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“It’s a choice you make when you wake up in
the morning: Am I going to have a bad day or a good day?
I choose good,” said SFC Patrick King, an Iraq War
veteran, as he stood with fellow cyclists Dave Gudes, Mike
Najarian, and Art Wong, members of Silver Spring, Md., VVA
Chapter 641, in the parking lot of the Takoma Park U-Haul
Center, demonstrating his new leg. “I love my new leg.
Look at how it bends at the knee.”
April 25 was a very
good day for King, who, along with 50 other cyclists—wounded
warriors, their significant others, Vietnam veterans, and
their support team—arrived
at the final destination of the first day of White House
to Light House, a three-day Soldier Ride, a program of the
Wounded Warrior Project cosponsored by U-Haul.
“Those
cycling with their arms—I almost cried.
I thought, ‘I can’t give up,’” admitted
Gudes. Added Wong: “These guys and gals with arm cycles,
when they climbed that hill, that was hell. But they did
it slow and steady, so we did, too.”
VVA President John
Rowan attended the event, along with many VVA members and
staff, including Mike Gaffney, Bill Crandell, Tom Devlin,
Bill Gray, Eileen Mitchell, Mokie Porter, Joe Sternburg,
Carl Tuvin, Michael Keating, Sharon Hodge, and her daughter
Crystal.
They joined the crowd of over 150 at the Takoma
Park Center to welcome the cyclists and join them for a barbecue,
music, and dance. On the dance floor, young veterans put
their new legs to the test with the electric slide.
This was
the second time Takoma Park had hosted a barbecue for Soldier
Ride. “A lot happens at our Takoma Park
Center,” U-Haul’s Vernon Rosemin said. “Last
November, we built a float in honor of the 25th Anniversary
of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Soon we will be getting
ready for the National Memorial Day parade.”
Rosemin
and his staff received an award from Las Vegas Chapter 17
for their help with the Wall float.
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