‘It’s my alive day’: Johnny Joey Jones reflects on parenthood and the blast that changed his life forever

Fox News Contributor Celebrates His “Alive Day” With Purpose, Not Pain

Every year on August 6, Fox News contributor Johnny “Joey” Jones doesn’t mourn—he celebrates. He calls it his Alive Day—the anniversary of the day he nearly died in Afghanistan, but didn’t.

“We celebrate it like a birthday,” says Jones, now 38. “Be thankful for life, and go do something meaningful.”

A Day That Changed Everything

Back on August 6, 2010, Jones was a 24-year-old Marine Staff Sergeant sweeping for bombs in Safar Bazaar, Afghanistan. His two-man team had already cleared more than 30 IEDs in just five days. The area had been heavily mined by the Taliban, long after they’d abandoned it.

Jones recalls how that morning, fellow Marine Corporal Daniel Greer asked him to check out a suspicious storage unit. “While I was analyzing a flare, I stepped on a bomb,” he says.

The blast launched him onto his back. “I touched my face first—I wasn’t even sure if it was still there.”

He lost both legs above the knee. His right arm was nearly severed, and his left arm was trapped beneath him—he feared it was gone, too.

Jones believed Greer had only been knocked out. But two days later, in a hospital in Germany, he woke up to crushing news. When he asked about his friend, the nurse just smiled.

That moment, he says, shaped the course of his recovery.

“She knew how important that first response was. If she’d said something horrible right then, I might’ve given up.”

From Battlefield to Recovery—and Beyond

Jones spent 10 months recovering at Walter Reed. It was a brutal process, involving extensive surgeries and learning to adapt to his new reality.

“Doctors had to reattach muscles to make my limbs work again. The hardest part was pushing through the pain and frustration.”

But he had a reason to fight: his newborn son, his supportive family, and a promise to honor Daniel Greer’s legacy.

“I never felt sorry for myself. I lost my legs, but I still had a life—and a responsibility to make it count.”

And he has. After earning a degree from Georgetown University, Jones joined Fox News in 2019. Today, he’s a familiar face on Fox & Friends and Fox Nation Outdoors, sharing his perspective on politics, veterans’ issues, and American culture—with a Georgia accent that reminds viewers of home.

“I’m from a town with more cows than people,” he jokes. “When I speak, people say, ‘Thanks for saying what we’re all thinking.’”

Still Serving—and Still Growing

Jones now serves on the board of Boot Campaign, a nonprofit that helps veterans facing PTSD, brain injuries, and chronic pain. This year, he’s spending part of his Alive Day in Mississippi, speaking at a retreat for fellow Purple Heart recipients.

“Every Alive Day, I try to work. I try to give back,” he says. “I’m still here—so I’m still speaking, still helping.”

After the event, he’ll fly home to his wife, Meg, and their two kids, Joseph and Margo. He and Meg dated in high school but broke up before he joined the Marines. When he told her he was enlisting, she replied, “Well, have fun.” Years later, they reconnected and married in 2012.

“She helped me mature. She taught me about selflessness. The Marine Corps taught me the rest.”

A Story of Strength and Brotherhood

Jones shares his full journey in his 2023 memoir Unbroken Bonds of Battle. The book highlights not just his recovery, but the lasting friendships forged through service—especially with Stacy Greer, Daniel’s widow, who contributed her own reflections.