For His Country
Rising country musician Stephen Cochran put his dreams on hold to fight for his country. Now he’s living the dream.
By Matthew Pavelek

Stephen Cochran walked away from a shot at success in the country music industry and joined the Marines the day after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It’s a decision that nearly cost him his life and left him paralyzed from the waist down. Today the rising country music star struts across the stage, energizing fans with a string of hits from his first album. Cochran, 32, releases his sophomore album this month – one that could catapult him to the top ranks of the country music industry.

Mines Along the Road to Success
In 2001, Cochran was a college junior at Western Kentucky University. Just named captain of the university’s lacrosse team, Cochran already had landed a promissory record deal. Then came Sept. 11. The terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon horrified and angered the aspiring songwriter.

“Later I was at a frat house and everybody was watching the towers fall on TV,” he recalled. “We were all drinking and crying and shouting, ‘I’m gonna join the military!’ Well, I was the only one who sobered up and did it. I didn’t think twice. It was something I had to do. In our country we get to do what we love for a living so we need to be willing to defend it.”

The next day, Cochran enlisted in the Marine Corps. “I didn’t tell my parents or my fiancé at the time,” Cochran said.

“I just did it.”

Miraculous Road to Recovery
Cochran served in the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion in both Iraq and Afghanistan. While on combat patrol in Kandahar, Cochran’s LAV-25 hit an antitank mine. Cochran was thrown 125 feet and broke his back. When he woke up a month later, Cochran was paralyzed from the waist down and was told he would probably never walk again. But a successful experimental medical surgery performed in Nashville, Tenn., coupled with his fierce determination, led to Cochran’s miraculous recovery and reignited his passion for writing his music.

Two and a half years later, Cochran released his self-titled debut album. The album earned critical raves and rated three stars in Country Weekly. Three songs from the album made the Billboard Top 40, and Cochran enjoyed a Top 20 video on Great American Country.

“The only other artist that beat me in Country Weekly was George Strait, so I’ll take that,” Cochran said.

Cochran, whose father was a country musician, is releasing his second album in March. When he’s not busy performing and recording, Cochran devotes much of his time to America’s veterans. Cochran has performed countless benefits shows to raise money for the Coalition to Salute Heroes, a group that provides tools and therapy to returning veterans. He has performed for the troops overseas and serves as a spokesman for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Now Cochran has a new mission: He’s urging Americans to buy from America’s veterans who own businesses. Cochran is the national spokesman for the Buy Veteran campaign, launched on Veterans Day 2010 by the National Veteran-Owned Business Association.

G.I. Jobs caught up with Stephen Cochran and talked with him about country music, overcoming paralysis and why Buy Veteran is good for America.

GIJ: You’re an up-and-coming country music star. Tell me about your father’s influence on your musical career?

Cochran: It wasn’t even just my music career. My dad, pretty much, had an impact on my military career. My grandpa was 26 years Air Force, my other grandpa retired from the Army. You know, when you’re a songwriter or a singer, or an artist in country music, you realize that this is the only country where you can take a dream and make it a business and turn it into a reality. And I took a dream that my father had and turned it into a family business. When you start off in country music, you don’t know what to expect. Every day it changes. This business is a living breathing thing and so the fear of the unknown is what sends a lot of people home. That was one thing we got to know real well in Iraq and Afghanistan, the fear of the unknown. But I did get to peek into the country music world from my dad’s career and I got to see what to do and definitely what not to do.

GIJ: Why do you love being a recording artist?

Cochran: Definitely getting on stage. When we’re on stage, that’s when we get to feel what we do this for. You know, it’s all the other bull that goes around is why you get paid to do it. So, I try to stay out of the business as much as possible and let our people in that area handle the business. You know the business end of music will jade you so bad that you don’t even want to write or do anything anymore. I love the live performances and getting to meet the fans. At the end of the day, that’s who we work for. I can record songs all day, but if they’re not buying them, I don’t have a job anymore.

GIJ: When/why did you decide to enlist in the Marine Corps?

Cochran: When I was in college at Western Kentucky. I was in my junior year and I had 26 credits left for my bachelor’s degree. I had just learned that for the upcoming lacrosse season I was to be the captain of the team. I was really proud of that because I’d worked damn hard to earn it. Later I was at a frat house and everybody was watching the towers fall on TV. We were all drinking and crying and shouting, “I’m gonna join the military!” Well, I was the only one who sobered up and did it. I didn’t think twice. It was something I had to do. In our country we get to do what we love for a living so we need to be willing to defend it.

GIJ: What was your MOS?

Cochran: I went and talked to a recruiter and he was showing me all these videos about jobs you could do in the Marine Corps. None of them really seemed right to me until I saw this video of a Marine Recon Scout coming up out of the water with his face painted and I just said, “Stop, that’s it. I want to do that!” The recruiter said I couldn’t enlist in Recon so I signed up as infantry and went through the necessary training to join the Marine Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion.

GIJ: Like many current Marines, you served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. You were wounded in Afghanistan and suffered a broken back. Will you share a little about that experience with our readers?

Cochran: I remember throwing a piece of candy to an Afghan boy. They would sometimes throw rocks at us so we would take candy from our MREs and toss it back at them. I remembered tossing a Tootsie Roll and the next thing I knew I woke up in Germany. The LAVs we rode in were too high for the IEDs, so the Taliban dug deep trenches to cripple the vehicles. I was thrown from the vehicle and broke my back in four places.

GIJ: You were told you may never walk again?

Cochran: Yeah, that’s true. I woke up in a hospital in Germany and they were basically like, “What kind of wheelchair do you want?”

GIJ: How do you explain such a miraculous recovery?

Cochran: There was a nurse there who asked why they don’t do a kyphoplasty since I didn’t have any spinal cord damage. There was no specialist to perform the surgery, so I was sent back to Nashville. It’s ironic how all roads lead back to Nashville for me. They put four pounds of cement in my back and the surgery was successful and I got the first tingling sensations in my legs in nine months. After physical therapy treatments I’ve made a full recovery. That’s one of the reasons why we have such high-energy shows – to let people know that I’m fully recovered.

GIJ: One of your songs, “When a Hero Falls,” recounts powerful memories of your fellow Marines. How has your military service impacted your music?

Cochran: It’s had a huge impact. That song is about a man from my team, Sgt. Ron Payne. He was killed in Afghanistan. We took fire from 26 Taliban fighters and were pinned down. There were so many rounds hitting the ground around us it looked like big raindrops landing in dust. It seemed like if you stuck your hand out you’d pull it back and it would look like Swiss cheese.

Sergeant Payne ran up the hill right into the enemy fire so we could maneuver. The corpsman charged right after him because he knew he was going to need him. Sergeant Payne died saving our lives. This song is a tribute to him.

GIJ: How has your military service affected your life personally?

Cochran: I think the biggest thing the Marine Corps taught me was the drive and determination to see things through even when they get tough. Country music is a tough business but it’s not the toughest thing I’ve had to do. The Marine Corps taught me that.

GIJ: What qualities did you learn as a Marine that make you a better artist or entrepreneur?

Cochran: I love the Marine Corps. Everything they did for me structured my life and gave me the drive to know that I can do anything I want to do. The way I was raised was to be thankful to this country for being able to do our dream, and my dream is music.

GIJ: Why do you think Americans should support businesses owned by military veterans?

Cochran: Why wouldn’t you? Why wouldn’t you want to help your local economy and put that money right back into your community? It’s good for everybody in the whole circle, so I think the more important question is why wouldn’t you?

GIJ: Why is the Buy Veteran Campaign good for America?

Cochran: It’s a great thing for our country and for all our vets. What’s more American than buying from veterans?  I tried for a week to buy American and couldn’t find enough American made products. Then I tried to at least buy from businesses owned by Americans until I learned about Buy Veteran. Supporting local businesses in your community helps the local economy and provides jobs. Veterans are hard-working, loyal and dependable so you’re going to get high-quality products and services. It’s really a win-win for everybody.

GIJ: What advice do you have for veterans coming home from Afghanistan and Iraq who may be considering starting a small business?

Cochran: I say go for it. It’s hard to find honorable people to work for these days that you can trust. But you know that when you start your own business, you hire your own people, you know that you’re honorable, so you trust yourself. So you hire people you would do business with on a handshake to work for you. So I say jump in with both feet and don’t give up. Do it like you did in combat. You’re going to have to adapt and overcome a lot along the way, but it’s going to be worth it.

GIJ: What keeps you up at night?

Cochran: Thinking about writing new songs.

GIJ: What makes you jump out of bed in the morning?

Cochran: Facebook! (laughing).

GIJ: Who is your mentor?

Cochran: My father. 
 

Role Model?
Jesus Christ

Dream Job?
I’m doing it!

Alma Mater?
Western Kentucky University

Hobbies?
Riding motorcycles

Favorite Food?
Pepperoni Pizza Hot Pockets

Favorite Musician?
Waylon Jennings

Favorite Movie Star?
Elvis Presley

Hometown?
Pikeville, Ky.

Pets?
One dog named Semper Fi


Thinking of starting your own business or buying a franchise?
Then subscribe to Vetreprenuer, the only magazine that will plug you in to the veteran business movement.

Visit www.BuyVeteran.com/aspiringvob to subscribe today.

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