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Wounded Warrior Project~Soldier Ride
July 24-26, New York City and Long Island
Go out and show your support!!!
Schedule of Events: Pre ride event at Bar 9 in Manhattan on Wednesday, July 23 at 8 pm.
Day 1, Thursday, July 24: The Wounded Soldiers will cycle in Manhattan. The soldiers will start at Fox Studios, complete the Central Park loop, ride down the Hudson River Park bike path trail on the West Side, stop at AIG and BCG for lunch, then head to the South Street Seaport, cross the Brooklyn Bridge and end in Bensonhurst.
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ny/new-york/1065416065
Later the soldiers will be guests of honor at a fundraiser dinner at the Airpower Museum in Farmingdale.
Day 2, Friday, July 25: Ride starts at 9am at the Babylon Town hall with Miss USO and the 77th RRC Army Band. Residents wishing to show their support of these brave men and women can assemble at Marjorie R. Post Community Park at approximately 10:00 a.m., with the Bike ride expected to pass along Merrick Road sometime between 10:15 a.m. and 10:45 a.m heading to the Wantagh State Pkwy south to Jones Beach and then ending at Cedar Beach Town Park on Ocean Pkwy. Riding is by invitation only but come out and cheer on the Wounded Warriors. Event route That night the riders will be treated to a dinner in Ocean Beach on Fire Island.
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Day 3, Saturday, July 26: The Soldiers will be the guests of honor at the Inaugural Soldier Ride Empire State Challenge Metric Century Bike Ride in East Hampton/Montauk. The Empire State Challenge is dedicated to the memory of USMC LCpl Jordan Haerter of Sag Harbor. For more information and to register please see www.empirestatechallenge.org. After the ride come to the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett to meet the riders.
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The Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride is a rehabilitative cycling program for wounded warriors. For many of these combat-wounded veterans, Soldier Ride provides the first steps in the return to an active lifestyle. Many of these men and women have been physically active throughout their lives. Soldier Ride offers these brave individuals the chance to get on a bike and prove to themselves, "I can still do this." Soldier Ride is not about politics; it's not about the war. It's simply about the soldiers. |
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Soldier Ride History | ||
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· In 2004, Chris Carney from Long Island, New York, completed a coast-to-coast (Montauk Point to California) bicycle ride in support of the Wounded Warrior Project. This was the first of what would become an annual event, Soldier Ride. · In 2005, Chris again conducted a coast-to coast-ride, this time with Staff Sergeants Heath Calhoun and Ryan Kelley, as well as other combat-wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. · In 2006, Soldier Ride made a third trip across the country, with Sergeant Drew Biddle, Staff Sergeant Yegor Bondarenko, and many more combat-wounded veterans. · In 2007, Soldier Ride switched to a regional ride format with seven regional rides across the country. This provided the opportunity for increased local participation and support. Soldier Ride also added registered fundraiser rides to the schedule, allowing the general public to ride along with the wounded soldiers and help raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project.
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VICENZA, Italy -- July has been a month of homecomings for Soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team as they return here from a 15-month deployment in Afghanistan.
Spc. Jesse A. Murphree of Destined Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), reversed that Afghanistan to Italy airflow July 22 when he traveled from the United States to rejoin his unit as they arrived at Aviano Air Base, Italy.
The "Rock Battalion" infantryman was among the first to greet the approximately 400 Soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 173rd ABCT and the 503rd's 1st and 2nd Battalions, on the air base flight line.
He shook their hands while standing on two artificial legs, steadying himself with a cane.
Murphree, 22, served as a gunner on an up-armored Humvee. His platoon was overwatching another platoon during a mounted patrol in the Korengal Valley, near Ali Abad, Afghanistan, two days after Christmas 2007. As his convoy was preparing to move, his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device.
Murphree said he has few memories of the explosion. He lost his legs below his knees and suffered minor burns in the incident. Two other Soldiers were also injured in the attack.
Medically evacuated from Afghanistan, he arrived at Walter Reed Army Medical Center Dec. 30.
"I was hit on the 27th and woke up in Walter Reed on New Year's Day," he said as he awaited the first of two aircraft bringing his comrades home.
Murphree arrived in Italy July 20 and said he plans to stay until the first week of August to welcome the remaining 173rd Soldiers. Upon arrival at Caserma Ederle in Vicenza, he was greeted by other Destined Company Soldiers, including his former platoon and section sergeants and two other Soldiers who were wounded in earlier incidents.
"I was looking forward to that feeling you get when you see everyone all happy because they just got done with a deployment. I came back for that feeling," he said. "I've always been thinking about what is going on and worrying. I definitely miss being around all of the guys."
He is staying in the Caserma Ederle Warrior Transition Unit quarters.
"It is pretty hooked up," Murphree said of his lodging at the WTU. "They are accessible; there are ramps and a shower that works for me."
Murphree says this is the longest trip he has taken since arriving at Walter Reed. He has made three other three-day trips in that time -- to his hometown in Colorado, a Texas fishing trip hosted by the 173d Airborne Brigade Association, and a Memorial Day celebration in Pennsylvania.
He said he continues his routine of frequent stretching exercises and walking on his prosthetic legs here, adding that his two-week stay in Italy does not interfere with his treatment. In fact he says it's a plus.
"This is actually better for me," Murphree explained. "That's pretty much what I am doing here. I am walking around a lot. Being on my legs is doing more than therapy would do."
"I'm well past the critical stage of therapy," he said. "You have to keep your core strength up. You have to build tolerance and confidence in your legs."
The reunion night's agenda included going into town with friends and around the Vicenza military community, he said. "We'll have some drinks and stuff, go hang out and have a good time."
Later plans include returning to Vicenza in September for the 173rd's formal welcome-home ceremony and celebration, he said.
Murphree, who is still on active duty, said he will continue his treatment at Walter Reed while undergoing the Medical Evaluation Board process. He expects to be medically retired from the Army in February 2009.
"You can never predict how long you are going to be there, because there are always bumps in the road," he said.
He said he is considering attending college and studying counterterrorism, English or public speaking, and possibly psychology. Plans also include taking up competitive mono-skiing, a sport that resembles snowboarding.
Murphree's return to Italy, where he spent his first and only Army assignment, is an inspiration and strength for all 173rd ABCT Soldiers and the Vicenza military community, said Capt. Matthew J. Heimerle, the 2-503rd rear detachment commander.
"To see him in person lifts everybody's spirit," he said. "Murphree will never quit on his ambitions and goals and will forever be a source of inspiration for the Soldiers of the Battalion."
Heimerle said there were no difficulties in arranging for Murphree's reunion. Community and battalion leaders cleared the visit with doctors at Walter Reed and ensured there was a place for him to stay in the community and that his medical needs were met.
"This has been an extremely tough deployment for all in this battalion," Heimerle said. "Every one of us has lost close, close friends, and to see someone like Murphree get hurt the way he did and recover the way he has, and will continue to do, gives everyone a huge morale boost."
"To me his attitude, motivation, and character epitomize the young Soldiers that are in today's Army and it also reflects our core Army values," he said. "Guys like Murphree are the ones that should be talked about in the news."
"It was good to see that he is alright," said Sgt. Nathan Thomas, the emergency medical technician who treated Murphree in the Korengal Valley.
It's also good for Murphree to see his friends, Thomas added. "He has been in Walter Reed for so long," the medic said.
The entire Destined Company -- especially his friends -- are boosting Murphree's morale, Thomas said.
"I'm not helping him. We are helping him," Thomas said. "This is our little band of brothers sticking together."
Scout team members Spc. Mitchell Raeon and Spc. Jay Liske, who witnessed the explosion, said they plan to get together with Murphree during his visit.
"He looked good," Raeon said. "We have not seen him in about 10 months, so we did not know what to expect."
"I can't wait to drink a beer with him tonight," added Liske.
"It's been incredible to see my buddies come back. It is one of the feelings I've been waiting for," Murphree said as 18 busloads of Soldiers pulled away from the flight line for the two-hour ride from Aviano to Vicenza. "You sit there at the hospital and you think constantly about your guys and what is going on. And when you finally get to see them and you know that they are OK, it is definitely awesome."
Posted By Driven
To all those who asked, yes my friend was one of the 2/503 guys. None of what I'm about to pass on is classified but its info civilian channels sometimes get wrong. The American FOB (forward operating base) was not over run, the attack was repelled. The enemy raiders out numbered our guys 2 to 1. Nine American soldiers died for their country, over 100 enemy died for theirs (their country, beliefs, cause they were bored, whatever).
You can look at this two ways, being sad and depressed, or realizing that out numbered 2 to 1, our guys still kicked some *** **** terrorist ass.
Let us not remeber how they died, let us remember how they lived. On my last deployment one of my very dear friends was killed from my platoon. It was the most vivid horrible day of my life, but when someone mentions my friend that's not what I remember. I remember the good times, the shared hardships, the laughs. We remember our fallen comrades by the lessons they taught us, the smiles we shared and the brotherhood we formed, not the sadness and grief of the end. When soldiers mourn, we crack open a bottle of the Fallen's favorite beer and sit around telling stories about him. I can think of no better way to be remembered.
So over a shot of cheapest tequilla, no salt, no chaser, I offer a toast. "For God? For Country? For the Hell of it!"
Dewhirst was deployed to Afghanistan this spring with the 101st Airborne Division of Fort Campbell, Ky.
He is the seventh service member from Wisconsin to die in Afghanistan; 89 have died in Iraq.
Dewhirst is survived by parents Randy and Susan Dewhirst of Onalaska. A family friend said Monday they had no comment.
An Eagle Scout, Dewhirst was a 2001 graduate of Onalaska High School, where he was a member of the National Honor Society.
“He was an excellent leader,” said Jill Lyche Kulig, who was on the Onalaska student council with Dewhirst. “He cared about everyone.”
Tracy Miller, a childhood friend and neighbor, said Dewhirst liked being outdoors and was good-natured as a boy.
“He was always fun to be around,” she said. “He always had a smile on his face.”
After a year at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., Dewhirst received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and was commissioned in 2006. His military awards included the National Defense Service Medal and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
The Army will hold a memorial service in Afghanistan.
| Task Force Eagle officially heads home |  |
| Written by Sgt. 1st Class Jacob Caldwell 173rd ABCT Public Affairs Office | |
| Tuesday, 22 July 2008 | |
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Task Force Eagle was comprised of five companies from the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne) and Alpha Troop from 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment (Airborne). Lt. Col. Michael Fenzel commanded the task force during their 15-month deployment to Paktika province where they worked closely with the provincial government and the Afghan National Security Forces. “Both the American and Afghan Soldiers fought bravely against the insurgents, side-by-side,” said Fenzel. The cost to both TF Eagle and Afghan forces was high. “Sixty-one Afghan Soldiers, police and security guards, and 14 American Soldiers were killed in action,” said Fenzel. “Above all, it’s the sacrifices of our brothers that have strengthened our resolve over these many months and throughout the operation. Success in our continued mission will be your legacy.” Lt. Col. John Allred, commander of 2nd Battalion (Air Assault), 506th Infantry Regiment and TF White Currahee was thankful for the efforts made by TF Eagle for a smooth transition of authority, he said. “The 1-503rd has given us everything they could in terms of preparing us for this fight,” said Allred during the ceremony. “In our future endeavours, we will attempt to emulate the 1-503rd in terms of their good works, their bravery, and their partnership with the people, the government and the security forces of Afghanistan.” Prior to the transfer-of-authority ceremony, the 2-506th was based at Kandahar Air Field for nearly four months as the International Security Assistance Force theater tactical force. |
The Town of Babylon has partnered with the Wounded Warrior Project to host part of the Empire State Challenge, a cycling event for severely injured servicemen and women.
Come to Town Hall on Friday, July 25 at 9:00 a.m. for the kickoff event, as we pay tribute to wounded soldiers and cheer them on as they begin their cycle tour to Cedar Beach.
For more information on this event, please call Councilwoman Jacqueline Gordon's office at (631) 957-3127.
Weekend Warrior for Wounded Soldiers
By Molly Josephs The East Hampton Star
Mr. Cornelia sits on a bench outside the club, behind a table covered in pamphlets and merchandise near the door where the drinkers, dancers, and rock ’n’ rollers wait to enter. He is there to spread the word about and collect donations for the Wounded Warrior Project and Soldier Ride, a rehabilitative cycling program conceived at the bar at the Talkhouse.
Wounded Warrior organizes the rehabilitative Soldier Ride bike treks throughout the country to help soldiers wounded in combat reclaim an active lifestyle. Next week, the Empire State Challenge will take riders — veterans, as well as friends, family, and other supporters — from Manhattan to Montauk; the third leg starts and finishes on Saturday, July 26, at the East Hampton American Legion Post in Amagansett. The Empire State Challenge is being held in memory of Jordan C. Haerter of Sag Harbor, a lance corporal in the Marines who was killed in Iraq in April.
Mr. Cornelia will accompany the cyclists in a van. At the end of the day he will return to the spot he occupies almost every weekend night: the bench in front of the Talkhouse.
From before sunset until 11 at night, Mr. Cornelia sits behind his table, informing people and raising money. When he is not expressing admiration for the men and women he seeks to help, Mr. Cornelia shares snarky jokes with Tek, Nick, Johnny, Phil, and the other members of the Talkhouse gang.
Tek Vakaloloma, a native of New Zealand now living in East Hampton, drove cross-country in 2004 with Chris Carney, the founder of Soldier Ride. Despite his rugby-playing toughness and the intimidating impression given by his big size, Mr. Vakaloloma, a Talkhouse bouncer, is full of compassion for the wounded veterans. “It’s a humane thing to help a fellow human being out,” he said. “It’s not about me being from New Zealand, it’s about helping these kids.”
The Wounded Warrior Project is apolitical, uniting everyone who wants to help returning soldiers, according to Mr. Cornelia (who ran unsuccessfully last year on the Republican ticket to become an East Hampton Town trustee and who has served on the Springs School Board). Conservatives, liberals, celebrities, and children have participated in road events; audience members heading into the club for a night of music are unexpectedly inspired to help.
Just before an opening act takes the Talkhouse stage, Mr. Cornelia stands before the microphone and introduces a short, inspirational film. Phil Vega, the bandanna-wearing bartender, turns on the projector. The background music begins. Interviews with veterans are interspliced with words from celebrity supporters. To the background beat of U2’s “Beautiful Day,” the camera catches the famous long-distance bike rides of Chris Carney and his veteran friends, many of whom lost limbs at war in Afghanistan or Iraq.
Although he is not featured in the film, Mr. Cornelia has played a big role in the history of the Wounded Warrior Project. His involvement began before the 2005 ride, when Peter Honerkamp, a Talkhouse owner and good friend, became anxious that the group would not be able to find a driver for the van and U-Haul that trailed riders. Mr. Cornelia volunteered and was soon on the road, traveling cross-country for three months with Mr. Carney, Sgt. Ryan Kelly, and Sgt. Heath Calhoun.
Mr. Cornelia thinks the world of the Soldier Ride.
“It’s been the greatest thing that I’ve done,” he said. “It has meant almost more to me than anything in my life.”
He loves to reminisce about the people they met and the hospitality they found as they made their way across the country. In Kansas, they “could not pay for a thing,” and went to a baseball game for free. Another time, he said, smiling at the memory, “Cops pulled us over. We thought they were going to give us a ticket. They gave us a check for two grand.”
Although he is not in Kansas anymore, Reg Cornelia has not lost his drive to help the soldiers. A Vietnam War veteran himself, Mr. Cornelia said, he wants to “see these guys get treated better than we did.”
Despite the long hours he puts into the cause, Mr. Cornelia does not think of it as a sacrifice. “The dirty little secret of it is we get more out of it than [the soldiers] do,” he said. He added that he believed Don Sharkey, the East Hampton building inspector, summed it up when he said it “was a life-changing experience.”
Despite his self-acknowledged ability to “regularly piss people off,” Mr. Cornelia said, the Talkhouse crew keeps him around.
Mr. Honerkamp, he said, had once told him, “The bottom line is, the soldiers love you.”
“I love these guys so much and I respect their dedication and attitudes,” Mr. Cornelia said. “If that’s true, I can’t think of a higher compliment.”
Updated 7/20/08-Successful Fundraiser! read the full article here
At the beer garden behind the Plattdeutsche Park Restaurant in Franklin Square, family, friends and total strangers greeted Christopher Levi, the once gravely wounded Army corporal who returned to Long Island Saturday for a fundraiser in his honor.
"Is everyone having a good time?" asked Levi, who arrived in a wheelchair pushed by his sister, Kim, his left arm raised triumphantly.
"I served proudly, and I wish I could go back," Levi said, as he was showered with applause by more than 250 people when he arrived shortly before 7 p.m.
Family members said the fundraiser appeared to be hugely successful. One organization, Building Homes for Heroes, presented Levi with a check for $50,000.
Mike Breitweg, 32, of Lindenhurst, who owns a Deer Park cabinetry business and who heard of Levi's plight Saturday morning, said he decided to bring his daughter, Melissa, 12, to impress upon her the value of giving to others.
"That's what I try to explain to her, that she can go to the mall because of people like him," said Breitweg, who offered to donate and install a bathroom vanity as part of the renovation of the Levi home.
Newsday-Long Island NY
(go to www.newsday.com to view the video of Cpl Levi recovering at WRAMC)
Fundraiser (Sat 7/19/08) will aid Holbrook soldier injured in Iraq
BY MARTIN C. EVANS
July 18, 2008
U.S. Army Cpl. Christopher Levi leaned forward from his wheelchair, gripped the handles of a geriatric walker and, with all his upper body strength, hoisted himself to his feet.
In a rehab center at the Military Advanced Treatment Center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Levi, 25, balanced himself unsteadily on two titanium legs. Then, slowly, he took a few tentative steps toward regaining his ability to walk.His slow pace -- it took him 10 minutes to walk a halting 220 feet -- is part of a much larger journey Levi will take over the coming months that he hopes will help him reclaim his life.
The journey to Walter Reed began just before 1 p.m. on March 17, in the Sadr City section of Baghdad.
Levi's unit, a U.S. Army intelligence group, had picked up an Iraqi suspect for questioning several days earlier. That afternoon, Levi was with a group of soldiers who were to return the man to his home. Levi, whose family back in Holbrook worried endlessly about his safety, was in the middle vehicle -- an armored Humvee -- in a five-vehicle convoy.
At the wheel was his friend and squad leader, Sgt. Norman Forbes IV, of Grapevine, Texas.
They set off shortly after noon, riding through city streets that were frequent sites for attack.
"We had to pass through a choke point," Forbes recalled. "The first two trucks went though, and I hit the gas. Anytime you approach a choke point, you kind of say 'don't blow up, don't blow up.' But this time, it blew up."
Since arriving at Walter Reed last March, Levi has set his mind to one task: getting back on his feet. He is among an estimated 802 soldiers who, as of early July, have lost limbs in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While he undergoes months of rehab, his family in Holbrook will soon begin remodeling their home so that Levi can live comfortably in it. Tomorrow, the family will hold a fundraiser in Franklin Square, their first step in raising enough money to begin the work.
Even as his family meets with contractors, Levi has worked hard to get used to his two new legs. On the recent afternoon when he walked 220 feet down a hallway, he moved with slow, deliberate, heel-to-toe strides -- occasionally reminding himself to watch his posture so that his hips and abdominals would do the work, not his arms.
Though Levi has the strong physique of an Army Ranger, he was soon so exhausted he needed a towel to wipe off the sweat.
"It's hard to get used to it at first, but once you get the rhythm down and focus on the muscle groups you need, it becomes easier," he said, as more than a dozen other amputees grunted, panted, stretched or strode during rehab exercises of their own.
That afternoon in Sadr City, a bomb known as a shaped charge device hidden in the street sent a jet of molten metal hurtling through the armor of the soldiers' Humvee. The force shattered Forbes' left arm and his left hand, and broke his left femur, destroying the muscle of his thigh. Forbes is today a patient at a medical center in Texas.
Levi was riding to the right of Forbes. The blast cut through both of his legs at mid-thigh, hurling his limbs to the other side of the Humvee. The blast tore away part of his right palm, taking most of the fifth metacarpal bone with it.
"Forbes," Levi shouted, "I don't have any legs!"
At that moment, luck and modern military field medicine adapted to the insurgent war in Iraq came to Levi's aid. The machine gunner, Aaron Copeland, whose 50-caliber weapon had been bent in two by the blast, pressed his knee into Levi's crotch, squeezing shut two major arteries that feed blood to Levi's legs and preventing him from quickly bleeding to death. Copeland almost certainly saved Levi's life.
With minutes, Levi was evacuated to a military base that, fortunately, was close by. Within hours of the blast, and now stabilized, Levi was placed aboard a plane bound for emergency surgery at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. From there, Levi was shipped to Walter Reed.
There are more than 31,000 wounded veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Funerals and memorials nationwide have focused attention on the 4,651 Americans who, as of yesterday, have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. In contrast, the wounded have largely returned home in relative obscurity, often to face months of hospitalization, years of rehab and lifelong disability because of severed limbs, brain injuries, severe burns, blindness or other battle-related wounds.
For the next year or more, Levi is expected to remain at Walter Reed. He will learn how to balance on artificial limbs and learn to cope with the aftermath of an attack that so changed his life. Many wounded soldiers fight phantom pain in lost limbs as well as depression over their altered bodies. Often they battle sadness that they will not be allowed to return to active duty with their military buddies.
Levi is a confident and upbeat young man who moves about the Walter Reed campus in a motorized wheelchair. With gusto he throws himself into his daily physical therapy. After walking one and a half times around a 220-foot loop, Levi removed his artificial legs, climbed to the edge of a bed-like therapy platform and began doing legless sit-ups. The exercise strengthens the abdominal muscles, which must do much of the work his thigh muscles once did.
He recently developed an aggressive infection in his injured hand, which threatened the health of a bone graft there. Because of the injury, he is not expected to travel to Long Island for tomorrow's fundraiser.
In addition, a blister developed where his right leg meets the plastic prosthetic socket. That threatened to throw off his balance, which could lead to falls.
"He works very hard," said his physical therapist at Walter Reed, Bunnie Brower Wyckoff, a 1968 graduate of Hicksville High School. "He's had a lot of setbacks, but he rallies every time."
Levy's parents, Eric and Debbie, are planning to expand and renovate the bottom floor of their Holbrook split level to accommodate their son. Hallways will be widened, light switches will be lowered and power outlets raised to make them accessible to a wheelchair user. A bathroom will be fitted with a shower bench, and the sink will need to be low enough to be used from a sitting position. The house will have a separate entrance that will allow Levi to access his new apartment without having to walk from the driveway in icy weather.
The family hopes the fundraiser will help defray the expected $100,000 cost of the renovation, which is set to begin in a few weeks. The fundraiser will be held Saturday at 5 p.m., at the Plattduetsche Park Restaurant on Hempstead Avenue in Franklin Square.
Members of the Holbrook Fire Department and the Suffolk County Court Officers Association have offered to donate labor and materials. A Bay Shore architect drew the plans on his own time. A roofer has promised to donate labor and materials.
"There are a lot of people behind me," Levi said, as he confidently went back to his exercise routine.
Both parents said their son is excited about the fundraiser. "We feel thankful to God and our country that he is with us," said Eric Levi. "We see the light at the end of the tunnel. He is going to do good things in his lifetime."
The fundraiser
Where: Plattduetsche Park Restaurant, 1132 Hempstead Tpke., Franklin Square; 516-354-3131
When: 5 p.m.
Cost: $10 @ door
Live music, drinks, raffles, other fundraising chances
Donate: Christopher Levi, c/o Holbrook Fire Department, 390 Terry Blvd., Holbrook, NY 11741
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
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