Camaraderie, Challenge Inspire Wounded Warriors
(March 31, 2011) |
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Former Army Spc. Barbara
Newstrom, left, and Army Sgt. John Barnes,
center, both wounded during Operation Iraqi
Freedom, take a break during the 25th National
Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in
Snowmass Village, Colo., March 28, 2011. Joining
them is Barnes' mother, Valerie Wallace, who
watched the changes last year's clinic helped to
bring about in her son. |
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SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., March 29, 2011 –
Camaraderie and the opportunity to challenge
themselves are proving to be some of the best
therapy possible for wounded warriors attending
the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports
Clinic here as it celebrates its 25th
anniversary.
Few might have guessed
during the early days of last year's clinic that
one of its most reluctant participants would
return this year as one of its biggest
supporters.
Retired Army Sgt. John Barnes
suffered a severe traumatic brain injury during
a mortar attack in 2006 while he was deployed to
southwestern Iraq with the 101st Airborne
Division. His injury sent him into a downward
spiral as he struggled with TBI, post-traumatic
stress and substance abuse.
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Attending his first winter sports clinic last
year, Barnes was ready to call it quits from the
start. His luggage was lost in transit, and the
high altitude made him feel miserable.
“My son was convinced that this was going to be
a horrible week and said we should just go
home,” Barnes' mother, Valerie Wallace,
recalled. “He was irritable, negative and just
kept saying he wanted to go home. He said he
would never come back here again.”
But
snowboarding the first morning of the clinic
changed everything. “When he left the snow, he
was excited, happy and exhilarated,” Wallace
said. “He was excitedly telling everyone who
would listen how he was going to get back on the
mountain ... and ‘tear it up.'”
By the
week's end, Barnes was singled out to receive
the Disabled American Veterans Freedom Award for
Outstanding Courage and Achievement. The award
recognizes the first-time participant at the
clinic who best exemplifies courage and
achievement while taking a giant step forward in
rehabilitation.
This year, Barnes
enthusiastically returned to the clinic,
recognizing the changes it helped him make in
his life. “This gave me a lot more
self-confidence,” he said. “It shows you that
you can do things you didn't think you could
because you limit yourself. This helps take away
those limits.”
Barnes is among about 100
veterans of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan
participating in this year's winter sports
clinic.
Many, like former Army Spc.
Barbara Newstrom, say they've grown through
their experiences on Snowmass Mountain and are
passing those lessons on to first-timers to the
clinic, many of whom still are learning to live
with their disabilities.
Newstrom was a
medic and truck driver deployed to Iraq with the
Army Reserve's Las Vegas-based 257th
Transportation Company in October 2003 when an
enemy attack left her with a traumatic brain
injury. The winter sports clinic, she said, has
made a huge difference in her rehabilitation and
given her a sense of belonging that's hard to
find elsewhere.
“This is an environment
where you don't feel different,” she said. “If
you can't find a word, you get lost in the hotel
or you have anxiety issues, people here
understand. You feel acceptance and
understanding. It's what makes this place so
special, because it feels like family.”
Newstrom said she strives to welcome first-time
participants at the clinic into the fold.
“We try to reach out to the new veteran
coming in and teach them the little things we've
learned along the way,” she said. “We try to
pass it on to them so they can benefit from it,
too.” |
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March 28, 2011 - Former Army Sgt. Kevin Pannell, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, said he loves the activities at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass Village, Colo., but that the people make it special. |
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Former Army Sgt. Kevin Pannell, also a veteran
of Operation Iraqi Freedom, said he took so much
away from his first clinic last year that he,
too, anxiously returned for its silver
anniversary celebration.
“The snow is
cool, but that's not really what brought me
back,” Pannell said. “It's the people here.
They're what make this place really something.”
Pannell was deployed to eastern Baghdad with
the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Squadron, 9th
Cavalry, in June 2004 when two grenades lobbed
during an ambush tore off both his legs -– one
below the knee and one just above. As he
recovered from his wounds, Pannell took up
snowboarding and with it, a whole new outlook on
life.
“I'm a happier person now,” he
said. “I realized that I hadn't been getting the
most out of what life is until I almost had the
rug pulled out from me. Some people think it
sounds strange, but I am actually a better,
happier person since this happened to me.”
Some participants in the winter sports
clinic, like former Army Sgt. Robert Schuler,
suffered their injuries after returning from
combat. Schuler was back just six months from
his deployment with the Hawaii-based 25th
Special Troops Battalion when a freak
boogie-boarding accident in May 2008 broke his
neck and put him into a wheelchair. Less than
two years after his injury, Schuler jumped at
the chance to attend his first winter sports
clinic last year.
“I just had a blast on
the mountain,” he said. “But it went beyond
that. What's really neat here is the chance to
talk to other veterans. You learn about
yourself. |
And when you see people with less function than
you have, it opens your eyes to new
possibilities about what you are able to do.”
The winter sports clinic, jointly sponsored
by the Department of Veterans Affairs and
Disabled American Veterans, uses recreation as a
rehabilitative tool for veterans with
disabilities ranging from spinal cord injuries
and orthopedic amputations to visual impairment
and neurological conditions.
As veterans
learn adaptive Alpine and Nordic skiing and get
introduced to rock climbing, scuba diving,
trapshooting, curling, snowmobiling and sled
hockey during a five-day program, program
officials strive to open their eyes to a new
world of opportunity. |
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Article and photos by Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2011 |
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