Bush jogs with man wounded in Afghanistan

The Miami Herald ^ | 4/13/04 | AP staff

[CFW]

WASHINGTON - President Bush, fulfilling a 15-month-old promise, scheduled a jog around the South Lawn Wednesday with a soldier badly wounded in Afghanistan.

During a Jan. 17, 2003 visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Bush met Staff Sgt. Michael McNaughton of Denham Springs, La.

On Jan. 8, McNaughton, a member of the Louisiana National Guard, had stepped on a land mine 30 miles north of Kabul. His right leg had to be removed above the knee, he lost two fingers on his right hand and he suffered shrapnel wounds in his left leg.

The president and McNaughton talked about running, and Bush promised to run with the soldier when he was "fully recovered and able to run with his prosthetic leg," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

Bush has been plagued by knee troubles, but has been doing light running in recent weeks, McClellan said. "He's following his doctor's advice to just do it as he can," McClellan said.

The president has been doing more bicycling, and took some bicycle rides while spending last week at his Crawford, Texas ranch, McClellan said.

The track on the South Lawn, installed by President Clinton and upgraded during Bush's term, is covered by a shock-absorbing material.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

When I took the PT test for the Seattle PD in January we had an Army vet (not yet discharged) testing with us. He had his leg blown off by an RPG below the knee and had been wearing a prothetic leg for about 4 months.

He had no trouble with the pt test and I asked him if I could draft behind him on the 1 1/2 mile run.

I thanked him for his sacrifice and service. I'm not sure if anyone would hire him.

He of course considers himself lucky because he has his knee so he can do a lot more stuff than others that lost more of hteir legs.

[rj45mis]

Wow, I can't wait to see this splashed all over the main networks tonight! Oh, wait...this doesn't get shown of conservatives...my bad! The sick thing about this reality is that Clintoon would have notified every ews reporter and journalist that matters to liberals and had his photo-op. Bush doesn't even care if anyone else knows that he's doing a good deed.

[dirtboy]

He of course considers himself lucky because he has his knee so he can do a lot more stuff than others that lost more of hteir legs.

Prosthetics are getting quite advanced nowadays. A friend of mine from high school got hit by a motorboat at age 15, and after trying to save his lower leg for years ended up having it amputated below the knee. He later went on to set the record for the fastest climb of all fifty high points in the country - including McKinley, Ranier, Hood, Granite Peak, Gannett Peak and Borah Peak, all difficult climbs.