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matthewcline

A Promise Kept

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Well, here's something to chew on:
http://www.foxnews.com/specialreport/index.html

Scroll down to the video menu and click on the picture of the parachute... B|



cough *mediawhore* cough. :D

Seriously, that is an awesome piece. Nicely done!
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

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Well, here's something to chew on:
http://www.foxnews.com/specialreport/index.html

Scroll down to the video menu and click on the picture of the parachute... B|



cough *mediawhore* cough. :D

Seriously, that is an awesome piece. Nicely done!



Yeah, you thought once I got out of the hospital it would be over. Well, the team wasn't truly ready for the cameras that would follow... B| hehehe...I'm their media relations guy too....:P:D
So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

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A cut copy and paste of the other bit of news on Max last week.

April 9, 2007
Section: NEWS
Page: 1A


Paratrooper still soaring after bomb took his leg
CHANTAL ESCOTO
Staff

By CHANTAL ESCOTO

The Leaf-Chronicle

Spc. Max Ramsey has a zest for life and isn't going to let something like a missing limb keep him down.

Ramsey lost his left leg in Iraq to a roadside bomb on March 1, 2006, but he continues to fly high with the 101st Airborne Division Parachute Demonstration Team.

He has made 403 jumps — 40 of those since February while wearing his prosthetic leg.

The decision to let him stay on the team didn't depend on if he could jump, but if he could keep up with the strenuous rigors of parachuting.

"He had to make some minor changes, but his flying ability is fine," said team leader Staff Sgt. Dewey Vinaya. "One of the biggest things he wanted to do was come back.

"He had joined the team right before we deployed. The Army has always talked about families are first and soldiers are family. He's a great recruiter and narrator."

Ramsey, 37, says he has the best job in the world.

"Where else can you go where they pay you to jump out of an (aircraft)," he said.

Although his life will never be quite the same, he knows he still has lots of life left in him.

Attack changes life

"When I got hit, I was conscious the whole time. I remember everything," said Ramsey, recalling when the up-armored humvee lifted off the ground and slammed down while he was in the gun turret.

"When I fell back I felt an impact on my knee. It was at night, and I couldn't feel my lower leg."

When he finally saw the silhouette of his lower limb, he knew it was gone.

He already was making plans.

"I was preparing mentally for that," said Ramsey, then with the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment.

For the next 10 months, Ramsey worked twice as hard to get back to a normal life and to his wife of two years, Ayako.

He joined the Army in 2004 and already had many jumps under his belt and had traveled throughout the country.

The Army was just part of his master plan of what he wanted to do. His advice for anyone facing major challenges is not to focus on what you can't do, but what you can do.

"You really have to take the initiative and not succumb to the tragedy," Ramsey said.

The treatment he received at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was excellent and the camaraderie was the key to his quick recovery, he added.

It wasn't easy, though.

"Everything's harder for me. It takes me twice as long to get things done," he said.

So, what's next for Spc. Ramsey?

"I'll stay on the team as long as they'll let me," he said.

Although Ramsey can retire medically anytime, he assures everyone that won't be the end.

"I'll probably return to the private sector and run a business that helps the community, and then I'll run for public office."

Chantal Escoto covers the military and can be reached by telephone at 245-0742 or by e-mail at [email protected].
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

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