Posted on 01/01/2012 9:29:36 AM PST by fkabuckeyesrule
Matt Pirrello wasn’t about to let a simple drill get the better of him. So what if he had lost a leg?He had been doing “about-faces” — pivoting clockwise 180 degrees while standing at attention — since he joined the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps in 2009.
Now, the once-simple act of raising his right foot, placing it about half a shoe length behind his left heel and then rotating, threw him.
“The movement depends on having a knee and foot that bend in ways my prosthetic leg can’t,” said Pirrello, who lost his right leg in a training accident 18 months ago.
Pirrello, 21, of Centerville, practiced for weeks before he found an improvised move that allowed him to march with his fellow cadets at Ohio University in Athens.
(Excerpt) Read more at dispatch.com ...
Reaslly neat story.
An acquaintance is partially color blind which normally prevents the issuance of an FAA medical certificate. He flew with an FAA inspector who asked, "What color is that plane down there?" For that matter, there are pilots with no legs flying.
Deaf pilots can fly so long as their flights don't require communicating with ATC. Don't think you can fly if blind though.
...meanwhile, Mitt Romney’s five huskey sons are serving in...
Same place that Gingrich, Santorum, Bachmann, et alia did...
...yep, fairly pathetic...
Yes, served in the same branch as newt and the hucksters boys.
yep...pretty damn pathetic...
It’s more complicated than this. As a retired Navy aircrewman I can tell you that any lack of your body’s mobility or strength in the air compromises the safety of the entire crew, let alone completion of the mission. If he can demonstrate all the moves he needs, he should be allowed to compete (remember, for every flying slot there are hundreds of candidates). If he can’t, he does not deserve affirmative action placement, which is what this would amount to. I’ve noticed too many 4 foot 10 overweight policewomen who are unable to control a violent offender.
As to the young man, hats off to him, but flying a drone sounds like a fun thing to do. And no rules need to be changed.
Let us also take time to remember Douglas Bader - a British WWII ace (20 kills) - who lost BOTH legs in an accident in 1931.
From Wiki: After the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, however, Bader returned to the RAF and was accepted as a pilot. He scored his first victories over Dunkirk during the Battle of France in 1940. He then took part in the Battle of Britain and became a friend and supporter of Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory and his “Big Wing” experiments.
In August 1941, Bader was forced to bail out over German-occupied France and was captured. Soon afterward, he met and befriended Adolf Galland, a prominent German fighter ace.[4] The circumstances surrounding how Bader was shot down in 1941 are controversial. Recent research strongly suggests he was a victim of friendly fire. Despite his disability, Bader made a number of escape attempts and was eventually sent to the POW camp at Colditz Castle. He remained there until the camp was liberated by the First United States Army in April 1945.
Talk about TENACITY!!!
So, what happened? Finish the story, man!
With the Romney men it is an unbroken record of not serving since they came here almost 170 years ago.
There seems to be a commitment to that.
Yes, his determination & patriotism is admirable. It’s a pity those traits are so rare in the overall scheme of things.
I take most strenuous exception to that! They have, for 170 years, strained every sinew, every day, in every generation, to serve ..... themselves.
Take it back!! Take it back, I say!!
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