英语报刊选读 读者文摘原文版INSPIRING STORIES (5)

Running for Vets: 100 Miles Left to Go!

Each of us has our own way of celebrating July 4. Retired Marine Jamie Summerlin will pay homage to our country resting up for the final leg of his 100-day jog across America. Since setting off from Coos Bay, Oregon, Summerlin has run over 3,300 miles to raise money and awareness for a number of veteran organizations

close to his heart.

Summerlin fell in love with running while

in training for his first marathon in 2009.

He was inspired to make a cross-country

run for vets because “I wanted to do

something for my military brothers and

sisters who needed a lot more exposure

and awareness than they were getting,” he

said.

City by city, Summerlin’s old Marine pals have picked up the race in support of his mission to help support the Wounded Warriors Project for disabled vets as well as two other vet groups in his home state of West Virginia. So far he has raised $40,000. Although the trip has been trying—Summerlin has run in some extreme weather conditions and with a shin injury—it has been an honor, he said.

On the 100th day of his run, Summerlin will celebrate the holiday in Annapolis, Maryland with his family and friends. But it does not end there. On July 5th, he will hit the road for another 100 miles, to officially finish in Delaware’s Rehobeth Beach.

Wounded Warriors Participate in Soldier Ride

A cycling event helps veterans restore their physical and emotional well-being.

Toby Montoya had made a promise to his best friend, Sgt. Kenneth Rahm of the Illinois National Guard, that if Rahm ever deployed, Montoya would go with him. So when Rahm’s unit was called up, Montoya put in a transfer from the New Mexico National Guard and the two men were deployed to Afghanistan together.

In 2009, Montoya’s vehicle was hit by a

roadside bomb. As a result of the

explosion, Montoya is wheelchair bound,

suffers from a traumatic brain injury and

a degenerative disk disease, and has lost

about 30 percent of his peripheral vision

in both eyes.

This year, Montoya reunited with the

members of his unit for the first time since leaving Afghanistan to participate in Soldier Ride, a cycling event organized by the nonprofit Wounded Warrior Project to help veterans restore their physical and emotional well-being. Soldier Ride is being held in 12 cities in 2012: Miami & Key West, Tampa, Jacksonville, Washington, DC, Chicago, New York, Seattle, North Fork, Phoenix, Nashville, San Antonio, and Landstuhl, Germany.

“I officially came home,” said Montoya. “We’ve never not finished anything together. I’m not worried about finishing today. This is a brotherhood.”

A Blind Soldier Swims to Win

This summer, America has an extraordinary opportunity to cheer on one of our country’s wounded warriors, Lt. Bradley Snyder, as he swims for the gold at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.

I was deeply moved by author Bill Briggs’ inspiring three-part piece on the 28-year-old Navy lieutenant, who was serving in Afghanistan as an “explosive ordinance demolition specialist”—military jargon for “bomb defuser”—last fall. After rushing to the aid of two wounded Afghan soldiers, he was blinded by an IED blast.

During his recovery, Snyder sought

comfort from the frustrations of physical

therapy in the smoothness of his

swimming strokes. He began training for

the Paralympic Games, both to challenge

other blind swimmers and to prove that his