Wounded Warriors On The Road To Recovery

Take a few minutes to read the article on the Weekly Standard on the Ride To Recovery for wounded vets on a bike ride from San Antonio to Dallas. Truly a tribute to the indomitable spirit of the best among us.

...I approached Duane Wagner on a back road that twisted between the cattle ranches of south central Texas. Wagner, one of the Vietnam vets, is missing both legs below the knees. His prosthetic legs are black cylinders, decorated with American flags. They are perhaps half the diameter of the shaved, muscular thighs that rest on them, and no one else on the ride wore anything that resembles them at all.

Wordin had introduced Wagner at the briefing we'd had that morning before we left San Antonio. The ovation he'd gotten from the group suggested that he was respected, even revered by those on the ride.

I was slightly out of breath when I pulled even with him. Wagner was pedaling methodically, his legs pumping without much effort. We pedaled together for a bit, and I tried to make polite conversation. Beautiful day. Ride much? Texas is pretty. I thought I'd throw him some lingo to demonstrate that I was down with wounded warrior jargon. That Bam-cee sure is an impressive facility, I said, referring to the Brooke Army Medical Center.

The conversation was one-sided. Wagner told me that he'd done a previous ride in California but otherwise kept his answers short. He wasn't being impolite, just not particularly friendly.

After several periods of silence, Wagner asked me what I was doing on the ride. "I'm just hoping to finish," I said in the annoying, sing-songy tone I unconsciously reserve for people with disabilities.

For the first time, Wagner looked up from the road ahead and turned his head to me.

"You f--ing pussy," he said, more in disappointment than anger.

I looked in vain for a smile.

"Hoping?" he said, his voice full of disdain.

I tried to explain.

I haven't been on a road bike in more than 25 years. I've had six surgeries on my knees. I've been riding my mountain bike, but the weather in D.C. hasn't allowed me to be out as much as I'd like. And I've had some real stiffness in my back.

I recognized that I sounded like the feline in his accusation, but for reasons unclear to me, I kept going.

I've been working a lot lately and although I get to the gym regularly, I've found that it's really hard to get in good shape on an elliptical.

Wagner waited until I was done.

"I'm 62 years old and a double-amputee who broke his back six months ago," he said. "And I'm going to finish. If you don't finish, I'm going to find your local newspaper and tell them to write a story about what a pussy you are."