Moving On

As my last post about the Wounded Warriors (this time around, anyway), I want to write about the future. Most of these men and women will be getting out of the marines as they adjust to their varying disabilities. The Wounded Warrior program offers multitudes of classes for these survivors to help them deal with the transition to 'normal' life. Some will get jobs, some will be retired due to their disabilities, and some will thrive.

Introducing Paul de Gelder. He is an Australian Navy Clearance Diver (like our SEALs) who was attacked by a shark on a training exercise. The shark got his right hand and most of his right leg. This story was crazy enough, but then I learned that he STILL DIVES WITH THE NAVY! I wouldn't get back in the ocean. Let's be honest, I wouldn't get back in the pool after that.

Anyway, Paul is a little crazy, which is probably why I like him. He is also driven. He has a book coming out about his life, which was interesting waaaay before the shark attack. He has since modeled bathing suits and underwear (with missing limbs), helped in cleaning up debris in the ocean (by diving), become a motivational speaker at schools and communities, and is an advocate for SHARKS.

Many of the Wounded Warriors will continue on to bigger and better things. I wish them all the best and hope they reach their dreams.

Paul's story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiHGPH2gC6A&feature=related

Paul's website with book info:
http://pauldegelder.com/

WARNING - this video has extremely graphic photos of the injuries. It is worth watching if you don't faint.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzbXrD1Z_8I&feature=related

A Little Sketchy

Anyone who has been around the Marine Wounded Warriors for any length of time knows Chuck Sketch. He is literally the poster child for the Marine Corps Trials. At opportune moments, someone yells, "Hey, Chuck, give us one!" and Chuck lets out a very loud bark for all to appreciate.

He was not injured in combat, but was ravished by cancer. While on leave, doctors found a large brain tumor that was growing rapidly. He first lost his eyesight to the creeping disease and then both legs to blood clots. Now in remission, Chuck is rascally as ever.

Chuck participated in cycling (with a partner) and shooting (guided by beeps that told him if he was on target).

He was also one of our swimmers and had to touch the lane line every time his right arm entered the water in order to swim straight. How did he know where the wall was? He counted his strokes.

His Dad was his attendant and dutifully rolled him up to his lane before his events. Chuck would slide out of his wheelchair and scoot over to the edge of the pool and plop in. Ready to race. Ready to overcome.

Chuck was one of the 50 Marines selected to participate in the Wounded Warrior games in May. I hope he 'gives them one!'

Cult of Personality

Allow me to introduce you to 'Manny' - Cpl. Manuel Jiminez-

Manny and I had a tumultuous relationship. He gave me crap and I gave it right back (honestly, they all did, but Manny, in particular I had to keep an eye on). He would sit quietly, waiting for the right moment to make a snide comment or gesture. I had to be careful with my words and sure about my actions, or else he would pounce.

We finally had some peace when he swam in the meet and won gold (100mtr free) and two silvers (50 mtr free and 50 mtr back). I was very proud of him for the improvement he had made over the course of 7 days. We hugged, high fived and all was well.

For a moment.

He was back to his normal self at dinner that night, and I was glad. It's not Manny without his joking. And, I will continue to keep an eye on him...

Manny in the middle! Only one not in the red track suit and NOT PAYING ATTENTION!!

1500 mtr run

How to streamline with only one arm

Congrats, Manny!

S.N.A.F.U.

I apologize profusely for not writing any more blogs since last week. I didn't take a laptop (wifi didn't work anyway), and I either didn't have time or didn't have the energy to walk the 3 minutes to the C.O.C. to type this out.
Also, my camera phone is not the best, so I'm waiting to get pictures from another coach to post. For the moment, I'm stealing pictures from the Wounded Warrior facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/wwr.usmc) and from Coach Missy's blog.

We started most practices with a talk, since 2 whole hours of swimming would be too much. Sheila does a fantastic job of explaining the principals and physics of swimming. Sometimes I have to break it down into basic fundamentals because 95% of these guys have no formal swim training. They have to be able to survive, but that's it.

Some of the guys have service dogs. The dogs sleep all day because they stay awake all night watching over their Marine to keep him/her safe.

These guys had several sports to choose from:

That's all for now. I am slowly going to finish up with stories that I hope to remember and profiles of some of "my guys" who rocked it in the pool.

Just...WOW!

I apologize for the wait, but we literally have no free time. The only reason I can blog right now is because our Opening ceremonies were scheduled for 2 1/2 hours, but only lasted for about 30 minutes.So, here ya go...

Tuesday was quite a day as we got organized and got to know our swimmers. We had to go over the very basics of swiming, including how long the pool is, what the strokes are called, what a kickboard is, etc. Most of these guys and gals have never formailly swum before and are just now learning - with disabilities.

We have guys with no legs, one arm, blind, mental issues, and one of the guys I worked with had been in an explosion and needed a stomach transplant, and has lost most of his lung capacity. He obviously needed help with his breathing, which was my area.

After our two morning sessions, the coaches were dumb enough to do a short swim in between  instead of going to lunch. I hurt. I'm tired. I'm hungry.

I am not about to complain, though. Watching these men and women getting their lives back after protecting mine, is such a reality check for all of us. They just don't quit.

We had a welcome dinner for 'all hands' Tuesday night. There were several 1, 2 and 3 star Generals in attendance which was cool. But the guest speaker blew us away. His name is Anthony Robles. He is a NCAA Division I National Wrestling champion. What's so special you say?
He was born with only one leg.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtmC-R8htc4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

To give an example of the type of guys we are dealing with: After the dinner we were waiting for the buses to take us back and freezing our patooties off. I commented, "I can't feel my legs!" The double amputee in the wheelchair in front of me said, "I can't either!". These guys are trying to live a normal day to day life like the rest of us. Most of them have a great sense of humor.

Another example is of our swimmers learning how to streamline. As I walked around checking to make sure they were doing it right, I saw these two guys, both of whom only have one arm:

GREAT ATTITUDES!!!

During my first few hours here, I had to catch myself from getting teary eyed at some of these Warriors. Now, I can kid around and tease them knowing not to feel sorry for them, 'cause they sure don't feel sorry for themselves.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

I didn't realize that sitting on your rear all day was so tiring. After 12 hours of travel, I was exhausted. And, my butt hurt.

I started the day at 7am EST. Got dropped off at the MARTA station to go to the airport. Not a bad way to travel. Thankfully, the security line was basically empty, so it took all of 10 minutes to get to my gate. We all boarded the plane, stowed our luggage and seat belted ourselves in only to be told that the captain was on his way. I assume he was in Atlanta traffic. I should tell him to take MARTA next time.
The flight wasnn't too bad except for the guy next to me who decided he needed to spread out. Into my seat area. After the third elbow to the rib, he figured out his spatial relation to others.

When I arrived in San Diego, I was ushered into the USO room for a Subway sandwhich and leather theater seats to relax and wait on the bus to go to the base. This was a neat experience. There was a computer room, guitars, fooz ball, and several TV's with ESPN on. A few ladies had therapy dogs with them to let the soldiers pet and cuddle. There was also a guy dressed as Uncle Sam doing magic tricks. This is something that volunteers do, so I may look into that opportunity.


We took an hour bus ride to the base to get checked in and get our rooms. The barraks look like a motel on the outside and a dorm room on the inside. SPARSE. The only real problem was that our heater won't turn off. It was probably a tropical 90 degrees. So, my roommate and fellow swim coach, Missy, and I jerry-rigged the door and slept with it open all night:

After getting settled, we had a general information meeting at the base theater. I met several other coaches and we weer introduced to the Colonel in charge and told about some of the VIP's that will be visiting, and got to see the teams from Australia, Germany, Colombia, England, the Netherlands and France.

There are 3 Vietnam Purple Heart recipients here coaching, along with several Olympians and two professional wheelchair basketball players one of which is named 'Tree'.

I was so tired last night, I went right to sleep. And slept quite soundly. Missy said she didn't sleep very well because of being in a new place. I have a sneaky suspicion it was more because of my snoring...

I'm off to my first official day!

Preparation is key!

I have been asked to help coach the 2012 Marine Corps Wounded Warriors swim camp and trials at Camp Pendleton in San Diego. I will be there for 10 days, the first and last are travel days. I've packed, repacked and packed again. All of the info has been read, reread and read again. I've also packed all the info I've read.

I will be staying on base, sleeping in the barracks and eating in the mess hall. This is very exciting to me to be able to see military operations up close and personal. Thankfully, I'm not actually enlisted so I don't have nearly as many rules and regulations ('regs') to follow. BUT, I do have breakfast at the crack of dawn - 6:00am - which I haven't done in almost two decades. No, eating Waffle House after a big night out doesn't count.

I hope to be able to keep up with this blog and post videos and pictures. This is my first foray into the blogosphere, so keep your fingers crossed!