Interesting bit of information miss Harris, thank you. David Ferrin www.jaws-users.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cathy Harris" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 6:55 PM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Interesting Side Bar
> Hi Everybody. > > This article really caught my attention. This is a real, blind handy man. > > Blind Special Forces soldier: determined to serve > > > > Special Forces soldier: determined to serve > > Fort Bragg, NC, 06.30. > > KEVIN MAURER > > When Capt. Ivan Castro joined the Army, he set goals: to jump out of > planes, kick in doors and lead soldiers into combat. He achieved them all. > Then the > mortar round landed five feet away, blasting away his sight. > > ``Once you're blind, you have to set new goals,'' Castro said. > > He set them higher. > > Not content with just staying in the Army, he is the only blind officer > serving in the Special Forces the small, elite units famed for dropping > behind enemy > lines on combat missions. > > As executive officer of the 7th Special Forces Group's headquarters > company in Fort Bragg, Castro's duties don't directly involve combat, > though they do > have him taking part in just about everything that leads up to it. > > ``I am going to push the limits,'' the 40-year-old said. ``I don't want to > go to Fort Bragg and show up and sit in an office. I want to work every > day and > have a mission.'' > > Since the war began in Iraq, more than 100 troops have been blinded and > 247 others have lost sight in one eye. Only two other blind officers serve > in the > active-duty Army: one a captain studying to be an instructor at West > Point, the other an instructor at the Combined Arms Center at Fort > Leavenworth, Kan. > > Castro's unit commander said his is no charity assignment. Rather it draws > on his experience as a Special Forces team member and platoon leader with > the > 82nd Airborne Division. > > ``The only reason that anyone serves with 7th Special Forces Group is if > they have real talents,'' said Col. Sean Mulholland. ``We don't treat > (Castro) > as a public affairs or a recruiting tool.'' > > An 18-year Army veteran, Castro was a Ranger before completing Special > Forces training, the grueling yearlong course many soldiers fail to > finish. He joined > the Special Forces as a weapons sergeant, earned an officer's commission > and moved on to the 82nd hoping to return one day to the Special Forces as > a team > leader. > > Then life changed on a rooftop outside Youssifiyah, Iraq, in September > 2006. > > Castro had relieved other paratroopers atop a house after a night of > fighting. He never heard the incoming mortar round. There was just a flash > of light, > then darkness. > > Shrapnel tore through his body, breaking his arm and shoulder and > shredding the left side of his face. Two other paratroopers died. > > When Castro awoke six weeks later at the National Naval Medical Center in > Bethesda, Md., his right eye was gone. Doctors were unable to save his > left. > > The Blinded Veterans Association estimates 13 percent of all combat > hospital emergency procedures in Iraq have involved eye injuries and more > than half > of the soldiers with traumatic brain injuries also suffer some visual > impairment. That makes them the third most common injury behind post > traumatic stress > disorder and brain injuries in Iraq. > > ``What he is doing is a strong example that blind individuals can lead > exciting and meaningful careers,'' said Thomas Zampieri, director of > government relations > for the association. > > After 17 months in recovery, Castro sought a permanent assignment in the > service's Special Operations Command, landing duty with the 7th Special > Forces > Group. He focuses on managerial tasks while honing the group's Spanish > training, a useful language for a unit that deploys regularly to train > South American > troops. > > ``I want to support the guys and make sure life is easier for those guys > so that they can accomplish the mission,'' he said. > > Though not fully independent, he spent a weekend before starting his job > walking around the Group area at Fort Bragg to know just where he was > going. He > carefully measured the steps from car to office. > > ``Obviously, he cannot do some things that a sighted person can do. But > Ivan will find a way to get done whatever he needs to get done,'' > Mulholland said. > ``What I am most impressed with, though, is his determination to continue > to serve his country after all that he's been through.'' > > Castro works out regularly at the gym and runs, his legs powerful and > muscular. And though he has a prosthetic right eye and his arms are > scarred by shrapnel, > his outsized personality overshadows his war wounds: Nobody escapes his > booming hellos, friendly banter and limitless drive. > > He ran the Boston marathon this year with Adm. Eric T. Olson, commander of > the U.S. Special Operations Command. Last year it was the Marine Corps > Marathon. > He wants to compete in the Ironman triathlon in Hawaii and graduate from > the Army's officer advanced course, which teaches captains how to lead > troops > and plan operations. > > Mulholland said Castro, who was awarded a Purple Heart like others wounded > in combat, will always be part of the Special Forces family. > > ``I will fight for Ivan as long as Ivan wants to be in the Army,'' > Mulholland said. > > Married and the father of a 14-year-old son, Castro still needs help > getting to the gym. He recently needed an escort to the front of the > headquarters company > formation, where he promoted a supply clerk. > > Once in front, Ivan took charge. > > Affixing the new soldier's rank to his uniform, Castro urged the soldier > to perform two ranks higher. In the Special Forces, he said, one has to go > above > and beyond what is asked advice he lives by. > > ``I want to be treated the same way as other officers,'' Castro said. ``I > don't want them to take pity over me or give me something I've not > earned.'' > > (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) > > > Cathy Harris > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > ------------------------------------ > > Send any questions regarding list management to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To listen to the show archives go to link > http://www.acbradio.org/pweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=33&MMN_position=47:29 > Or > ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ > > The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. > http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday > > Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various > List Members At The Following address: > http://www.jaws-users.com/JAWS/handyman/ > > Visit the archives page at the following address > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > If you would like to join the JAWS Users List, then visit the following > address for more information: > http://www.jaws-users.com/ > For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man > list just send a blank message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] Groups Links > > >
