Jun 15, 2007 4:45 pm US/Pacific
Wounded Warriors Continue Their Fight For A Cause
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
-
-
"It's not about the war, it's about the warrior, and about helping them get back on their feet." -- Army Lt. John Fernandez (File)
CBS
From the White House to the lighthouse at Montauk Point. That's the route a few dozen badly wounded veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are taking -- on their bicycles.
It's not easy riding a bike with one foot, but Chris Millward has been through worse.
"I'm a bomb tech for the Army," Staff Sgt. Millward said. "I was working on a cache and I stepped in the wrong spot, blew off my foot."
That was just two months ago. On Friday, he was determined to get back on the bike, so to speak, and resume his life.
"With all the surgeries, you've got to gauge yourself, you know?" Millward said.
There were dozens like him Friday at Engine Company 10, across from ground zero. All took part in a cross-country bike-ride sponsored by the Wounded Warrior Project, which helps soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. The annual ride has raised millions of dollars for injured soldiers over the past three years.
Some men had lost a leg. Others had lost two of them.
Marine Lance Cpl. Jamel Daniels, a Harlem resident, lost his leg in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded, killing three.
"It's been very depressing, from what you see every day and hear on the news, but you've got to look past that, and say, you know what, it gets better," Daniels said.
Though the group began its journey at the White House, its cause is decidedly apolitical. None of these men will tell you their feelings about the war, just about their feelings of solidarity with the military.
Army Lt. John Fernandez of Shoreham on Long Island lost two legs in the first Iraq war.
"It's not about the war, it's about the warrior, and about helping them get back on their feet," Fernandez said.
On Friday they were in fighting form as they continued a journey back to a normal life.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments