Ride To Recovery

Alright, first things first. Some of you may remember helping my friend Dave Folwell out a few years ago in his effort to raise money to donate to "Hope for the Warriors" as he ran the Marine Corps Marathon.

Well, get the wallets out, it's time again. My good friend, Clay Hunt, is participating in a ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, along with hundreds of other veterans, celebrities, and professional bicyclists, in an effort to raise mon

ey that will be used to purchase rehabilitative bikes for wounded warriors. Believe me, the cause is a good one.

Clay has been one of my best friends during my time in the Marine Corps. We deployed to Iraq together, where he unfortunately was wounded, shot by an enemy sniper. After having been heavy into biking his whole life, the injury prevented him from riding for 18 months. He rehabbed his wrist, toughed it through Sniper School alongside me, and deployed again with me last year to Afghanistan.

Clay is now out of the Marine Corps but is still very active in Veteran's efforts. He is a member of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and through the IAVA has found this opportunity to combine both his passions into a good, noble cause. He will be making the ride specifically in honor of our good friends who were horribly wounded in Afghanistan this past year- Kevin Colbert, Joe Piram, and Anthony Villareal. Colbert broke both his legs and was badly burned when his humvee struck an IED that killed four other brothers from out previous platoon. Joe and Anthony were horribly burned in a similar incident a few weeks later. All three are still recovering in San Antonio over one year after the events.

Please take the time to explore the program and consider donating to this cause.

You can find the website HERE

And an article on the ride HERE

And remember, all donations are tax deductible, so it's just another way to keep Obama's grubby hands off of it. THANKS!

Alright, alright, I admit, I've been slacking big time on the posts and updates. No excuse really, I haven't exactly left the couch in five weeks.

Here's a quick run down, I'll expand on a lot of them later.

• I finished up my initial 4 weeks of convalescent leave and went back to Pendleton for a check up. Status: still not fused. Result: I asked and received 4 more weeks of convalescent leave. For the first time in my four years I feel like I'm getting the better end of a Marine Corps deal. (of course I'm still on crutches though...)
• I FINALLY have been promoted to Sergeant. Yes, the Marine Corps finally decided that I should wear the rank of the job I have been serving under for the last 3 years. Too little too late? Yeah, I have to admit I'm still a little jaded by the BS that went into it. The whopping $200 raise really pads the pocket book though.
• The Six Man Volleyball Tourney in Manhattan Beach was incredible and everything I was hoping for, except that I had to do it on crutches. I seriously thought I may have had to amputate my foot with how swollen it got.
• I have been working furiously on my graduate school applications. Stanford and USC are done, Northwestern and UCLA are in the works.
• Last night I booked my first big trip, which I'll be taking in November to South America. I'll write up a good post on this one, because it's a pretty intense 3 week jaunt.

That's about it. Well, I guess I should probably add that I've become fat and lazy too, just sitting around on a couch all day.