World’s Largest Annual Sporting Event for Senior Veterans Begins
22nd Year of VA-Sponsored Sporting Competition

WASHINGTON (Aug. 19, 2008) – More than 700 veterans from across the country have traveled to Indianapolis to compete in the largest sports and recreational competition for senior veterans in the world – the 22nd National Veterans Golden Age Games -- which begins Aug. 20.

"The record number of veterans competing in this year‘s Golden Age Games in Indianapolis is a testament to the competitive spirit of our nation’s heroes,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake.  "There is no barrier, including age, to living an active and healthy life.”

At the Golden Age Games, which runs Aug. 20-24, competition is open to all U.S. military veterans age 55 or older who receive care at any Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facility.  Participants have the opportunity to compete in ambulatory, visually-impaired and wheelchair divisions, based on age groups.  Events include swimming, bicycling, bowling, croquet, air rifle, golf, shuffleboard, horseshoes, discus and shot-put, among others.

U.S. Military athletes Go Off to Compete in the Olympics

At least 15 military athletes are currently in Beijing to compete on behalf the United States in this year’s Summer Olympics.

The Olympics started this week and will run for 2 weeks. The events that our military athletes are competing in include Greco Roman wrestling, shooting, fencing, the pentathlon and race walking.

Here's a list of the athletes and their events:

HAVE YOU HEARD?

Aug 20 - 24 Sporting Event for Senior Veterans

Some 600 “golden age” veterans from across the country meet in Indianapolis to compete in the largest sports and recreational competition for senior veterans August 20-24. It’s the 22nd National Veterans Golden Age Games, co-sponsored by VA, Help Hospitalized Veterans (HHV) and the Veterans Canteen Service (VCS) and hosted by the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical.

Golden Age Games competitions are open to all U.S. military veterans age 55 or older who receive care at a VA medical facility. The games offer competition in ambulatory, visually-impaired and wheelchair divisions, according to age.

Veterans Prepare for Largest Annual Wheelchair Sports Event

WASHINGTON – The 28th National Veterans Wheelchair Games, scheduled to take place July 25–29 in Omaha, Neb., will attract more than 500 veterans with disabilities.  It has become the largest annual wheelchair sports competition in the world.  Veterans from conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq will again join their fellow veterans in 17 competitive events.

“We are proud to present this outstanding rehabilitation event, a therapeutic extension of the superior heath care veterans receive in our medical centers each day,” said Dr. James B. Peake, Secretary of Veterans Affairs.  “Rehabilitation is crucial to living a full life following an injury.  I applaud all of the veterans participating as they strive to achieve their goals during this week of athletic competition.”

The National Veterans Wheelchair Games, co-presented by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Paralyzed Veterans of America, are open to all U.S. military veterans who use wheelchairs for sports competition due to spinal cord injuries, certain neurological conditions, amputations or other mobility impairments.

Yankees' broadcaster Murcer dead at age 62
Former All-Star outfielder loses 19-month battle with brain cancer

NEW YORK - Bobby Murcer succeeded Mickey Mantle, played in pinstripes with Don Mattingly and watched proudly from the broadcast booth when the New York Yankees returned to power.

A cherished link from former Yankees greats to the club’s current stars, Murcer died Saturday due to complications from a malignant brain tumor, the team said. He was 62.

In his final moments, Murcer was surrounded by family at Mercy Hospital in his hometown of Oklahoma City, the Yankees said. A five-time All-Star outfielder, he spent nearly four decades with New York as a player, executive and announcer.

“Bobby Murcer was a born Yankee, a great guy, very well-liked and a true friend of mine,” owner George Steinbrenner said. “I extend my deepest sympathies to his wife Kay, their children and grandchildren. I will really miss the guy.”

Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon Tests Disabled Veterans' Mettle
by Peter Fimrite, San Francisco Chronicle

Left, Derek McGinnis heads toward the bay at Aquatic Park in San Francisco as he trains for the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon. Chronicle photo by Paul Chinn  

Derek McGinnis doesn't scare easily, but nobody can blame him for being a little nervous Sunday when he lines up for the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon.

The 30-year-old Iraq war veteran will be at a slight disadvantage, having lost a leg and suffered a severe head injury in a suicide car bomb attack in Fallujah four years ago.

McGinnis, nevertheless, will plunge into the frigid waters off the infamous rock and thrash his way 1.5 miles through choppy seas to the Marina Green. After his racing partner covers the cycling portion of the race, McGinnis will put on his prosthetic leg and run 8 miles over hills and through sand and dirt until he crosses the finish line at the St. Francis Yacht Club...

Four MLB player retirees were afforded a visit with over 400 troops

By Diane M. Grassi 

On the heels of Memorial Day 2008 and in anticipation of the 232nd celebration of United States Independence Day on July 4th 2008, Americans traditionally give thanks to our nation’s military service members.

And traditionally, Major League Baseball, (MLB) partly due to where its season falls on the calendar, including May and July, through its various teams provides public ceremonies and military displays prior to game times, during 7th inning stretches and with post-game fireworks on these holidays, in honor of U.S. active-duty troops and veterans alike.

But given the times in which we live, nearly seven years since the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil on September 11, 2001, followed by the War in Afghanistan, referred to as Operation Enduring Freedom, and in the War in Iraq, referred to as Operation Iraqi Freedom, our military remains fully engaged in fighting our enemies and the war on terrorism in two countries in the Middle East...

John Fernandez lost his lower legs in Iraq, but he will play in Saturday’s Heroes Cup lacrosse game at Madison Square Garden |
By GEORGE VECSEY, New York Times

At Madison Square Garden on Saturday, John Fernandez will enjoy the utter normalcy of being whacked with a lacrosse stick — exactly what a West Point grad would expect from Annapolis grads, and vice versa, to be sure.

“I may not be the one taking the ball behind the crease, but I will be hanging around the crease,” Fernandez said.

“It’s hard to turn without ankles,” he added, matter-of-factly.

Fernandez lost the lower portion of his legs in Iraq in 2003. He has fought back with an inspiring amount of good will and courage. Using prosthetic limbs, he works and shares the parenting of two, soon to be three, children with his wife, Kristi — “a rock,” he calls her...

Wounded in Iraq, Minnesota athlete Melissa Stockwell finds her strength again, competing for the Paralympic swim team. 
by Rachel Blount

Left, Melissa Stockwell, who lost her left leg in the Iraq war, listened to her coach’s advice after a workout Tuesday at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. She took up swimming during her rehabilitation and will compete in the U.S. Paralympic swimming trials, which begin today at the Minneapolis facility.

Like so many young athletes, Melissa Stockwell had envisioned herself representing her country in the Olympics one day. When her gymnastics career didn't take her that far, Stockwell pursued her other patriotic dream, swapping her leotard for desert camouflage as a U.S. Army officer in Iraq.

This week, she is back in the competitive sports arena, seeking to wear the red, white and blue of the U.S. Paralympic swim team in Beijing this summer. Stockwell, 28, lost her left leg when a roadside bomb exploded near her unarmored Humvee as she led a supply convoy through Baghdad four years ago. The Eden Prairie High graduate has been training full time since January at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, and she will compete in four events at the U.S. Paralympic Swimming Trials that begin today at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center...

It is a bizarre byproduct of the disastrous US war in Iraq, a growing - and seemingly invincible - Paralympic team. Gerard Wright talks to veterans who have turned to sport.

At left, the US national wheelchair tennis champion … tries putting the shot.

It is a bizarre byproduct of the disastrous US war in Iraq, a growing - and seemingly invincible - Paralympic team. Gerard Wright talks to veterans who have turned to sport.

EVERY once in a while Scott Winkler has that moment that every athlete experiences, when technique and muscle and effort synchronise. Then the shotput leaves his hand as though propelled by some external, uncontrollable force.

When that happens, he says, he feels great joy. His body is again doing what it is asked, or perhaps told.

The sum total of those efforts is a world record for the shotput, and a plane ride to Rio de Janeiro, there to wear his beloved country's uniform, once again, as the first veteran of the Iraq war to be selected for a US Paralympic team.

"I wouldn't say I'm a poster boy," he says. "I'm just a soldier out there trying to do one more thing for his country."  (continued...)