thedrifter
08-12-07, 10:02 AM
Wounded veterans not forgotten in San Antonio
They welcome chance to mingle with Cowboys
12:59 AM CDT on Sunday, August 12, 2007
SAN ANTONIO – Israel Del Toro, 32, grew up a hard-core Bears fan in Chicago, and he doesn't give up his allegiances easily.
"Bears, Bulls, White Sox," he says. "Stay with your team."
But the Cowboys are getting to him, just the same.
He wouldn't have figured on it, but then he didn't expect to end up at Brooke Army Medical Center, either.
Del Toro is one of a dozen veterans here in the Alamodome, guests of Bank of America and the Cowboys.
"Wounded warriors," the volunteers call them. They came up with the description to cover all branches of military service, and it's not all they have in common.
Burns, casts, bandages. Walkers and wheelchairs. Missing limbs and prostheses.
And for one day, anyway, Cowboys fans.
"This is medicine right here," says Nekia Whatley, 30, an Army staff sergeant out of Montgomery, Ala., who lost four inches of bone from his left leg to a bullet. "There's a lot of depression at the hospital because of our injuries.
"But this is great."
Players stop on the way to the locker room to sign whatever the vets offer. Footballs, sideline passes, casts. Some talk. Others sign without looking and move on.
Roy Williams lingers awhile. Keith Davis, too. A veteran thanks him, and Davis says it's no problem.
"We appreciate you guys," Davis says.
Only a couple have any idea who the fifth-year safety is, but it makes no difference to Davis.
"Man, I mean, it's just a great feeling to see these guys out here," he says. "I just try to make 'em feel as comfortable as possible."
Doesn't appear to take much. Duane Dunlap, 22, of Shreveport says it "means everything ... I'm a football fanatic."
He says he's a Saints fan. And the Cowboys?
"I used to hate 'em," he confesses, softly.
An official huddles up the veterans for an audience with Jerry Jones, who gives each a football used in camp. Some he already seems to know. He pats shoulders, smiles, tells them how practice is going, what their presence means to the players.
As Jones poses for a series of group pictures, Del Toro, in the back, walks away muttering that one is enough.
He's not so eager to pose. An Air Force sergeant, master parachutist and Bronze Star winner even before his injury, he was on patrol in Afghanistan in December 2005 when an explosion blew him from his vehicle. He got up on fire. The last thing he remembers was looking at his watch. He woke up three months later in San Antonio with burns over 80 percent of his body.
He lost fingers on his left hand up to the knuckles and most of his right ear and what he once called his "lady-killer" looks. Doctors gave him a 30 percent chance to live.
The general who pinned a Purple Heart on him in June 2006 told Del Toro, "You've come a long way to be able to walk."
Here's all you need to know about his resolve: He wants to return to duty.
But he still needs more surgeries. In the course of his long recovery, he's met old Cowboys such as Bob Lilly and now budding legends, too.
"A couple of them hung out with us, and that was pretty cool," Del Toro says. "That means the most. You know it's genuine."
Hardly seems like much when you consider the sacrifice these men have made. But you might be surprised what it means.
"This shows us," Whatley says, "the American people haven't forgotten us."
Some things you never forget.
Ellie
They welcome chance to mingle with Cowboys
12:59 AM CDT on Sunday, August 12, 2007
SAN ANTONIO – Israel Del Toro, 32, grew up a hard-core Bears fan in Chicago, and he doesn't give up his allegiances easily.
"Bears, Bulls, White Sox," he says. "Stay with your team."
But the Cowboys are getting to him, just the same.
He wouldn't have figured on it, but then he didn't expect to end up at Brooke Army Medical Center, either.
Del Toro is one of a dozen veterans here in the Alamodome, guests of Bank of America and the Cowboys.
"Wounded warriors," the volunteers call them. They came up with the description to cover all branches of military service, and it's not all they have in common.
Burns, casts, bandages. Walkers and wheelchairs. Missing limbs and prostheses.
And for one day, anyway, Cowboys fans.
"This is medicine right here," says Nekia Whatley, 30, an Army staff sergeant out of Montgomery, Ala., who lost four inches of bone from his left leg to a bullet. "There's a lot of depression at the hospital because of our injuries.
"But this is great."
Players stop on the way to the locker room to sign whatever the vets offer. Footballs, sideline passes, casts. Some talk. Others sign without looking and move on.
Roy Williams lingers awhile. Keith Davis, too. A veteran thanks him, and Davis says it's no problem.
"We appreciate you guys," Davis says.
Only a couple have any idea who the fifth-year safety is, but it makes no difference to Davis.
"Man, I mean, it's just a great feeling to see these guys out here," he says. "I just try to make 'em feel as comfortable as possible."
Doesn't appear to take much. Duane Dunlap, 22, of Shreveport says it "means everything ... I'm a football fanatic."
He says he's a Saints fan. And the Cowboys?
"I used to hate 'em," he confesses, softly.
An official huddles up the veterans for an audience with Jerry Jones, who gives each a football used in camp. Some he already seems to know. He pats shoulders, smiles, tells them how practice is going, what their presence means to the players.
As Jones poses for a series of group pictures, Del Toro, in the back, walks away muttering that one is enough.
He's not so eager to pose. An Air Force sergeant, master parachutist and Bronze Star winner even before his injury, he was on patrol in Afghanistan in December 2005 when an explosion blew him from his vehicle. He got up on fire. The last thing he remembers was looking at his watch. He woke up three months later in San Antonio with burns over 80 percent of his body.
He lost fingers on his left hand up to the knuckles and most of his right ear and what he once called his "lady-killer" looks. Doctors gave him a 30 percent chance to live.
The general who pinned a Purple Heart on him in June 2006 told Del Toro, "You've come a long way to be able to walk."
Here's all you need to know about his resolve: He wants to return to duty.
But he still needs more surgeries. In the course of his long recovery, he's met old Cowboys such as Bob Lilly and now budding legends, too.
"A couple of them hung out with us, and that was pretty cool," Del Toro says. "That means the most. You know it's genuine."
Hardly seems like much when you consider the sacrifice these men have made. But you might be surprised what it means.
"This shows us," Whatley says, "the American people haven't forgotten us."
Some things you never forget.
Ellie