Brian Eisch Wiki, Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Brian Eisch is a veteran American military personnel who served the country for twenty years; before getting retired as a Master Sergeant First Class in the US Army in 2012. He lost his leg in an ambush during his deployment in Afghanistan, which became the subject of the Netflix military documentary titled ‘Father Soldier Son’ in 2020.

Wiki/Biography

Brian Eisch was born in 1974 (age 46 years; as in 2020) ^[1]The New York Times in Hortonville, Wisconsin, United States. Brian attended Shiocton High School (1980-1990) in Wisconsin, and in 1993, he passed high school from Hortonville High School. Brian studied General AAS at Central Texas College; after getting moved to Texas in 1994. ^[2]Facebook In 1997, he moved to Wahiawa, Hawaii where he spent one year and where his oldest son, Issac was born.

Brian Eisch with Isaac James Eisch at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii in 1998

In 1998, Brian moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina where he stayed till 2001. During his stay at Saint Robert, Missouri, his youngest son, Joseph ‘Joey’ was born in 2001. ^[3]syracuse.com In 2004, he divorced his first wife and moved to Hohenfels, Bayern, Germany along with his oldest son, Issac. In 2007, Brian moved to La Crosse in Wisconsin and started training college students at the University of Wisconsin. Brian and his family moved to New York in 2009. In 2010, after Brian’s deployment to Afghanistan, his family briefly lived in Wisconsin. Brian and his family moved to Lacona, New York in 2011. In 2012, Brian Eisch retired from the US Army; after his twenty years of service.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 8″

Hair Color: Dark Brown

Eye Color: Dark Brown

Family & Ethnicity

Brian Eisch comes from a white American family.

Parents & Siblings

Not much information is available about his parents. Brian Eisch has two brothers – Shawn and Kevin. Shawn is a state water conservation officer who lives in Wautoma, a two-stoplight town in central Wisconsin.

Brian Eisch With His Wife Maria, two sons, and his brother Shawn Eisch

Kevin Eisch works at Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Wisconsin Resource Center and State of Wisconsin Department of Corrections.

Brian Eisch’s Brother Kevin Eisch

Brian Eisch has a twin sister – Brenda Eisch Van Sambeek.

Brian Eisch’s Twin Sister Brenda

Relationships, Wife & Children

In 2004, Brian took divorce from his first wife with whom he had two sons Issac and Joseph ‘Joey’ (died in 2015).

Brian Eisch With His Oldest Son Issac

Brian Eisch With His Youngest Son Joey

Following the divorce, Brian also took custody of his two sons. Brian got married to Maria Eisch on May 30, 2015. Maria works at the Ontario Health & Fitness Center.

Brian Eisch With His Wife Maria Eisch

Career

In 1992, Brian Eisch joined the United States Army as an Airborne Ranger in the infantry.

Brian Eisch in Ranger School

Brian served in the infantry at E-52 INF LRS ABN from 1994 to 1997. From 2007 to 2009, he trained college students at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse where he served as ROTC Instructor. From July 2009 to November 2010, he served as a Platoon Sergeant in the US Army. From July 2009 to November 2010, Brian served as a Platoon Sergeant at Watertown-Fort Drum, New York.

Brian Eisch was sent to Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Division in November 2010 where he lost his leg in an ambush.

Brian Eisch during is deployment to Afghanistan

He became the Master Sergeant in the United States Army on November 10, 2011. Before getting retired in 2012, Brian Eisch spent his time as a wounded warrior at warrior transition unit Fort Drum, New York (from February 2011 to August 2012).

Single Father

When Brian took a divorce from his first wife in 2004, he became the single father of two sons, and he raised them by managing his parental responsibilities. To Brian Eisch, his two sons have been the two most significant motivators in his life, he says,

I look at my boys and I see the things they do, they are my biggest support channel and they look up to me.”

Brian Eisch With His Sons

In 2010, after his deployment to Afghanistan, Brian’s brother, Shawn Eisch, took the responsibility of Brian’s sons and brought them to his home in Wautoma, Wisconsin where Brian’s sons, Issac and Joey, who were 12 and 8 years old, respectively, had to adapt to a new environment and new school.

Brian Eisch Sons Issac (right) and Joey (left) at their uncle’s home in Wisconsin

In the absence of their father, both Issac and Joey found it difficult to get themselves adjust in a new environment. While Issac rebelled against their uncle’s rules, Joey got into fistfights at his new school, and he was even suspended from school.

Brian Eisch’s Youngest Son Joey Falls Asleep in His Class

It was a brief happy moment for Issac and Joey when Brian Eisch returned home for mid-tour leave to be with his sons in September 2010.

Brian Eisch and his sons after his return from Afghanistan in September 2010

Brian enjoyed his mid-tour leave along with his sons; spending the first nights in hotels, going to fishing, visiting an amusement park, and traveling to New York City, where they saw Times Square and the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. While on their way home, they also stopped at a gas station for beverages and supplies.

Brian Eisch and his sons at a gas station during Brian’s mid-tour leave in September 2010

After the two weeks mid-tour leave of Brian came to an end, his sons came to the airport to see-off their father.

Brian Eisch and his sons before his flight departs from Appleton in Wisconsin

Lost His Leg in Afghanistan

In November 2010, Brian Eisch was deployed to Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Division. While talking about it in an interview, he said,

If you remember Obama’s surge when he was sending the 30,000 troops, that was my deployment. Our mission over there in Afghanistan was to teach, coach, and mentor the Afghan police.”

Brian Eisch in Afghanistan

While in Afghanistan, Brian lost his leg in an ambush while saving the life of an Afghan policeman. The incident that happened during a clear mission in the Kunduz province of Afghanistan, brought an end to Brian’s 20-year army career. In an interview, Brian Eisch recalled the incident –

I was in the Kunduz province in Afghanistan, it was Nov. 3, 2010, and I was working with the Afghan Police on a patrol we called, ‘a deliberate clear.’ I look and I see an Afghan policeman out in the field, so I tell the Afghan police, ‘You have a man down over there you need to go get him,’ and they tell me no, tell me that they aren’t going to go after him, not going to rescue their man down. So I went to get him, didn’t even think twice about it, you don’t leave a man behind, you don’t leave an ally behind, so we swung the vehicle around to go get the wounded Afghan guy and then get the hell out of there. We put the vehicle between us and the bad guys, and I climb out to grab the guy but when I get there I find that the guy is way too injured to just grab and throw in the vehicle, he was bleeding bad, going to bleed to death right there, so I start to throw a tourniquet on him…Then, suddenly I hear this snap, snap, snap then my legs start burning then it starts feeling like a chainsaw was hacking my legs, a Taliban sniper with an automatic weapon saw what we were doing, was waiting for us and shot under the vehicle and got me.”

Brian Eisch With an Afghan Policeman in Afghanistan

In The Grief of His Son

Perhaps a divorce and a lost leg were not enough that another jolt entered Brian’s life when he lost his youngest son, Joseph ‘Joey,’ in a road accident in 2015. On a Friday afternoon, when Brian Eisch received a call from a friend about Joey’s accident, he thought it was a joke; as Joey had pedaled away from the family’s Oswego County home in New York just a few minutes before for a bike ride. When Joey was leaving the home, Brian and his wife Maria had cautioned him for a careful ride. In an interview, Brian recalled the day and said,

The last words out of our mouth were, ‘We love you, buddy.”

The Oswego County Sheriff’s Office reported that Joey was hit by a truck around 12:41 pm on county Route 15, near Van Auken Road, and was rushed to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse where he succumbed to his injuries on July 24, 2015. The 2004 Chevrolet pickup driver was identified as 71-year-old Ronald Blair of Kirkville. Joey’s death devastated Brian’s life, and he underwent a mental trauma, and it took years for Brian to come out of it. While breaking down in tears in an interview, Brian Eisch said,

I wish I could trade places with him.”

Awards & Honors

After joining the US Army in 1992, Brian Eisch won five out of six Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) of the year awards. He was also inducted into the prestigious Audie Murphy Club. Brian Eisch was bestowed with the Purple Heart (a United States military decoration); after his retirement from the US Army in 2012. Brian also received a Bronze Star for Valor. ^[4]BASSMASTER

Facts/Trivia

• Brian Eisch is a non-vegetarian and loves to consume alcoholic beverages at various occasions.
  

  Brian Eisch at a dinner party with his family and friends

• From 2007 to 2009, Brian served as a military science instructor for the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse.

• After three or four unsuccessful surgeries, the doctors finally decided to amputate Brian’s left leg.
  

  Brian Eisch and his damaged leg

• After various jolts in his life, including a divorce, a lost leg, and losing his son, Brian found solace in bass fishing. While talking about bass fishing, Brian says,
  

  My happiness has been fishing. I go bass fishing, I do tournament bass fishing. When I’m fishing, I’m looking around I’m like ‘wow.’ And I always see a bald eagle, and say hi to Joey.”

  

  Brian Eisch Bass Fishing

• Brian Eisch, along with his wife Maria Eisch, founded a memorial on Joey’s name after Joey’s death in 2015.
  

  Joey Eisch Memorial

• Although Brian misses his army days, he compensates that void with bass fishing. He says,
  

  I really miss the Army, never thought my career would end like it did, I was real, I mean REAL competitive in the military but now I can translate my military competitiveness to bass fishing. My goal is to be a professional bass angler.” ^[5]BASSMASTER

• Brian had started planning to buy a new Bass Catboat during his deployment in Afghanistan back in 2010. He revealed this in an interview and said,
  

  When I was in Afghanistan I was working on buying a new Bass Cat boat, but then, you know, I got shot, and everything changed, you know…” ^[6]BASSMASTER

• Brian Eisch received $25,000 as Traumatic Event Coverage for losing his leg in an ambush in Afghanistan. With this money, Brian bought a Bass Catboat; a long-awaited desire of Brian. While talking about it, he says,
  

  I had insurance, Traumatic Event Coverage and I got $25,000 so I used that money to go out and buy myself a used truck, and I bought myself a used bass boat.” ^[7]BASSMASTER

  

  Brian Eisch in a Bass Catboat

• Brian Eisch loved to watch Baseball matches and often hits stadia to support his favorite team.
  

  Brian Eisch and His Wife Maria Wearing Baseball Jersy

• Brian has a kind heart for animals, and he actively supports animal rights.
  

  Brian Eisch Cuddling a Dog in Afghanistan

• On June 19, 2020, a military documentary film titled “Father Soldier Son” was premiered on Netflix. Directed by Leslye Davis and Catrin Einhorn, the film is based on Brian Eisch’s life, and it was also premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 15, 2020.