Todd was in the Texas Army National Guard for eight years. He felt the call to join and serve his nation after 9/11 at the age of 32. He was barely young enough to join. He excelled in Basic Training and ran just as well as the much younger recruits.

He was first deployed to Iraq in 2004-2005. He was stationed at Camp Caldwell. He ran over 150 combat missions. His MOS was 21B (Combat Engineer). His unit was the security force for the Explosives Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team, and so he was on IED response 24/7 for two weeks on, two weeks off. On the weeks that he was not assigned to EOD, they would run convoy security missions and route recons.

In 2008, he was sent to Houston for a month for hurricane duty for hurricanes Ike and Gustav.

In 2009, he was deployed to Afghanistan with a MOS of 19D (Cavalry Scout) as part of the Texas Agribusiness Development Team. Todd was selected for the AG Team due to what he used to do in his civilian profession (chemist). He ran over 100 missions before he was wounded in action Oct. 15, 2009. He was then medevac’d back to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where he spent eight months recovering from his injuries.

Almost 13 years later, Todd is still recovering. He sustained major injuries, including a moderate traumatic brain injury, a severe set of injuries to his right femur (limb salvage), back injuries, and many other health issues related to the trauma.

Todd has been married to his wife, Tara, for 28 years. Together they have a son, Liam, who is 25 and a graduate of Texas A&M. He is a high school chemistry teacher who resides in Longview, Texas.

Todd has shown proof that strength isn’t left behind on a battlefield. He has fought and continues to work hard on his recovery. He enjoys equine therapy and it has really helped him. He also has become an avid photographer.

Todd’s art form is photography, and he likes it as he can tell a story in one shot and not have to try to remember where he left off with writing the story. Todd likes writing, but with his memory deficits from the TBI, he got frustrated. One day, he picked up his camera and realized it was the story in one shot. He also can put his focus into what is behind the viewfinder, and for a brief moment has that calm.

Todd likes to take pictures of whatever he sees while walking around in towns and often captures the beauty in disarray.

Todd is a traditional film photographer and has just broken ground on building his own darkroom building, as finding a local darkroom was impossible.