Colorado veteran finds peace with promise he made... and kept

Out on the rolling plains east of Colorado Springs, no amount of gray skies can dim Israel "DT" Del Toro, Jr.'s spark.

"You ready?" he says as he revs up his side-by-side ATV before cruising across his 35-acre ranch.

Classic rock hums from the speakers, and a big smile stretches across his face. Being home and on his land is where the retired Air Force Senior Master Sergeant says he's most at peace.

"That's me... just simple me... that's, I guess, the behind-the-scenes of Israel Del Toro most people may not see," he said.

What most people do see are Del Toro's scars -- signs of a war survived, and a promise never broken.

"And it all really goes back to the promise to my dad... to take care of your family," Del Toro said.

He made that promise at 12 years old, the night before his father passed away. It's the same promise that fueled his decision to enlist in the U.S. Air Force in 1997, joining the elite Tactical Air Control Party as a special operator.

"I knew I wanted to be in special warfare. I wanted to be the tip of the spear," he said.

Del Toro saw action in Bosnia and the first Iraq war before deploying to Afghanistan in 2005 as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. That December, his Humvee struck an improvised explosive device. Flames engulfed the then 30-year-old airman, burning more than 80 percent of his body. He spent months in a coma and was given just a 15% chance of living.

"When you're severely burned, they cover up the mirrors because they want to ease you into what you're going to look like," he recalled. "I was going to the restroom and I needed help... I had slipped and they grabbed me, and the moment they grabbed me, they pulled off the towel from the mirror, and I saw myself, and I broke down."

"When I saw my face, I was like, 'Oh my god. I'm a 30-year-old man, and if I think I'm a monster, what's my little 3-year-old son going to think?' And the thought of that, of my son being afraid of me, broke me. It literally broke me."

Pausing briefly to wipe away tears, Del Toro continued.

"It wasn't a vanity thing at all. I didn't care. It was my son — the thought of him being terrified of me... I didn't want to keep going. I was like, 'just let me die.'"

But even in his darkest hour, Del Toro clung to the promise he made as a boy. And the love of his own son gave him a reason to fight.

"[My son] comes in and he sees me and stops. All that fear rushes back, like, 'Oh my god, my son is terrified of me'," Del Toro said. "But then he just tilts his head to the side and looks at me like, 'Papi?' and I was like, 'Yeah,' and he just comes up and gives me the most amazing hug. Probably the most amazing moment in my life besides seeing him being born."

Del Toro didn't just survive; he defied every expectation. In 2010, he became the first 100% disabled airman to re-enlist in the Air Force.

"I will stay strong for the ones that cannot, I will fight for the ones that cannot fight, I will never [expletive] quit on you," he said during his Pat Tillman Award acceptance speech at the 2017 ESPYs.

Now retired from the military, Del Toro's service continues in helping others find the strength to never quit. He serves as a motivational and keynote speaker as well as an author, sharing his story and wisdom with audiences around the country.

"I'm a realist. I know I'm not going to touch everybody," Del Toro said. "But sometimes there's one or two who really need to hear a story to help them find their spark. Because I like to say we all have it… But sometimes you may need to hear a story of what someone went through, how they kept going, how they kept fighting even though they still had bad times."

Without question, Del Toro embodies resilience, sacrifice, and strength. It's a message that rises far beyond the battlefield, and his memoir, A Patriot's Promise, shares that message with the world.

But out on the quiet plains of Peyton, Del Toro isn't a war hero or a public figure.

"I'm truly at peace on my ranch," he said.

He's just DT.

A father.
A husband.
A man who found peace with the promise he made… and kept.

"You asked me earlier why I try to be humble, that kind of regular guy… It's because of my dad. Because I never want to disappoint him," Del Toro said, wiping away tears. "I always want him to be, hopefully, proud of me."