Posted on 10/15/2008 12:13:25 PM PDT by BenLurkin
LANCASTER - A fundraising poker run has been set for the Veterans Day weekend to help a local veteran who was catastrophically wounded when his M-1 Abrams tank was blown up in Baghdad.
Jerral Hancock, 22, was trapped in the tank - which was hit by a powerful explosive - and paralyzed from the chest down, losing his arm and almost all mobility.
The attack occurred on Memorial Day 2001, which was Hancock's 21st birthday.
Registration for the Nov. 8 event starts at 8 a.m. in front of MGS Custom Motorcycles, 104 East Ave. K-4, just off Division Street.
Riders or drivers in a poker run draw one card at each stop and try to make the best five-card poker hand, with the top hands winning prizes.
Richard Griffis, a member of the Patriot Guard motorcycle group that provides volunteer escorts and "welcome home" ceremonies for veterans, said he wanted to organize something that would help Hancock and his family.
"I heard he wanted to meet up with his buddies and wasn't able to get there," Griffis said.
Before he was disabled, Hancock was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, and has wanted to visit with friends from the unit. The other tank crew members escaped the burning M-1 tank with much lighter injuries from the explosively formed penetrator, or EFP, a sophisticated munition that has penetrated even advanced U.S. armored vehicles.
"I got some buddies from Vietnam who got hit as bad as he did, and we just want to do something to help," Griffis said.
(Excerpt) Read more at avpress.com ...
"VET AIDED - Veteran Jerral Hancock, 22, an Antelope Valley resident, will be the beneficiary of a poker run set up by the Patriot Guard motorcycle group for the Veterans Day weekend. Hancock lost an arm, most of his mobility and was paralyzed from the chest down when his M-1 Abrams tank was blown up in Baghdad." GENE BRECKNER/Valley Press files
Lancaster CALIFORNIA
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