Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Honoring our Veterans: Two Heros I Know

Veterans Day is probably one of the most important days we have to celebrate and I almost didn’t even realize it was today. Of course a holiday to me in the middle of the week means nothing to my work schedule and I don’t get the opportunity to take a day off in remembrance, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t pay tribute. I have mentioned this before on here, but the US Olympic Training Center is also a home training base for many of the Paralympic athletes and a few of them that I have gotten to know personally are some of the most admirable Veterans I can think of. So today I just want to take a moment to say a special thank you to them personally in this public forum, as well as put a mini spotlight on the incredible people they are and the amazing way they have served our country.

Kortney Clemens

While serving in the U.S. Army as a combat medic in Iraq, Kortney Clemons and three other service members were helping soldiers in an overturned vehicle when enemy forces detonated an explosive device. The explosion killed the other three service members, but Clemons' life was spared. As a result of the blast, he lost his right leg above-the-knee.










Jerrod Fields

In 2005, Sgt. Jerrod Fields lost his lower left leg after an IED exploded during a patrol in Iraq while deployed with the 3rd Infantry Division. Fields recovered from his wounds and passed all of his physical requirements with his prosthetic leg to continue on active duty with the 3rd ID at Fort Stewart in an ambitious six months instead of the doctor-predicted nine. Re-enlisted by Vice President Dick Cheney, Fields is now a Bradley Fighting Vehicle Gunner with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Squadron.
For his service, Fields was awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.









Seeing these athletes compete and train on a day-to-day basis just like I do is already inspiring enough. But once you have the chance to hear their story and understand exactly what they’ve been through, you realize that you’re training next to real-life heros. These men are the most brave and courageous people I personally know and I should probably tell them thank you every single day, but today I just wanted to make sure I said it extra loud. THANK YOU.

9 comments:

Deaulivery said...

Thanks to them for their service and thank God for their lives!

Bianca said...

Um, you're missing one FABULOUS Marine!!!

My dad.

Geesh! I'm telling him not to make you any more quesadillas. Period!

Brianna said...

yes...thanks to God they are here because many aren't!

@bianca...nooooo! i can't live without quesadillas. but you know, my mom is a veteran too and i didn't mention her. oops. love you mom and pancho!

Jon Lustig said...

I thank them for their service, as I do all veterans on this day. We owe them each an unpayable debt, and we could certainly do more for them than we have decided to. If you serve or have served, thank you and bless you, always.

Eleven Minus 1 said...

In General....

How so many Americans are Hypocrites! It's disgraceful!

Political Correctness by the wanna-be-cool, popular, fashionable, in American society who say god bless our troops on this day and then never give them a second thought throughout the rest of the year is disgraceful.

Lets do a test...what is the 3'rd and 9'th largest conflict America has lost servicemen in? How many servicemen? Where are they buried? Did each have a military burial and 21 gun solute? Were flags presented to their next of kin? Did the President of the USA come for a photo-op or was he there because he cared? (Ok, I threw that one in for anyone who saw Obama's photo-op at 3AM 2 weeks ago on an airport tarmac! What a joke!)

I would also like to point out that not all "Troops" deserve respect. In any community whether it be a blog forum, a sorority, track n field, or any civilization, community or group, there are good people and bad people as part of that group.

Just yesterday I was at one of our finest Navy bases and met one of the biggest as*hole military jerks in America!

Just a few days ago, one of our "troops" killed so many other troops down in Texas.

So, I propose that we change this nationally recognized day as, "Good Veteran's Day!"

Because there are a lot of as*hole military people out there who don't deserve the thank you on this day of appreciation! Because there are undesirable, lazy, lacker's, stupid, selfish, pretender's, not loyal and not worthy people in the military..... just as in every segment of life.

Hat tipped, nod, to ONLY those worthy soldiers on this day!

Anonymous said...

Those are two amazing men. Hats off to them.

Mike Hazle said...

http://in-the-arena-mike.blogspot.com/2009/10/giving-back-that-which-cant-be-given.html

Diandra Ann said...

okay this made me cry. What the heck? Seriously Brianna... stop that! But what a great post! NExt time you talk to them, tell them I said thank you :)

Anonymous said...

Any excuse to post pics of yourself right?

lol.