Jumping for a Purpose
I wish that I had Canada Sue's way with words to describe my day today. I volunteered to help at an event called "Jumping with a Purpose". Held at our local sky-dive field, the purpose of the day was sponsoring wounded vets and assisting them in jumping. While most of the vets there were wounded in the current Middle East war, there were Vietnam vets, and even a survivor of the Marine barracks in Beirut.
One young man, Tyler, came home with only 1 surviving limb, his left arm. On which there is a thumb and two fingers. What a positive attitude he projects. He was EVERYWHERE, just as fast as those prosthetics would take him. Talking to children, letting them touch his legs, helping them to understand and not fear the wounds. He jumped, as well as several others who were missing limbs. There were many with the burn marks that mean IED attacks. One of the founders of the event is a Navy Seal who lost his nose in a firefight. It has been reconstructed, but I know his story.
I was deeply touched by a tandem jump by the parents of a young man who died in Afghanistan last year.
Please, when you see someone (especially a muscular young man) with the scars and disfigurements, don't look away. Look, and remember the sacrifices that are being made every day by our men and women in uniform.
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