Posted on 04/12/2005 6:00:46 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER, WASHINGTON - Members of the NFL's Denver Broncos football team and the team's cheerleader squad came to visit recovering war wounded at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. and National Navel Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. on April 7.
"We came to show our support for our heroes," said one player. He was speaking of the same group of "heroes" that former NFL football player Pat Tillman belonged to before he was killed while serving in the Global War o Terrorism in Afghanistan — the United States military.
"This has been a very emotional visit," said Teresa Shear, the team's cheerleader director. She said the team, cheerleaders and other officials flew to the Washington area from Denver just to visit the troops. "We are very glad we could come out."
The players included Jake Plummer, quarterback, John Lynch, safety, Jeb Putzier, tight end, and Bradlee Van Pelt, quarterback.
Cheerleaders included Renee Herlocker, Holly Baacke and Kelly Troester.
Wearing their blaze-orange jerseys, the players visited Walter Reed's occupational and physical therapy clinics where they met with patients who had everything from blast injuries to gunshot wounds and an assortment of other injuries.
While at Walter Reed the players also visited patients in the hospital's Ward 57. After a mid-day visit to the naval hospital, they return to Walter Reed's Mologne House where they gave out and autographed Broncos jerseys, hats, toy footballs, team photos and cheerleader calendars.
Two Walter Reed patients, who were Rangers who served with Tillman in Afghanistan, shared their fond memories of the fallen hero with Plummer, who was a close friend to and teammate of Tillman when they played for the Arizona Cardinals.
Plummer seemed to be touched by the Soldiers' kind words, and said he had heard about Tillman's popularity among his fellow Soldiers. He said Tillman was also liked by his teammates in the NFL.
The Broncos visited wounded troops at Walter Reed for about six hours that, and before leaving said they wished there was more time they could have spent here.
Ping!
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