Florida Cancer Survivor, 11, With Broken Prosthetic Crosses Finish Line on Back of Marine

ABC News ^ | October 11, 2012 | Christiana Ng

[Zakeet]

Spectators at a children's triathlon in Florida were brought to tears by the sight of Marines carrying a little boy with a broken prosthetic leg across the finish line.

Bone cancer-survivor Ben Baltz, 11, was participating in his third triathlon of the summer when he had an accident with his prosthetic leg Sunday during the final portion of the race.

"The screws came loose and it fell off and the Marine picked me up and he ran the rest of the way," Ben said. "It was pretty nice."

His mother, Kim Baltz, was waiting at the finish line and wondering where he son was when she heard the announcer say, "Turn around and look at what's happening on the course."

She turned around to see Ben riding on a Marine's back, surrounded by five other Marines.

"It just made me start crying that they would have picked him up and helped him finish the race," she said.

[Snip]

"I was shocked [with] the publicity, but I wasn't surprised in Pfc. Morgan's actions," [Gunnery Sgt.] Anderson said. "That's something we do as Marines. It's that unwavering dedication to our fellow Marines and competitors in this case."

[Zakeet]

Our Marines are good ... so very good ... in so many different ways!

[DallasDeb]

Semper fi.

[Pentagon Leatherneck]

No better friend; no worse enemy.

Semper Fi

TC

[JRandomFreeper]

I wasn't surprised in Pfc. Morgan's actions," [Gunnery Sgt.] Anderson said. "That's something we do as Marines.

That, they do. I had a Marine detailed to me (Zoomie SSgt at the time) for KP. You have to be careful what you tell them to do.

Since the Marine and the others couldn't go into town without an NCO, I babysat that little crowd of miscreants, in town.

Most pleasant weekend I ever spent.

Utmost respect for our Marine Corps.

/johnny

[MEGoody]

Our Marines are good ... so very good ... in so many different ways!

Bears repeating. The behavior of this Marine made me feel so proud of our "sons of freedom".

[redcatcherb412]

Leave No Man Behind

Semper Fi Gyrenes

[TurkeyLurkey]

Thank you for some good news to read today.

My brother is a Marine, yes, good in so many ways.

[beelzepug]

OUTSTANDING!

[Scoutmaster]

Thank you for posting this.

[wastedyears]

That’s an incredible thing to do.

[annieokie]

ABSOLUTE THE BEST, and that story proved it. How awesome, some things just keeps you smiling all day, that story is one of them.

[LibLieSlayer]

GOD BLESS THE DEVIL DOGS!

LLS

[trisham]

What a wonderful story! Thank you!

[US Navy Vet]

IAM the father of a United States Marine and COULDN’T be PROUDER!!

[PogySailor]

Bravo Zulu Marines!

[taildragger]

Why is the screen fuzzy.... We need to give our finest a better CIC...

[tweakDU]

Semper Fi

[depenzz]

Semper Fi ——— One for all and all for one

[ExCTCitizen]

Spectators at a children's triathlon in Florida were brought to tears by the sight of Marines carrying a little boy with a broken prosthetic leg across the finish line.

Bone cancer-survivor Ben Baltz, 11, was participating in his third triathlon of the summer when he had an accident with his prosthetic leg Sunday during the final portion of the race.

"The screws came loose and it fell off and the Marine picked me up and he ran the rest of the way," Ben said. "It was pretty nice."

His mother, Kim Baltz, was waiting at the finish line and wondering where he son was when she heard the announcer say, "Turn around and look at what's happening on the course."

She turned around to see Ben riding on a Marine's back, surrounded by five other Marines.

The Marines -- the few but very PROUD!! Great story...

[Swashbuckler99]

Our Fight For You by Adam Billings We fight for what many won't Our bodies battle like many don't We save lives in the field Knowing that we may be killed Freedom is saved by what we do You don't understand that it's all for you We take the punishment to help the others Our mission is to save our brothers Mothers at home worry about us every day Just so you can have everything your way Some people at home put us down and call us names While miles away we fight for freedom so that our nation can reign We see the blood of our brothers But we keep on fighting for all the others We never give up and we always try When banded together we will never die Know this peace lovers, war haters, sad mothers, and mob creators We fight the war for you as well We take the bullets in our chests and go through all the hell We are the Marines We battle day to day No Matter how much pain we take Our freedom is what we save We take our guns, and we take our lives and put them on the line We knew the suffering we would go through before we ever signed Deep inside we buried our loved ones and our memories Cause we knew that our duty was not for us, but to set You free So when your lying in bed tonight thinking about your family Remember all of us to The people who go out everyday and fight the war for you We Are Marines We always fight for you Remember our sacrifices As you look up at the red, white and blue