Olympic-like event lets wounded vets push limits, heal together

The thunder of helicopters landing in a cloud of dust brought flashbacks to wounded warriors who watched the opening ceremonies for the second annual Olympic-style trials at Nellis Air Force Base.

The games that began Friday are part of their healing process. For some of them, just being there is a victory.

Their challenges run the gamut of physical and mental wounds, from post-traumatic stress disorder to amputated arms and legs.

The sight and sound of the two Pave Hawk rescue helicopters was a “trigger” for Iraq War veteran Mary McGriff. She is vying for a spot on the Air Force team “whether it be basketball, swimming, cycling, archery, shot put. I’m here to try everything,” she said.

“When I hear helicopters and particularly see them, my body goes through the reaction of getting ready to meet the casualties and take them to the hospital at Balad Air Base, which is where I was stationed from September of ’04 through January of ’05. So I have to work through those kind of feelings when I see helicopters.”

As the ceremony opened, Maj. Gen. Margaret Poore, commander of the Air Force Personnel Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Randoph, Texas, received a U.S. flag delivered by pararescue jumper August O’Neil, a staff sergeant who lost his left leg during a 2011 mission to retrieve casualties in Afghanistan.

O’Neil said he wants to be the first active-duty amputee to rejoin a pararescue unit, the 58th Rescue Squadron at Nellis.

“It’s a huge deal,” he said. “Nobody has ever done it before in my career field. I’m the second amputee ever in pararescue, and I’ll be the first ever to return to duty. Hopefully. Fingers crossed.”

Poore said the games for wounded warriors “is one of the key enablers in their ability to recover from the illness or injury that they suffered. So sport is a great way for people to be able to get together to share experiences and to focus on their recovery.”

Said O’Neil: “I love my job. It’s my dream to continue it. I’m pushing hard to do it.”

True to Olympic competition, the Nellis event has an international twist, with wounded warrior contingents from the armed forces of Australia and the United Kingdom.

Stephen Cleator, an army corporal from Maidstone-Kent, 20 miles southeast of London, said it is important to participate in the games with other nations, “especially Americans who saved me in Afghanistan when I was rescued when I was injured in 2011.”

“It’s a nice way to make my rehabilitation and get me back on the straight and narrow,” said Cleator, 36, who suffered leg injuries during a coalition operation.

His events are volleyball, shooting and archery.

Although Nellis is an Air Force base, the trials included wounded warriors from some U.S. Army posts.

Army Cpl. Mathew Mueller put his archery skills to the test as an athlete who lost sight in one eye in a vehicle accident. He said the games give him a chance to enjoy competing with other wounded warriors and make adjustments in aiming arrows without using what used to be his dominant eye.

“My goal is to make the warrior team and push myself to the limits and see what I can do,” Mueller said. “It definitely gives me some challenges, but it’s something I have to live with every day now.”

Contact Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308. Follow @KeithRogers2 on Twitter.