USNAviator
04-17-11, 08:37 AM
Four wounded veterans arrived to a cheering crowd at Logan International Airport yesterday, ready to take on tomorrow’s Boston Marathon.
The four patients from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., will join 11 other members of the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Vets for the 26.2-mile race. One will run; the others will hand-cycle.
“I’m looking forward to Heartbreak Hill,” Army Staff Sgt. Joe Beimfohr said of the marathon’s most grueling stretch, “We get to go out and be athletes again.”
Beimfohr, 33, of Annandale, Va., lost both legs in July 2005 when his patrol walked into a roadside bomb in Iraq.
“I view hand-cycling as part of my therapy,” he said. “For me, it’s an escape and keeps my mind off the pain.”
Marine Corps Capt. Chris Ayres, 40, of Chantilly, Va., was a platoon commander in Fallujah, Iraq, in April 2004, when a rocket-propelled grenade tore apart one of his legs. An acquaintance later introduced him to hand-cycling.
“And I never looked back,” he said. “It’s great to compete again.”
Ayres completed the Boston Marathon two years ago in one hour and 30 seconds.
“I plan to beat that time,” he said.
Army Master Sgt. David Neumer, 48, of Washington, D.C., was wounded in December 2009 when an 82mm mortar landed 5 feet from him during a firefight in Kapisa, Afghanistan, shattering his right leg.
The only other race he has hand-cycled in so far is a half-marathon at Walt Disney World in January, he said. But he isn’t intimidated by the prospect of Heartbreak Hill.
“I’ll conquer it when I get there,” he said.
“They give me inspiration to believe anything is possible,” said their host for the weekend, Maureen Dunn, whose husband, Navy Cmdr. Joseph Patrick Dunn, died in Vietnam.
The group will have a police escort all weekend as they take in a Red Sox's game and a spaghetti dinner made by local firefighters.
The four patients from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., will join 11 other members of the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Vets for the 26.2-mile race. One will run; the others will hand-cycle.
“I’m looking forward to Heartbreak Hill,” Army Staff Sgt. Joe Beimfohr said of the marathon’s most grueling stretch, “We get to go out and be athletes again.”
Beimfohr, 33, of Annandale, Va., lost both legs in July 2005 when his patrol walked into a roadside bomb in Iraq.
“I view hand-cycling as part of my therapy,” he said. “For me, it’s an escape and keeps my mind off the pain.”
Marine Corps Capt. Chris Ayres, 40, of Chantilly, Va., was a platoon commander in Fallujah, Iraq, in April 2004, when a rocket-propelled grenade tore apart one of his legs. An acquaintance later introduced him to hand-cycling.
“And I never looked back,” he said. “It’s great to compete again.”
Ayres completed the Boston Marathon two years ago in one hour and 30 seconds.
“I plan to beat that time,” he said.
Army Master Sgt. David Neumer, 48, of Washington, D.C., was wounded in December 2009 when an 82mm mortar landed 5 feet from him during a firefight in Kapisa, Afghanistan, shattering his right leg.
The only other race he has hand-cycled in so far is a half-marathon at Walt Disney World in January, he said. But he isn’t intimidated by the prospect of Heartbreak Hill.
“I’ll conquer it when I get there,” he said.
“They give me inspiration to believe anything is possible,” said their host for the weekend, Maureen Dunn, whose husband, Navy Cmdr. Joseph Patrick Dunn, died in Vietnam.
The group will have a police escort all weekend as they take in a Red Sox's game and a spaghetti dinner made by local firefighters.