 |
|
|
|
|
Television and movie personality, director, and writer Jon Stewart poses for a selfie with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John M. Richardson and wounded warrior athletes during opening ceremonies for the 2017 Department of Defense Warrior Games at Soldier Field in Chicago, July 1, 2017. (DoD photo by EJ Hersom)
CHICAGO — As comedian Jon Stewart and Navy Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations, announced the official opening of the 2017 Department of Defense Warrior Games here July 1, medically retired Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Sarah Rudder walked-in a hand torch at Soldier Field, where it was passed between teams, with medically retired Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Nate Hamilton lastly using it to light a flame for the games.
About 265 wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans representing teams from the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, U.S. Special Forces Command, United Kingdom and Australian Defense Force are competing here in shooting, archery, cycling, track and field, swimming, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball today through July 8.
Throughout the evening, celebrities including Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson and Stewart offered the athletes praise for their resiliency and thanks for their service.
About 10,000 people attended the opening ceremony. Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel sent a video message.
“On behalf of all Chicagoans, I’m proud to welcome you to the 2017 Warrior Games in the most American of American cities,” he said. “We are thrilled to host our brave heroes and their families here for the Department of Defense Warrior Games. This year marks the first time the DoD games are being held off of a military base, and there’s no place better to kick off the games than right here in Chicago, a city that loves sports at Soldier Field, named in honor of our veterans, our military and their families," Emanuel said.
“Tonight, we honor 265 wounded warrior athletes who have trained for months on end, overcoming the odds to compete for gold in several sports,” the mayor said. “For the next week, I encourage you to cheer on these inspiring athletes as they demonstrate their courage and resiliency all across our city and while you’re here, I encourage you and your families to visit Navy Pier, which trained sailors for two world wars and explore the remarkable culture Chicago has to offer and all our beautiful neighborhoods. Thank you warriors for your service and sacrifice. Enjoy Chicago and the Warrior Games.”
Navy Chief Petty Officer Robin Elkington, Australian Defense Force, said the Australian team has felt welcomed by the American forces and by the people of Chicago.
“The Warrior Games is all about recovery and rehabilitation and eventually reintegration into our services and back into our normal lives. It’s beautiful and brilliant to see,” Elkington said. “I hope it really continues and that we can continue to be strong as allied nations. [The support is] sensational. I can’t thank first of all the American services individually and collectively and the city of Chicago as a whole enough. They have made us feel very welcome, and I’d really like to thank the people of the United States of America for having us here for this event. It’s wonderful.”
Disclaimer: Re-published content may have been edited for length and clarity. Read more from the original post.
|
|
|
Army Staff Sgt. John Blaz, Interservice Respiratory Therapy Program instructor at the Medical Education and Training Campus, Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, asks a student to pick from a deck of cards during a magic trick he performed for his students in class. (U.S. Army photo by David DeKunder)
SAN ANTONIO — It’s been several years since Army Staff Sgt. John Blaz performed his last magic show, but the Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston medical instructor is still performing magic for a captive audience – his students.
Blaz, Interservice Respiratory Therapy Program instructor at the Medical Education and Training Campus at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, uses magic to connect to his students by doing a variety of tricks at the start of each class.
 Army Staff Sgt. John Blaz, Interservice Respiratory Therapy Program instructor, performs a magic trick for his students in which he lights a piece of paper that turns into money during class. (U.S. Army photo by David DeKunder)
Blaz said he likes performing magic tricks for the students because it is a good icebreaker and it gets the students into the mindset of learning.
“First and foremost, I love the Army and I love serving,” he said. “I love being an instructor in the field of respiratory therapy. Magic is a tool that I apply to enhance and stir up the imagination before I start teaching. Hopefully, it gets them more mentally prepared, or more open and receptive to learning.”
The son of an Army veteran, Blaz said his love for magic started at the age 10, when he saw a magician perform at a shopping center in Guam, where he grew up.
“He made birds appear, he did a whole bunch of tricks, and that started my interest,” Blaz said.
After watching the magician perform, Blaz’s curiosity in the craft of magic grew. He went to the library where he read books on magic and how it was performed.
“The more and more I learned, the more I fell in love with the art of magic,” he said.
Blaz started performing at birthday parties and school functions when he was 12 years old. At the age of 14, he was inducted into the International Brotherhood of Magicians, the world’s largest organization for both professional and amateur magicians.
After graduating from high school, Blaz became a professional magician on a dinner boat in Guam, performing seven days a week. He did that for four years before he decided to join the Army at the age of 22.
Blaz has served for 17 years in the Army, enlisting as an infantryman. He served in combat deployments in Afghanistan, Iraqi and Africa before being becoming a respiratory therapist in 2005. Blaz has been a respiratory therapist for 11 years and has been a METC instructor for a year.
While Blaz loved being a magician and performing tricks, he said he felt the call to serve in the military, especially since it ran in his bloodlines.
His father had served in Vietnam, receiving the Distinguished Service Cross award for his actions in combat, and Blaz’s grandfather, who served in the U.S. Navy, was a member of the Insular Force Guard, a unit formed by the Navy in 1941 to defend Guam before the start of World War II. When Japan invaded and took over the island in December 1941, his grandfather became a prisoner of war.
U.S. forces liberated Guam in 1944 after three years of Japanese occupation.
“I have always had a desire to serve,” Blaz said. “Growing up in Guam, where there is a lot of patriotism, I felt it was time for me to serve my country.”
Blaz said magic is about making people feel that anything is possible.
“Magic sparks wonder,” he said. “It kind of stuns your mind: How is it possible in the moment? I’m trying to captivate the audience for a moment and suspend their disbelief. For a second they snap out of their reality; it’s like an escape for a second. I love watching a good magic show or magic trick.”
Disclaimer: Re-published content may have been edited for length and clarity. Read original post.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
VA Office of Economic Opportunity in Washington, D.C., United States for Friday, 7 July 2017 "BLS Data - June 2017 and 2nd Quarter 2017"
No comments:
Post a Comment