Tag Archives: Warrior Games

What the Blind Can Do

Posted on August 7, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Army Capt. Ivan Castro, center, accepts the ceremonial torch from Air Force Capt. Tony Simone during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 1, 2012. Since his combat injury in 2006, Castro has sought to redefine the word “disability” as he completes one monumental feat after another while still serving on active duty in Special Operations. USO photo by Joseph Andrew Lee

If you have followed this blog since the start of the summer you have read some pretty remarkable stories of wounded veterans using adaptive sports to get their lives back.

You read about the story of Brad Snyder, the blind Navy Explosive Ordnance
officer who broke World Paralympics swimming records in London less than a
year after being hit by an Improvised Explosive Device in Afghanistan. You’ve read the inspiring story of Jim Castaneda, who, to his 10-year-old son, was “better than Superman” for having the courage to persevere in the face of adversity at the 2012 Warrior Games. And you read the recovery story of Christopher “Aggie” Aguilera and his co-pilot, Tony Simone—the only two survivors of a horrific helicopter crash just two years ago.

After hearing all those remarkable stories, however, I am still floored when I meet people like Army Capt. Ivan Castro. I caught up with him on the final leg of a 3,800 mile bicycle ride across the country, where he taught me what it is the blind can do.

He was extremely tan from the long ride and wearing sunglasses, I couldn’t tell at first that his entire right cheek was a prosthetic, that he is missing his right eye or that shrapnel had taken sight from his other eye. He was wearing long sleeves, so I couldn’t see the scars there either. I didn’t know that pieces of his arm and shoulder were gone. I did, however, notice the black steel bracelet around his wrist inscribed with the names of the two soldiers who lost their lives in the blast that nearly killed him.

He never takes that off.

A native of Hoboken, New Jersey, Castro has served in Special Operations since 1999, and still serves on active duty today. He’s fought in every climb and place from Bosnia to South America, Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2006, he was commanding a joint recon-scout sniper platoon from a rooftop in Youssifiyah, Iraq, when an 82mm mortar shell exploded five feet from his position. He was severely wounded and evacuated back to the States in critical condition. It took nearly 40 surgeries to repair his body, but his vision could not be restored.

Ivan Castro

“I had no clue what the blind could do,” said 44-year-old Castro. “As a service member you don’t think about these things. You train, deploy, and it’s like a black and white situation. Black, you come back in a body bag—white, you come back fine. We don’t think about that gray area … when you come back injured.”

For the past six years he has used adaptive sports to push the limits of his recovery. He has completed more than 30 tandem marathons, rode a tandem bicycle from San Francisco to Virginia Beach, and now has his sights set on hiking the Appalachian Trail.

“I’ve been blessed,” he said. “I have both legs, both arms, I can breathe and speak on my own, and I have a network of help from family, friends and the Special Operations community. Part of what has made my recovery so successful has been sports like cycling.”

After he was injured he couldn’t walk, so he had to start from scratch on a
mechanical bike. He graduated from recumbent cycle to upright bicycle to elliptical, spinning, then on to tandem cycling with a sighted partner—once a week, twice a week, and then three times a week.

“It’s fun, but not easy on the nerves,” said Castro. “When you’re on a bike and you’re blind, you are putting all of your faith and confidence in your pilot. It’s one thing when you’re walking around with a cane, or even running, but when you’re on a bicycle and you’re going 60 miles per hour down some hill somewhere in Colorado, anything can happen. It’s an incredible rush, feeling the inertia, but not being able to see what’s in your path can make it scary if you don’t trust your pilot.”

Castro rides tandem during the Sea to Shining Sea bike ride. S2SS photo by Mike Sanders

“Bill [his civilian pilot] had the patience, maturity and skill level to take me across the country,” said Castro. “That’s not something that was easy to find. If you talk to any cyclist they will tell you they would like to cycle across America, but very few have what it takes to do it. I’m very grateful to Bill and to World T.E.A.M. Sports for giving me the opportunity to do this.”

Undeterred by things most of us might consider “obstacles,” Castro is on a personal mission to redefine how we understand and perceive persons with disabilities.

Perhaps this is why he was the first blind service member asked to walk into Brad Snyder’s hospital room after he was hit by an Improvised Explosive Device last September. Perhaps this is why he was chosen to stand next to the First Lady and receive the torch from Tony Simone and Aggie during the opening ceremony at the 2012 Warrior Games.

“I don’t dwell on what I’ve lost,” he explained. “I just concern myself with positive people always and am grateful for what I have. It was a Marine who came into my hospital room and inspired me, just as I might have inspired Snyder. Civilians like Bill and the USO volunteers that have come along for this ride—they do their part to drive me. I’m not a one-man show, and I’m not special.”

“I depend—just like all of us do—on other people, and as long as I have my network of support, I know exactly what it is the blind can do,” he concluded. “Anything they want.” — By Joseph Andrew Lee, USO Staff Writer

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Blinded EOD Tech to Swim on U.S. Paralympic Team

Posted on June 18, 2012 by | 10 Comments

Blinded Navy Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officer Brad Snyder, right, is guided by his younger brother Mitchell as they race together to win the 1500 meter gold medal in track at the 2012 Warrior Games. Since his combat injury, Snyder has focused on track and swimming to bring new vision to his life. USO photo by Joseph Andrew Lee

U.S. Paralympian and wounded warrior Navy Lt. Brad Snyder can swim 100 meters in less than a minute.

That’s almost Michael Phelps-fast.

Even if the 28-year-old explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) officer still had his sight, a sub-sixty-second 100-meter time would be worthy of national praise. Without it, Snyder clocks in as one of the fastest visually impaired swimmers on the planet.

Over the weekend, he clinched his spot on the U.S. Paralympic swim team bound for London with a blockbuster race in another of his favorite events , the 400-meter freestyle.  Snyder took 54 seconds off his previous best time, finishing in 4:35:62.

It Happened So Recently

Just this past September, the former captain of his Naval Academy swim team was leading a patrol in Afghanistan on a life-saving mission to find and disarm improvised explosive devices (IED’s) placed by Taliban militants.

As Snyder’s team moved through farm land, a mine went off injuring two allied Afghan fighters at the front of their column. When Snyder rushed to their aid, he stepped on a second pressure plate, setting off another explosion. The initial shock wave knocked his goggles off, leaving his eyes exposed to the blinding flash of the blast.

He knew he was hurt pretty bad, but he still had some vision as he walked to the extraction helicopter. When he arrived at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center a few days later, however, he was told he would lose his sight forever.

A Brother’s Love

Snyder had no plans of playing the victim. Just weeks after he was released from the hospital he began running with his younger brother—connected by a short piece of rope and a lifetime of mutual respect.

“I’ve always looked up to him,” said 24-year-old Mitchell Snyder. “He’s my older brother and he’s always been such an inspiration to me growing up. He’s such a tireless worker.  There was no way I was going to let him sit around. That’s not who he is.”

The Snyder brothers ran together for weeks before Brad decided he wanted to get back in the pool “where he belonged.”

“The water is my home,” he said. “It’s my safe-haven. It’s a place where without my sight I still feel like I can be free to push myself physically, and it’s the only place where I don’t feel anxiety, like I’m about to run into something or hurt myself.”

New Vision

At the 2012 Warrior Games—an annual Paralympics competition held in Colorado Springs and sponsored by the USO—Snyder re-entered the world of competitive swimming for the first time since his injury.

“Here’s a guy with everything in the world going for him,” said Will Wilson, head coach of the Navy / Coast Guard Team. “A young lieutenant out there on the pointy end of the spear saving lives and he has a bad day—a bad day that robbed him of his sight. Fortunately it didn’t rob him of his soul, which has given him new vision toward competitive swimming and track.”

For Snyder, however, the way forward is sticking to the old vision he had when he mapped out his future.

“I want to do the same things I’ve always wanted to do,” he said. “I want a family, I want a graduate degree, and I want a house of my own. My goals are still the same.  I’m just a little more driven to accomplish them because I understand how easily situations can change.” -  Joseph Andrew Lee, USO Staff Writer

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Better than Superman

Posted on June 12, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Retired Navy Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Jim Castaneda in the cycling competition at the 2012 Warrior Games. Although his tire blew out, he continued to push to the finish line. USO photo by Joseph Andrew Lee

In Colorado Springs, an 11-year-old boy explains why he attended the 2012 Warrior Games.

“I came here to see my hero,” he said, chest puffed out. “Superman can dodge a bullet, but my dad can actually take one. He is better than Superman. He is a real hero.”

His father, 47-year-old retired Navy Petty Officer Jim Castaneda, may indeed be more powerful than a locomotive. The El Paso, Texas, native inspired everyone, including his son Jef, when he finished a 20 kilometer bicycle race with only one leg and one tire.

Wounded in combat three times, Castaneda survived multiple explosions that caused severe traumatic brain injury. In 2007, he survived a series of strokes that left him with significant paralysis. Today he can’t feel anything on the right side of his body.

Because of his injuries, he was racing a seated, recumbent bicycle, with his right arm and leg taped to the frame to keep them from getting injured. He would operate the cycle with one leg, one arm and one big superhero heart.

His wife and son cheered as he shot from the starting line—faster than a speeding bullet. It was the first time his family had ever seen Jim compete at the Warrior Games.

But it wasn’t long before Jim realized something was very wrong with his bike. After he rounded the first turn, an official approached on a motorcycle and pointed out that his left tire had gone completely flat.

“A lesser guy would have quit,” said his coach, retired Navy Master Chief Will Wilson. “But Jim doesn’t know the meaning of the word.”

Castaneda waived off the official and put his cycle into the lowest gear possible. Each revolution took everything out of his left thigh. Each hill proved more and more difficult to crest. When his leg finally began to tremble, more officials rode up on motorcycles. They asked twice more if he would like to stop, and twice more he waived them off.

“I swear—at times, I wanted to quit,” said Castaneda. “I’ll be honest I wanted to quit. But every time I felt the urge, I thought of my teammates and I thought about my son. I wanted to prove to my son that we always finish what we start. We never quit.”

As he rounded the final turn, Castaneda was nearly unconscious—blacking out from exhaustion. His teammates ran onto the track cheering as they jogged beside him for the final 500 meters of the race. It seemed to take every bit of his superhero strength, but Castaneda felt he couldn’t stop until he made it across the finish line where his loving wife and admiring son were waiting.

“I didn’t have a choice,” said Castaneda. “This was bigger than me. If I was to quit, then it would be OK for anyone—my son, the Navy, America—to quit. But it’s not OK. We do not quit.”

As he crossed the finish line the entire Warrior Games audience erupted in applause. The other competitors made their way to the finish line to shake the hand of this incredibly courageous athlete.

“He may not have feeling in much of his body,” said Wilson, “but I know where he does have feeling—that’s in his heart. He’s got the heart of a hero, and we all felt it beat that day.” – Joseph Andrew Lee, USO Staff Writer

This Father’s Day, salute the superhero dad in your life while supporting the troops with a gift from the USO Father’s Day Wishbook.

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The Warrior Games Experience

Posted on May 17, 2012 by | 1 Comment

The 2012 Olympic Games are just months away.  Olympic hopefuls and returning medalists are beginning to appear in advertisements, television talk shows and on billboards across the country.  Their stories of triumph and dedication to the sport is what makes the games so inspiring.  This year USO employees Andrea & Sharee had the opportunity to attend the Warrior Games – an Olympic-style competition that celebrates the achievements and abilities of wounded, ill and injured service members through athletic competition.  Although these games may not be as widely known and recognized by the world, the athletes and the competitions are just as fierce.

Andrea and Sharee at the 2012 Warrior Games

This was Andrea’s first Warrior Games, and for her colleague Sharee Posey, her third.  With all the talk about London, they sat down to reflect on our own Olympic encounter and how the athletes, families and volunteers of the 2012 Warrior Games inspired them.

Andrea:
Sharee, what was your biggest take-away from the Warrior Games?

Sharee:
The fierce competitiveness that lives within these athletes is just one layer of what the Games are all about.  It’s more than the stadiums filled with chants of “Lets Go Army…lets go!” or the “Hoorahs!” of the Marines, it’s about warriors healing together.  Don’t get me wrong, the rivalries are intense but they will never outweigh the brotherhood and sisterhood these men and women share.  It is witnessed every year at the Games, when a Soldier stops in the middle of a race, giving up his chances of taking top spot, to encourage, and sometimes push, along a fellow competitor.  While winning is the goal, the military creed of never leave a man behind still applies.

My first experience with this was at the inaugural games, when Army athlete and cyclist Jonathon Hosley and Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Will Wilson both literally and figuratively pushed Sgt. Monica Southall to the finish line, neither racer finished in time to claim a medal but crossing the finish line, together, was reward enough for all three.  Later, I had the opportunity to speak with Hosley and asked him about giving up his chance of winning the race and he said, “If we had left her behind then none of us would have won.” It is that very spirit that drives these warriors to complete their mission, whatever it maybe.

Andrea:
That is so true!  I have been to so many athletic competitions where you could cut the tension with a knife- but with these rivals, the camaraderie and support for their competitors was amazing! Although we heard the frequent “Let’s go Army” or the intense Navy chants during swimming, at the end of the day, we always heard a “Go USA!”

Sharee:
And that truly is the heart of these games, support.  Whether it’s the challenger who gives up his chances of winning to help a fellow athlete cross the finish line, the spouse or caretaker who takes on the added challenges of training, the volunteer who spends the day passing out water and snacks, or organizations like the USO who partner with the U.S. Olympic Committee to sponsor the games, we are all there for one common goal, to support these amazing men and women and their families through their recovery.

Andrea:
And their amazing stories of triumph…these athletes have overcome visible or invisible wounds to not only survive, but thrive.  Their energy, enthusiasm and love for the sport is contagious!  I remember when we were at the gold medal game of wheelchair basketball.  It was Army versus the Marines and I didn’t have a favorite, but I found myself on the edge of my chair for every play!  The Army took home the gold that night, but you wouldn’t know it talking to any of the Marines, they were just as excited to be center court receiving their silver medals.

Sharee:
We did meet so many amazing people.  During the archery competition I spoke with a young Sailor who had been injured in Norfolk, Va., and suffers from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). When I asked about the incident that caused his injuries he told me he doesn’t talk about it because talking about it makes him remember it more. And when I asked him his name he smiled at me and said, “Crash, that’s what everyone calls me now.”

Crash had just competed and while he wouldn’t talk about how he sustained his injuries, he was more than happy to talk about his love of archery, a sport he never played until he began training for the 2012 Warrior Games.

Archery is a release for him, it was something he can do to take his mind of his injuries, and he loves to compete and to be part of a team.

Andrea:
I hope we see Crash at next year’s games.  I look forward to returning in 2013 and cheering on these healing heroes.

Sharee:
Me too.  The games are a truly inspiring and unique experience and the athletes continue to amaze me year after year.

To see more photos from the 2012 Warrior Games check out this slideshow by the USO:

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And a Rivalry is Born

Posted on May 4, 2012 by | Leave a comment

“A-R-M-Y might stand for Aren’t Ready to beat the Marines Yet,” explained an anonymous Team Marine fan at the 2012 Warrior Games in Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

After a narrow Marine victory over Army in the first seated volleyball match, Marine Corps pride filled the room from wall to wall.

We all know about the rivalry between the two services, but the fan-induced Red vs. Black inferno that lit up the opening match was white hot.

The gym was packed with what seemed to be every fan and family member at the Games. Hundreds of red and black t-shirts filled the bleachers from wall to wall—sharply separated, of course—to witness what was both a first day rematch from the previous year and a tiebreaker to settle a medal stalemate from earlier in the day.

Team Army and Team Marine left the windy cycling course tied with six medals each. Day one bragging rights would surely go to the winner of this volleyball match.

Led by flag-waving, face-painted motivators, each team’s fans erupted in waves of grunts and cheers to egg on their side.  When the Marine crowd would chant, “U-S-M-C,” Army fans would interrupt after “U-S-“ and overpower with, “ARMY!”

By the end of the match, the rivalry had escalated to the point that each team was attempting to encroach into the other’s section with their flag.  After a grueling battle, perhaps one of the closest in Warrior Games volleyball history, the Marines came out on top.

“It was a nail-biter, especially there at the end,” said Army Col. Gregory D. Gadson, Director of the U.S. Army Wounded Warrior Program (AW2), who sat front-and-center to lead the Army cheering section. “I was sure we would beat the Marines on day one, but this thing is far from over.”

Each team competes for three nights before playing for medals. The gold/silver medal game is scheduled for Friday night, May 4.

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For more information, medal updates and stories about some of the athletes competing in this year’s games, follow Warrior Games and the USO on Facebook. And see more images on our Warrior Games Flickr set. - Joseph Andrew Lee, USO Staff Writer

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Warrior Spirit Revealed on First Day of Games

Posted on May 3, 2012 by | 4 Comments

Despite his tire blowing out, Retired Navy Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Jim Castaneda pushed his way to the finish line

The Warrior Games kicked off Tuesday with five cycling events here at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Both the Army and Marine teams finished with six medals. Army with two gold, one silver and three bronze, and the Marines with two gold, three silver and one bronze.

But the day was clearly not about medals. It was about teamwork and the warrior spirit, prominently demonstrated by the sea services after a couple of their athletes encountered mechanical woes.

After the first run of the course, Retired Navy Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Jim Castaneda had his left tire blow out on his recumbent bicycle.

With miles left to go, Castaneda kept on pedaling and pushed to the finish line, with his coach and teammates cheering him on.  He could have stopped when the tire blew, but says he wanted to show his son, “We don’t quit.”

For his determination to succeed, Castaneda was selected as “Athlete of the Day” by the U.S. Paralympics Committee and is profiled on their website.

Earlier, a cable snapped on another athlete’s bike, and the Navy/Coast Guard team couldn’t fix it.

“We didn’t have the parts, we didn’t have a cable, and we didn’t have a mechanic there,” said Master Chief Will Wilson, the team’s cycling coach.  “So we rolled down to the Marine Corps cadre and without hesitation they jumped on it, got the parts, fixed the bike and got the kid in the race.”

“That says it all,” said Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Michael Barrett to the Commandant of the Marine Corps after hearing what happened. “We’re doing it right.”

“Those [medals] you see hanging from the table over there, that’s not Warrior Games,” said Wilson. “What just happened down there, fixing that bike—that’s Warrior Games.”

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- Joseph Andrew Lee, USO Staff Writer

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