thedrifter
09-01-03, 08:48 AM
This was sent to me by PhantomBlooper........
Thanks
Marine makes good on promise
August 31,2003
ROSELEE PAPANDREA
DAILY NEWS STAFF
Tom Carlo made a promise at last year's Armed Forces softball tournament in Florida right before he threw the first pitch.
The Marine gunnery sergeant told players lined up on the field that he had to start living his life by setting goals, and one was to return to this year's tournament playing on the All-Marine team.
"I told them, 'Write it in your diaries. I'll be back,'" he said.
Anyone who knew the 37-year-old Carlo and had seen him hit might not have considered it a lofty goal.
But the guy who stood before them that day was different.
Carlo's life changed on April 25, 2002, when his 2001 Buick Century was crushed in an accident on N.C. 24 about four miles east of Cape Carteret. The wreck left him pinned beneath the steering wheel.
The 19-year-old driver of the 1996 Ford Probe, who had whipped into his lane and caused the accident, died. Carlo broke five bones in his back as well as his right kneecap, femur and foot. He went through five hours of surgery and weeks of pain, hoping the bones in his foot would mend.
It didn't happen.
In May 2002, Carlo had his right foot and leg amputated just below the knee. Although the limb was taken, the pain remained. Doctors labeled it phantom pain because he was feeling the foot in the condition it was prior to amputation. He also continued to have problems with his back.
Despite his injuries, Carlo was determined to play softball again. It was more than a pastime for the Bronx, N.Y., native. The game was as much a part of him as the foot he lost, and Carlo wasn't willing to give up everything.
He's been playing in military softball leagues since 1987. He'd played on the All-Marine team before, and he was a reliable outfielder and assistant coach on New River Air Station's team. He's also played on several civilian teams in Jacksonville.
Carlo was fitted with his first prosthetic foot in July 2002. Made of titanium steel and NASCAR shocks it was his ticket back to the diamond. Although time and persistence were requirements if he wanted to play again, Carlo had no guarantees.
When Carlo's team played in the Marine Corps' East Coast Regional Softball Tournament in late July 2002, Carlo was asked to throw out the first pitch. He walked out to the pitcher's mound without crutches and to the sound of applause.
A month later at the Armed Forces tournament, he wowed the guys gathered again and made his promise.
"I wondered if they were really thinking that I would be able to do it," Carlo said. "At the time, I was still on crutches half the time."
Carlo wasn't even sure he could live up to his word.
"I wasn't sure what my limitations would be," he said.
In March, he started playing softball again with a civilian team, Chase Easton, with which he had played in the late 1990s. He was inducted into the Southern Softball Association of America's Hall of Fame and participated in the hall of fame tournament in Fayetteville.
His first two swings were home runs. His team won the tournament. He was named most valuable player.
The storybook comeback gave Carlo back his confidence.
"I knew that if I could compete in my first tournament at that level, I was going to be OK," he said.
In July, Carlo found out he would be going to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida to play on the All-Marine team in the Armed Forces tournament. He was one of 15 players to make the team. He was selected as the designated and extra hitter.
"When the coach called me in and told me about it and told me what my role was, it was a pretty big moment for me," Carlo said. "It felt great. It was a sense of closure for me. It was the biggest goal I could set."
Carlo, who heads facilities maintenance at Naval Air Maintenance Training at New River Air Station, is still on limited duty and has been running in preparation for his physical fitness test.
Although he is waiting for a sore to heal on his damaged leg, he doesn't think he'll have a problem running the required three miles in under 29 minutes, which he expects to do in October.
"Making the All-Marine team is even bigger than the PFT for me," Carlo said. "The PFT is me against myself. This was me against the best the Marine Corps has to offer."
Just as he has had to get used to the prosthetic foot, Carlo has learned to grow into his role as someone with a story to share. Earlier this year, he went to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C., to talk with three soldiers who lost limbs in combat in Iraq.
"I talked to those guys, just like other guys had helped me out," he said. "I felt like there was a reason behind this somehow.
"I left there a different person. I felt like I had actually done something for someone."
http://www.jacksonvilledailynews.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=Details.cfm&StoryID=15576&Section=News
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
Thanks
Marine makes good on promise
August 31,2003
ROSELEE PAPANDREA
DAILY NEWS STAFF
Tom Carlo made a promise at last year's Armed Forces softball tournament in Florida right before he threw the first pitch.
The Marine gunnery sergeant told players lined up on the field that he had to start living his life by setting goals, and one was to return to this year's tournament playing on the All-Marine team.
"I told them, 'Write it in your diaries. I'll be back,'" he said.
Anyone who knew the 37-year-old Carlo and had seen him hit might not have considered it a lofty goal.
But the guy who stood before them that day was different.
Carlo's life changed on April 25, 2002, when his 2001 Buick Century was crushed in an accident on N.C. 24 about four miles east of Cape Carteret. The wreck left him pinned beneath the steering wheel.
The 19-year-old driver of the 1996 Ford Probe, who had whipped into his lane and caused the accident, died. Carlo broke five bones in his back as well as his right kneecap, femur and foot. He went through five hours of surgery and weeks of pain, hoping the bones in his foot would mend.
It didn't happen.
In May 2002, Carlo had his right foot and leg amputated just below the knee. Although the limb was taken, the pain remained. Doctors labeled it phantom pain because he was feeling the foot in the condition it was prior to amputation. He also continued to have problems with his back.
Despite his injuries, Carlo was determined to play softball again. It was more than a pastime for the Bronx, N.Y., native. The game was as much a part of him as the foot he lost, and Carlo wasn't willing to give up everything.
He's been playing in military softball leagues since 1987. He'd played on the All-Marine team before, and he was a reliable outfielder and assistant coach on New River Air Station's team. He's also played on several civilian teams in Jacksonville.
Carlo was fitted with his first prosthetic foot in July 2002. Made of titanium steel and NASCAR shocks it was his ticket back to the diamond. Although time and persistence were requirements if he wanted to play again, Carlo had no guarantees.
When Carlo's team played in the Marine Corps' East Coast Regional Softball Tournament in late July 2002, Carlo was asked to throw out the first pitch. He walked out to the pitcher's mound without crutches and to the sound of applause.
A month later at the Armed Forces tournament, he wowed the guys gathered again and made his promise.
"I wondered if they were really thinking that I would be able to do it," Carlo said. "At the time, I was still on crutches half the time."
Carlo wasn't even sure he could live up to his word.
"I wasn't sure what my limitations would be," he said.
In March, he started playing softball again with a civilian team, Chase Easton, with which he had played in the late 1990s. He was inducted into the Southern Softball Association of America's Hall of Fame and participated in the hall of fame tournament in Fayetteville.
His first two swings were home runs. His team won the tournament. He was named most valuable player.
The storybook comeback gave Carlo back his confidence.
"I knew that if I could compete in my first tournament at that level, I was going to be OK," he said.
In July, Carlo found out he would be going to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida to play on the All-Marine team in the Armed Forces tournament. He was one of 15 players to make the team. He was selected as the designated and extra hitter.
"When the coach called me in and told me about it and told me what my role was, it was a pretty big moment for me," Carlo said. "It felt great. It was a sense of closure for me. It was the biggest goal I could set."
Carlo, who heads facilities maintenance at Naval Air Maintenance Training at New River Air Station, is still on limited duty and has been running in preparation for his physical fitness test.
Although he is waiting for a sore to heal on his damaged leg, he doesn't think he'll have a problem running the required three miles in under 29 minutes, which he expects to do in October.
"Making the All-Marine team is even bigger than the PFT for me," Carlo said. "The PFT is me against myself. This was me against the best the Marine Corps has to offer."
Just as he has had to get used to the prosthetic foot, Carlo has learned to grow into his role as someone with a story to share. Earlier this year, he went to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C., to talk with three soldiers who lost limbs in combat in Iraq.
"I talked to those guys, just like other guys had helped me out," he said. "I felt like there was a reason behind this somehow.
"I left there a different person. I felt like I had actually done something for someone."
http://www.jacksonvilledailynews.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=Details.cfm&StoryID=15576&Section=News
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: