St. Augustine Gulf War Veteran Among World's Best

St. Augustine wounded veteran uses para-cycling as outlet
Associated Press
By WILL BROWN
Sunday, August 9, 2015

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (AP) - Anyone can exist. Frank Matzke would rather live, and do so abundantly. For years the longtime St. Augustine resident searched for a purpose after a severe brain injury sustained serving in the Gulf War recalibrated his life. He found it in para-cycling.

“My wife found para-cycling,” Matzke said. “I raced with able-bodied individuals and I was hours behind them because of my disabilities. My wife said ‘There has to be something out there for you.’ She did a little homework and found US para-cycling. That was my objective. I found it.” 

The 44-year-old is now one of the best para-cyclists in the world. Matzke competes on the UCI Para-cycling tour and is ranked No. 21 in the world in the Men’s Elite T2-Road classification.

This year alone his quest for competition has taken him to Montreal, Canada, Bilbao, Spain and Germany. In September, he plans to compete in a World Cup race in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

Matzke was serving in the 11th Armored Calvary Regiment at Camp Doha, Kuwait on July 11, 1991, when an ammunition depot caught fire and eventually exploded. He took cover in a warehouse, but a piece of shrapnel hit the warehouse and fell on his head.

A reported 52 were injured and there were three secondary fatalities. At the time, the Associated Press noted “one American soldier suffered serious brain damage when shrapnel shattered his skull and that he was not expected to live.”
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