brings to the role.

What struck me the most about the interview is that he said he would do it all again. The injuries, the near-death experience, the trauma mentally and physically, the absolute pain in recovery. He would go through that all again to protect his nephew. Given the choice of sacrificing himself or his nephew he would choose himself every single time. There was no bravado. This was not bluster. He meant it.

It struck me because he sounded exactly like the hundreds of Veterans I know who say the same thing, over and over. We would do it all again. The separation, the loneliness, the physical and mental trauma at times, all of it. We would do it all again for our families, for our country, and for the brothers and sisters that served next to us. Not bravado. Not bluster. Just truth. I know he isn’t a Veteran, but he damn sure sounded like one.

The rest of it was there, too. The things Veterans have in common; mental and physical toughness, resilience, drive, determination, an unreal sense of humor about himself, and a giving soul. He has all of that, too, like all of us do.

By the way, when you find out all the OTHER stuff he does for his community and communities around the world, you will see he is not the stereotypical Hollywood actor. It really is amazing the character in this guy. Side note - if you are going to comment on this post and say something negative about him…save it. Seriously.

Jeremy Renner may not be a Veteran, and he may have played one on TV, but that guy…that guy has it where it counts.

I salute you Jeremy Renner. You are THE MAN.