Wounded vet chooses to laugh

Wounded vet chooses to laugh
By Travis Hill | More by this reporter | Record Sports Columnist | Posted: Friday, July 4, 2008 ; Updated: 12:50 AM on Friday, July 4, 2008
STORY PHOTOS

Dan Nevins elected to have his own right leg amputated in January. And that's not the most amazing thing about him.

Nevins is a golf addict, shooting in the mid-80s. That's not it, either.

Nevins is an Iraq war veteran. He lost his left leg when an improvised explosive device (IED) blew up his Humvee on Nov. 10, 2004. Nope.


What makes Dan Nevins so incredible is his laugh. It's pretty plain, as laughs go. A little goofy, but nothing out of the ordinary. Except that they happen a lot. And they are genuine.

Bike ride raises awareness, offers therapy for injured vets

Bike ride raises awareness, offers therapy for injured vets
By Tim Haddock, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 05/23/2008 11:07:39 PM PDT


The first day actor Mike Vogel was on the set filming "Cloverfield," he received word that his cousin, a sergeant in the Army, was killed in Iraq.

Sgt. Allen James Dunckley was "meant to be a soldier," Vogel said, noting that he started his military career as a Marine but was training to become an Army Ranger.

But he was killed in Salman Pak while trying to rescue three kidnapped soldiers last May.

"It set me on a mission, at that point, to be as involved and get as active as I possibly could in bringing awareness and any kind of help that I could to these guys coming home," Vogel said.

Amputee soldier takes on the slopes

Amputee soldier takes on the slopes
PIONEERING: Sergeant Mick Brennan is taking part in a ski-ing course.

A SOLDIER who lost both legs in an explosion in Iraq has taken part in a pioneering course to learn to ski.
Sergeant Mick Brennan, 28, a former pupil of North Border Comprehensive School in Harworth, lost both of his legs when a car bomb exploded when he was working as part of a bomb disposal squad in Baghdad in 2004

Wounded veterans smile on the slopes:

Wounded veterans smile on the slopes:
Skiing temporarily erases painful memories of war

Ian CroppMarch 12, 2008
The light was flat, the wind was blowing and there wasn’t much new snow to speak of. For most Vail skiers, it wasn’t a day to be on the mountain.But for a group of 27 wounded veterans at Vail’s Golden Peak, the skiing conditions were of little importance; last Thursday was a day on the mountain and that’s what counted.After some breakfast at the Larkspur restaurant inside the Golden Peak Lodge, the soldiers met up with their private instructors and headed to the adaptive skiing building next to the high-speed lift. Inside the building, a trio of double-amputee veterans waited to be outfitted on monoskis — a ski attached to a bucket-style seat. When all their equipment seemed to fit, they got back into their wheelchairs and headed to the slopes.

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)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.