Derek McGinnis, who was wounded while serving in the Navy in Iraq, runs the Army Ten-Miler last Sunday. Photo Credit: By Manuel Balce Ceneta -- Associated Press
Posted on 10/28/2006 9:50:24 AM PDT by radar101
I ran the Army Ten-Miler last Sunday
My casual attitude changed around mile seven, when I passed a runner wearing workout clothes and a prosthetic leg that identified him as an Army soldier and a veteran of Iraq.
I discovered after the race that an 18-man military amputee team had been competing.
As I passed each of the men (feeling oddly ashamed of myself for breezing by someone so clearly my athletic superior), it was interesting to observe the reactions
I came up behind a group of women wearing T-shirts with printed photos of their husbands, all killed in action in Iraq or Afghanistan. They were Gold Star Wives, and there were lots of them running last Sunday. Many had joined up to form running teams.
I finished the race feeling let down and dissatisfied, and unable to explain why, since I had clocked in at my expected 10-mile time. It was only later that I understood why I found this race so devastating.
There is something inherently moving about athletics because of the courage required to be an athlete. For me, this is also true of the military. The daily commitment and struggle that an athlete endures, whether for the cause of a team or simply to surpass one's personal best, requires bravery and determination as exemplified in the best traits of the military ethos. A race sponsored by the Army takes on even greater meaning during a war of murky beginnings whose end is even more obscure.
When you run alongside someone who has lost a husband or a child or a limb to the war, you are confronted with their courage and it literally takes your breath away.
The writer is a resident of Alexandria
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Derek McGinnis, who was wounded while serving in the Navy in Iraq, runs the Army Ten-Miler last Sunday. Photo Credit: By Manuel Balce Ceneta -- Associated Press
Self-ping.
I wonder if the author will be shunned by her peers for being so complacent as to be among soldiers and not adequately shield one's self from seeing them as human beings.
True heroes all of them! It's too bad our news media couldn't focus on even 1 of them each news cycle and tell of their bravery and sacrifice - sad to say media dictates what you or I get to take in as news!
...When you run alongside someone who has lost a husband or a child or a limb to the war, you are confronted with their courage and it literally takes your breath away.
Odd. When I'm confronted with the courage of others, I don't feel let down or dissatisfied.
AFter all that, his lebRat blindness negates the fact that these brave people were celebrating & honoring their/our brave heroes...not protesting the war or President Bush.
Could that be why the media ignored it?
had they been protesting, it would have been the lead on every network
Perhaps what the writer is trying to describe is a deep humility in the face of courage and sacrifice. How lowly are we all in the presence of heros.
This photo of these dynomite, gorgeous men has brought an instant to my brain: O When the Saints, Go Marchin in..I wanna be in their number....
Assignment Class:
Compare and contrast the men and women described in this article with the self absorbed and self serving batch of Democrat politicians who are even now working diligently to undermine and negate the deeds and sacrifices these warriors have made on our behalf. Feel free to cite the acts of betrayal and treason along with the aid and comfort that they have provided to our enemies.
Above all: REMEMBER, REMEMBER
Missing (Parts) in Action - MPIA will support four teams which are made up of military amputees and their physical therapists - who all have very inspiring stories. Some of the highlighted athletes are: Maj. David Rozelle, who lost his foot in Iraq but became the first amputee in recent military history to resume a dangerous command in the field; Spec. Derek McGinnis, an above-the-knee amputee who has shared his love of surfing with fellow military amputees and Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Casey Tibbs, who lost his right leg below the knee but left the Athens Paralympic Games with the silver medal in the pentathlon and the gold in the 4x100 meter relay.
Lt. Col. Barbara Springer, chief of physical therapy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, hands out bib numbers to Navy Corpsman Jose Ramos, left, and Airman 1st Class Anthony Pizzifred.
Capt. David Rozelle walks it off after crossing the finish line of the Army Ten-Miler with a time of 1:38.
Spc. Harvey Naranjo carries a back-up prosthetic leg for Marine Cpl. Dan Lasko as the pair pushed it out to cross the finish line of the Army Ten-Miler with a time of 2:18.
That's what I was thinking,too,until I saw this quote from the piece:
I wish with all my heart that everyone in America, including President Bush and all the elected officials who called for war, could have seen the soldiers and Gold Star families I saw last Sunday. Perhaps then they would have felt what I did: awe for their courage, heartbreak for their loss, and gratitude for their willingness to sacrifice everything they have for our country and its citizens. And utter moral outrage that they have been called upon to do so.
I ask you...after having read that part,can there be any doubt that this dame is a Michael Moore/Cindy Sheehan wanna be who sees Bush,Cheney and Rumsfeld as the three most evil men to have ever walked this earth?
I agree. The so-called "moral outrage" should be directed against the terrorist islamofascists who have forced us to defend our freedoms and our way of life with the sacrifice that defense entails.
God Bless them all.
Actually, Pres. Bush et al show these types of traits every day.
The author had to run a race to feel them.
Well said!
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