2006年VOA标准英语-US 'Wounded Warriors' Learn Water Sports Withou

By Kane Farabaugh
Breeze Point, NY
18 July 2006
 
watch Wounded Warriors¹ report
 

Water sports, such as water skiing, are possible for amputees   
  
While modern medicine on the battlefield has helped reduce the number of casualties, close to 20,000 U.S. service members are on the growing list of wounded in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Many of those veterans are returning home as amputees.  As VOA's Kane Farabaugh reports, there is growing hope those veterans can live a normal life back home with the help of projects dedicated² to "wounded warriors".

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The war in Iraq is something Dean Schwartz will live with for the rest of his life.

 
Dean Schwartz 
  
"We were fixing a hole from a roadside bomb that killed two soldiers the week before, and just kind of stayed out too long, and a guy came with an RPG [Rocket Propelled Grenade] and shot it in my truck, and my leg came off instantly," Dean told us.

But don't call Schwartz's amputation³ a disability.  Not here in the waters off Breezy Point in New York.  And not during this water sports festival hosted by the Wounded Warriors Project, the New York City Fire and Police departments, and theAdaptive Sports Foundation, where Kim Seevers works.

"Instead of looking at the amputation as a disability," she says, "we just find their abilities, you know, work around whatever is not happening, try to find what we can use and help them see what is going to be successful and you can pretty much get anybody doing whatever they want to do."

What most veterans want to do is to live a normal life after the war.  While it's harder with an injury and especially without a limb, the water sports festival is one of the first steps in opening the doors to possibilities for those still coping with a life-changing loss.

For Dean Schwartz, living without a leg is a war he continues to fight, even on summer vacation from college -- two years after he served in Iraq.

 
Kim Seevers
  
"My philosophy is if I let it keep me down, they win -- the insurgent⁴ that shot the RPG into me -- he wins, so I try to live my life normally and just stay happy," says Schwartz.

Ms. Seevers adds her perspective.  "A lot of the folks who are here have been in Walter Reed (Army Medical Center), and this is their first opportunity to really get out and see, ‘Now I can still do that and I can still do this,' and yeah, I definitely think it's a gateway⁵ to bigger and better things."

Those bigger and better things begin with the empowerment that comes from the small victories right here on the water… Like water skiing on one leg.

"Seeing someone come out here and be successful," says Seevers, "and seeing how much joy it gives them to be able to do something, to find out if they can water ski again or wakeboard or whatever, that's the cool thing."

Surrounding the wounded veterans is a community of volunteers.  Many have donated time over their summer vacations to improve the quality of life for those struggling to adapt to life on the homefront.

"People care tremendously about this, and if you watch an event like this for five minutes and it doesn't touch your heart, there's something wrong," Seevers says.

1 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

2 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

3 amputation   

n.截肢

参考例句：

• In ancient India,adultery was punished by amputation of the nose.在古代印度，通奸要受到剖鼻的处罚。
• He lived only hours after the amputation.截肢后，他只活了几个小时。

4 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

5 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。