It’s been said that the only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible. That’s exactly what a travel team of amputee war veterans did on Sunday when they hit the softball field at Alicia Park.
The Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team travels the country taking on able-bodied challengers to show how injured war veterans can return to normal life. Sunday’s event, hosted by residents Victor and Eileen Gonzalez and the City of Mission Viejo, benefited the softball team made up of veterans who lost a limb serving our nation in the military, Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The team was founded by David Van Sleet, an Army veteran and 30-year Department of Veterans Affairs employee who now works in prosthetics for the VA.
Pitted against the Orange County Veterans & First Responders Softball team, the players demonstrated that it’s not about who wins or loses the game but how it’s played. It’s about inspiring others and getting a second chance to be an athlete.
The day began with Mayor Frank Ury throwing out the first pitch along with Justin Speier from the Los Angeles Angels and Roy Gleason of the LA Dodgers. The game ended with a Warriors 15-13 victory following an extra-inning home run. Lieutenant Colonel Rudolph Janiczek of the Headquarters Battalion of the 1st Marine Division was on hand for the festivities and day that was proclaimed as “January 22, 2012 Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team Day” in the City of Mission Viejo.
Stay tuned to MVTV Channel 30 for a special episode of “Coaches Corner with Paul Higgins,” which was filmed at the game and will feature interviews with several Wounded Warrior teammates and others.
