In this edition of The Curated Chapter, we explore Died Three Times Lived Once by Robert Garcia—a powerful true story of survival, consequence, and second chances. From a near-fatal childhood experience to the challenges of military service and life beyond, Garcia reflects on the moments that nearly ended his life—and the choices that shaped what came after. It’s an honest look at hitting rock bottom, facing fear, and finding a way forward when hope feels out of reach.
Welcome to this edition of The Curated Chapter, formerly Newsgram!
How many times have you died? I should probably rephrase that. Have you ever had a near-death experience? It doesn’t have to be an official NDE involving angels and spirits of relatives long gone or anything. I’m talking about all the times you look back on your life and say, Wow…I can’t believe I made it through that.
For me there two car accidents that should have killed me but for some reason they didn’t. In both cases I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. In fact, one of the accidents was so bad the car was completely totaled. When they found me, I was upside down in the car, unbuckled, staring at the dome light wondering what in the world had just happened. But somehow… I was okay.
Was it divine intervention or blind luck? That’s open for debate but when I saw the title of the book we are going to talk about today, Died Three Times Lived Once… it got me thinking.
Rubin Hernandez, who goes by the pen name Robert Garcia, has identified three moments when the grim reaper passed him by. Once when he was as a child. Once when he was sent to overseas to fight and once when addiction nearly destroyed his life.. Here’s Ruben.
Ruben: I’m just a simple citizen, a veteran, a Vietnam veteran. I’m an easygoing person, I’ve been told.
I would add humble, faith-driven and honest as well. His books tells the story of a man who believes those moments that nearly took his life were not accidents at all. They were interventions.
Ruben: I got into a deathly experience at seven
He’s talking about the time he survived a tragic truck accident only to grow up and eventually be sent to Vietnam.
Ruben: People shot around me and they died, and the same bullets coming at me and I didn’t get shot. Why? I don’t know. I’ll never understand that. Only God does.”
Many of us experienced the Vietnam war through movies, documentaries and heresy. Mr. Hernandez was actually there. He was sent to Vietnam during one of the most turbulent periods in American history and experiences like that have a way of leaving permanent questions behind — especially if you are one of the survivors.
Ruben: I didn’t get shot. Why? I don’t know. trying to get up from, during the battle, and I couldn’t get up until decades later, I started thinking, it had to be an angel holding me down.
For Ruben, survival in Vietnam left him with the same question many veterans carry with them for the rest of their lives. Why did I survive… when others didn’t? This was the second time in his life he had faced death and walked away. But war would not be the last time Ruben found himself standing at the edge.
Ruben: And then my last one, my third one, oh my gosh, I fell. I fell deep.
Years after returning from Vietnam, Ruben began working as a correctional officer in Riverside County, California.
Ruben: Well, I became a police officer in a detention center in Riverside County as a correctional officer. And I made a big mistake, and I lost it. I wasn’t fired, but I lost it. They gave me a chance to come back, and I didn’t do it like I was supposed to.
Ruben was responsible for watching over people who had lost their way but temptation has a way of grabbing ahold of us and taking control of our lives. What began as experimentation or recreational drug use slowly turned into addiction. And addiction has a way of destroying everything.
Ruben: Don’t do what I did. Even if you’re a veteran, or you want to experience drugs, don’t try it, because you’ll fall. You’ll fall deeply. And I did. I became a drug addict under cocaine, and I regret every part of it. I lost everything. I started losing my vehicles. I started using heavily, and I wasn’t caught yet. And I was working for the Riverside County Sheriff in California. There’s not many out there that can say they were in front of the bars, and they ended up behind the bars and I was one of them. I took life for granted. We should never do that.
Many addicts will tell you that before recovery begins, you often have to hit rock bottom. For Ruben, that moment came when he realized he had lost the things that mattered most.
Ruben: Like I say I thought I lost everything I thought I lost my daughters, my wife and I didn’t care. You lose your dignity, you lose responsibility, and you lose everything. The point I’m trying to make, you don’t care.
But sometimes the turning point in a life comes down to a single moment. A few words. Something that shakes you to the core and forces you to see things differently.
Ruben: I was eight years in and out of jail. The very last time they sent me to a rehab in San Pedro, California. And I couldn’t believe I’d made it that far. And the judge started telling me at my last court, you’re doing wonderful, Hernandez. Keep it going. She didn’t like me at all and I started thinking something has got to change. She says, you either change or you go to prison for three years. Now, that scared me.
That moment forced Ruben Hernandez to make a decision. He entered rehab and he began leaning more deeply into his faith.
Ruben: Well, I started going to church while incarcerated. The people that have been in and out of prison, they tell me, oh, you can smuggle all the drugs you want. You want to go. I could feel Satan was behind that.
This story does have a hopeful ending. Now at seventy-eight, Ruben has lived through some of life’s darkest chapters — and survived them with a new perspective. He is clean, happily remarried and passionate about sharing his story to help others.
Ruben: There’s a reason for everything that happens. I’m living with a beautiful woman. This lady of mine, my queen, her children flew me around the world. And whether people believe it or not, it’s all because of God’s will and reasoning.
If Mr. Hernandez has learned anything from the life he describes in Died Three Times, Lived Once, it’s this:
Live in the positive. Follow God’s will. And no matter who you are…stand your ground. Because sometimes the greatest story a person can tell…is what they choose to do after they survive.
Thanks for listening to this edition of The Curated Chapter, formerly Newsgram on Webtalkradio.com
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Died-Three-Times-Lived-Once-ebook/dp/B0DTJGKPY4