Free Republic

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – An Afghan insurgent's homemade bomb shattered Marc Esposito's lower legs, broke his back and knocked him cold for four days. But the Air Force staff sergeant says the worst part was being torn from his Special Operations teammates who stayed in the field after he was evacuated. A year later, Esposito says, he's found a new team fighting a different kind of battle — the U.S. military's first Warrior Games for wounded servicemen and women at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. "Just like you would in a wartime scenario or a battlefield, you...

FAIRFAX, Va., March 25, 2010 – Doctors once told Matthew Bilancia that playing sports and competing in athletic competition would be difficult, if not nearly impossible. Air Force veteran Matthew Bilancia rides a spin bike during a workout March 24, 2010, at a health club in Fairfax, Va. Bilancia is training up for the inaugural Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 10-14. DoD photo by Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. But the Air Force veteran is defying those odds with a demanding workout regimen and by being selected to participate in...