Warrior Games Athletes Inspire

By BG Darryl Williams, WTC Commander

I’ve had a fantastic time at the Warrior Games. These Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and members of Special Ops inspire everyone at the Olympic Training Center. And they’re all full of pride too.

My favorite event so far was the wheelchair basketball prelim I watched tonight—probably because basketball’s my favorite sport. It’s incredible to watch these athletic men and women, and don’t think it’s a light game just because they’re in wheelchairs. The clock keeps going if they fall out of the chair, and the ref even called a technical foul because one team had too many players on the court. The Army won Wednesday, 49–12, and they’re ready to take on the Marines again in the next round.

And the whole Army team is like this. They’re focused on their abilities and demonstrating how much they can achieve. If they fall off the bike, they get right back up. If they stumble coming off the blocks, they just run faster and harder to make up for it. They don’t shy away from taking on a new sport—we’ve got Soldiers competing in swimming who just learned to swim. All of the Soldier athletes here this week recognize that their physical accomplishments are one part of their total recovery, and that they must bring the same level of discipline to the emotional, spiritual, Family, career, and social aspects of their lives.

Warrior Games demonstrates the resilience of every wounded, ill, and injured servicemember, and each athlete here is a champion, regardless of whether they win medals. I know they’ve inspired me, and they’ll continue to excel throughout the rest of the week.