First Amputee Graduates From The SWCS Sniper Course

Photo: Staff Sgt. John W. Walding stands in front of a Special Forces training facility on Fort Bragg, N.C. after graduating the Special Forces Sniper Course July 16. Walding's right leg is prosthetic; he lost his leg in 2008 while serving with a Special Forces unit in Afghanistan. (Photo by Caroline Goins, USAJFKSWCS Public Affairs Office)

Recovery In His Sights: SF Soldier Becomes First Amputee To Graduate SWCS Sniper Course -- USASOC

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, July 23, 2010) – John Wayne has toured Afghanistan and Iraq, hunted grizzly bears in Alaska and earned the Silver Star; and as of July 16, John Wayne is the first one-legged Soldier to graduate the Special Forces Sniper Course.

Staff Sgt. John Wayne Walding of Groesbeck, Texas, that is.

In April 2008, Walding and nine other Special Forces Soldiers from a 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) assault team were attacked by the Hezeb Islami al Gulbadin while searching for insurgents in Afghanistan's Shok Valley.

Walding, one of several team members who were injured, took a bullet through his right leg under his knee.

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My Comment: Stories like this puts everything into perspective. Regardless of how hard life is .... for some it is even harder, and this does not stop them from achieving goals.