ESPN Exposes Stunning Combat Wounded Veterans

ESPN BODY ISSUE POWERFUL VETERANS!

Veteran and hopeful Paralympian Ennis on the power of sports

KIRSTIE ENNIS: "I attribute sports to who I am today. Rolling that into my recovery --that's what saved me." Photographs by Peter Yang Behind the scenes by Eric Lutzens

Invictus Games Update

First gold medal of Invictus Games goes to 9-11 survivor
Orlando Sentinel
Stephen Ruiz
May 9, 2016

American Sarah Rudder kisses the 2 gold medals she earned Monday at the Invictus Games at Disney World. (Alex Menendez/Getty Images for Invictus Games)

It was a big day for Sarah Rudder. She was getting promoted in front of the Pentagon.

The date was Sept. 11, 2001.

"We were pulling survivors out at first,'' said Rudder, a retired lance corporal in the U.S. Marines. "The next day, I went to pull non-survivors, and upon pulling non-survivors, I crushed my [left] ankle. I had several reconstructive surgeries, but they couldn't save the leg.''

It seemed appropriate Monday that Rudder claimed the first gold medal awarded at the first Invictus Games on American soil. She won it in women's lightweight powerlifting and later added another gold in indoor rowing.
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Army Nurse Takes Pride in Representing Team USA at Invictus Games
DoD News
By Shannon Collins
Defense Media Activity
May 10, 2016

“I’m grateful for my family to be present to watch me compete, especially having my daughter in attendance for this year’s games, since she wasn’t able to attend the inaugural games,” she said. “These games are very personal for me, given my military career and background, and it’s a blessing to have my family in attendance to experience how much these games mean to me.”

Army Capt. Kelly Elmlinger performs laps in her race wheelchair at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, while training for the 2015 Department of Defense Warrior Games, June 11, 2015. DoD photo by EJ Hersom

ORLANDO, Fla., May 10, 2016 — Fierce competitor Army Capt. Kelly Elmlinger will participate in track and field, swimming and rowing at the 2016 Invictus Games being held this week at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World here.

During the 2014 Invictus Games, Elmlinger’s first foray into the competition, she earned gold medals in the 100-meter and 400-meter wheelchair races, the shot put, and in the cycling time trial; silver medals in discus during track and field, the cycling road race, and the 50-meter backstroke in swimming. She took fourth place in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle in swimming.
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At Invictus Games, athletes forge powerful friendships in beating adversity
Stars and Stripes
Dianna Cahn
May 10, 2016

ORLANDO, Fla. — They didn’t know each other when one was blown up and the other was shot a year apart in southern Afghanistan.

By the time they met at a wounded warrior competition, retired Air Force Tech Sgt. Leonard Anderson was missing one arm below the elbow and all but one finger on his other hand. Air Force Staff Sgt. August O'Niell had endured at least a dozen surgeries.

Their lives have intertwined ever since.

They train and compete together. Anderson was there for O'Niell’s leg amputation and again when his daughter was born. O'Niell was there when Anderson, missing his hands, had no choice but to retire from the Air Force.

And when Anderson prepares for the swimming finals at the Invictus Games on Wednesday, his buddy will be there to help him to pull on his Speedo.

Their friendship is the story of these warrior games, where the fierce determination needed to get here comes with a disarming vulnerability. That’s a tough pill to swallow for these guys, but it forges deep friendships and a camaraderie among competitors like none other in the world.
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Air Force Master Sgt. Israel Del Toro Jr Defied The Odds Again

To Hell And Back 
ESPN
Steve Wulf
05/09/16

Air Force Master Sgt. Israel Del Toro Jr. emerged from an inferno that ravaged his face and his fingers, but not his heart. By defying the odds and setting world records, Del Toro has inspired warriors and competitors all over the map.

“When the doctor told me I would never walk again, and that I would have to spend the rest of my life on a respirator, I told him, ‘Kiss my ass.’”
- ISRAEL DEL TORO, JR.

The eyes of Air Force Master Sgt. Israel Del Toro Jr. have seen a lot. The hills of Afghanistan and the mound at Comiskey Park in Chicago. His newborn son and what he thought might be his own death. A life his wife didn't quite deserve and the wedding she did. The ceilings of countless operating rooms and the skies above athletic venues where he would set world records.

On this mid-April day, though, those eyes are focused on the icy road ahead. A freak snowstorm has blown into the Colorado Springs, Colorado, area, but DT -- the name everyone calls him -- needs to get to the local fitness center at Woodmen Hills in Peyton to train for the upcoming second-ever Invictus Games (May 8-12) at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. That's where the 41-year-old will compete against other wounded warriors from 13 other countries in the discus, shotput, power lifting and recumbent cycling.

This fitness trip is also an opportunity for some father-son bonding time, so Izzy, his 13-year-old namesake, comes along for the ride in the four-wheel-drive truck. "I apologize," DT says to the visitors. "I'm not in the best condition. I hurt my shoulder a few weeks ago shoveling 4 feet of snow in my driveway."

That said, he would put most other athletes to shame. From a standing position, he starts out by jumping onto a bench about 18 inches high. Again and again, again and again. Then, despite having half-fingers on his right hand and only a thumb on his left hand, he does an impressive series of bench presses, inflating the tattoos on his upper arms -- his guardian angel St. Michael on the left, a self-designed image of a man emerging from flames on the right.
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For 'DT,' recovery was all about family
Air Force Master Sgt. Israel Del Toro Jr. got third-degree burns on 80 percent of his body in a 2005 IED explosion in Afghanistan. But his love for his wife and son inspired him to survive and recover, and now he will compete in the second Invictus Games. Joe Amon for ESPN

Who Else Should Have Received ESPY Instead of Jenner?

This was bravery topped off with being very unselfish and sports,

ESPYs honor late Lauren Hill for inspirational cancer battle LOS ANGELES Lauren Hill was honored Wednesday night at the ESPY Awards for the best moment. Hill inspired people with her fight against brain cancer and raised over $1.5 million for cancer research before she died April 10. The Division III women's basketball player just wanted to play one game in college.

There was online backlash when ESPN decided to honor Caitlyn Jenner with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award, with many believing Hill was more deserving.

The Daily Mail reported this about Jenner, not associated with sports for a very long time.

REVEALED: Caitlyn Jenner's reps 'demanded ESPYs award in exchange for PR plugs and Diane Sawyer interview'
Caitlyn Jenner's representatives asked ESPN that she be the recipient of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs
They offered PR plugs on Jenner's upcoming reality show 'I am Cait'
ESPN executives loved the idea
Talks hit a stumbling block and Jenner's team threatened to pull out of the 20/20 interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC
ESPN and ABC are both owned by Disney
The problems were resolved and ABC landed one of the biggest stories of the year

So who else could they have honored instead of a senior citizen kinda sort of sex change dudette?

After all, this was supposed to be an award for courage tied to sports. Wasn't it? Bruce Jenner was a sports figure but Bruce isn't Bruce anymore.
Veteran shines at Warrior Games

Zachary Burnash, an Air Force an Air Force Wounded Warrior athlete, sprints toward the finish line on the track during the first day of the DOD Warrior Games training camp at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., April 18. The five-day training camp for the Air Force's athletes serves as their last practice session before the DOD Warrior Games June 19-28. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

There are a lot of combat wounded amputee veterans all over the country involved in sports. Their bodies were not altered by choice. They were altered by bombs and bullets. They didn't put themselves first. They said they would risk their lives for someone else, putting everyone else first.

Noah Galloway

Was it "brave" for Jenner to do what he/she did? Debateable. Some say it was downright self-serving while others say it gives people courage to be who they are. If that is the case then the LGBT community should have give Jenner an award and not ESPN. This wasn't about sports. It was about a PR disaster and ratings.

Female MP Iraq Veteran To Receive Pat Tillman Award

ESPYs to honor basketball star turned wounded warrior
Military Times
By Leo Shane III, Staff writer
June 16, 2015

The network received a backlash from conservative commentators for the selection, and criticism within military communities for not honoring any one of numerous service members with links to athletics.

Green was one of the first female service members injured in Iraq. 

(Photo: Courtesy of Danielle Green)

A college basketball star turned wounded Army veteran will be the second recipient of the Pat Tillman Award for Service at next month's ESPY Awards ceremony, designed to honor the year's best sports moments and personalities.

Danielle Green, an Army specialist who lost an arm in a 2004 attack in Iraq, will receive the award for inspirational service and patriotism at the July 15 awards ceremony, being broadcast nationally on ABC. Hers will be among the first awards presented at the event, before a crowd of professional athletes and celebrities.

In an interview with Military Times, Green called the award a surprise and an honor, especially given its namesake.

"Pat Tillman was an extraordinary human being," she said. "I remember reading about him 11 years ago, I was hurt a month after he was hurt. So I just feel honored and grateful to be part of his legacy."

The award announcement Tuesday comes just a few days after ESPN announced it will give the Arthur Ashe Courage Award during the ESPY event to Caitlyn Jenner, the former track and field Olympian who recently went public with her struggles as a transgender woman.

As a specialist in the 571st Military Police Company, she lost her lower left arm in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Baghdad in May 2004. Green was one of the first female service members injured in Iraq, and was medically retired from the service about seven months later.
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Soldier Dad Welcomed Home For Christmas Wish

Soldier Fulfills Daughter’s Wish At ESPN Wide World of Sports
ESPN Sports

Published on Dec 8, 2014

One year ago 9-year-old Adisen Kallas made a wish with her family in front of Cinderella Castle. She wished that her dad, Navy SEABEE UT1 Scott Kallas, would return from deployment in Afghanistan in time to watch her dance at the 2014 Pop Warner National Cheer and Dance Championships at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort. At that time Scott was preparing for his fifth military deployment.

Well Adisen, wishes do come true.

What happened on Saturday after Adisen and the Mighty Might Tri Town Raiderettes dance team from Schererville, IN, performed was nothing short of magical. It is a moment you will want to watch for yourself.

Welcome home Scott Kallas. Thank you for serving our country and showing all of us that wishes do come true

MLB: Are Veteran Tributes Too Much?

A veteran says enough is enough when it comes to tributes for the soldiers
NBC Sports
Hardball Talk
Craig Calcaterra
Oct 28, 2014

KANSAS CITY — We’ve touched on the idea of conspicuous patriotism and tributes to the soldiers before — ESPN’s Howard Bryant wrote an excellent article about it last year — but today we have a thought-provoking piece from a veteran, Rory Fanning, talking about tribute concerts and the public thanking of the troops at sporting events:

"We use the term hero in part because it makes us feel good and in part because it shuts soldiers up (which, believe me, makes the rest of us feel better). Labeled as a hero, it’s also hard to think twice about putting your weapons down. Thank yous to heroes discourage dissent, which is one reason military bureaucrats feed off the term . . . Then you have Bruce Springsteen and Metallica telling them “thank you” for wearing that uniform, that they are heroes, that whatever it is they’re doing in distant lands while we go about our lives here isn’t an issue. There is even the possibility that, one day, you, the veteran, might be ushered onto that stage during a concert or onto the field during a ballgame for a very public thank you. The conflicted soldier thinks twice."

Fanning makes the argument that by doing things like these, we necessarily give our approval to the country’s military policies of the past 13 years and stifle dissent. I think there is a lot of truth to that. But more broadly, I think the obligatory manner in which we have imported patriotism and honoring of the military into baseball has caused us to lose sight of the fact that — even if doing these things are good and admirable — when we make our patriotism mindless, we lose an essential part of it, which is thoughtfulness. And, yes, to Fanning’s point, when we make our acts of patriotism obligatory we take away another essential thing: the freedom of dissent.

I think we’ve reached that point in baseball. Major League Baseball’s charitable efforts, specifically for the Welcome Back Veterans and Wounded Warrior charities are admirable. And there is no question in my mind that they are well-intentioned. But, at times, one does feel the sense of formality and a sense of the obligatory with respect to all of this. And no small amount of corporate sponsorship is involved, in effect, allowing corporations to ride on the back of patriotic sentiment in an effort, intentionally or unintentionally, to bolster their own image.
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Are there ever too many things being done for them? My vote is HELL NO!