Friday, July 04, 2008

Yankee Intern, Injured in Iraq, to Throw Out First Pitch Friday

Yankee Intern, Injured in Iraq, to Throw Out First Pitch Friday
Barton Silverman/The New York Times

Tony Odierno, an Army officer who lost an arm to a grenade, has helped in planning for the All-Star Game and the new stadium.

Barton Silverman/The New York Times

Tony Odierno, left, and his father, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, threw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 2005.

Odierno lost his left arm when a rocket-propelled grenade smashed through his Humvee in Iraq almost four years ago. As an Army lieutenant, he was leading three vehicles through southwest Baghdad when his life changed. The grenade cost Odierno an arm and his driver his life.

Odierno calmly but vividly described what happened that night. As he spoke Wednesday, he sometimes clutched the prosthesis under the sleeve of his gray shirt. His story validates why the Yankees consider him an overqualified intern in their stadium operations department.

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