Amputee vets learn more than skiing

Amputee vets learn more than skiing

Matthew B. Stannard, Chronicle Staff Writer


(03-15) 04:00 PDT Tahoe City --


The 20-year-old soldier never skied before. Had never really seen snow, save the icy inch that occasionally gathers around his Texas home.

TaylorMade Golf provides clubs and instruction to benefit wounded veterans program

TaylorMade Golf provides clubs and instruction to benefit wounded veterans program
By Tod Leonard
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

April 29, 2008


CRISSY PASCUAL / Union-Tribune
Jake Williams eyes the flight of his ball on the TaylorMade driving range.
CARLSBAD – A bright smile on his youthful, clean-cut face, Jake Williams looked down at the beautiful golf clubs arranged in a new black bag just for him, and he didn't quite know what to say or do. He could almost see his reflection in the shine, the irons' soles not yet stained by a single blade of grass.
“I'm afraid to touch 'em,” Williams said with a giggle, handling the irons as if they were made of crystal.

Injured troops cut new path

Injured troops cut new path
By Bob Cohn
March 6, 2008

Teree Murphree (left) accompanied son Spc. Jesse Murphree (center) on Pennsylvania's Liberty Mountain for his return to skiing. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

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FAIRFIELD, Pa. — Spc. E-4 Jesse Murphree returned to the slopes on Saturday morning. His grandfather recorded it all on a video camera and his mother followed down the hill on skis. Then she cried.



Until he enlisted in the Army two years ago, Spc. Murphree was a competitive snowboarder, one of those typical Colorado kids who first dons skis at age 6. Two days after Christmas while performing his duties as a gunner in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, his Humvee struck a roadside bomb. Spc. Murphree, 20, lost both legs.