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| Early 4th of July Feel good post: Blind Special Forces soldier: determined to serve |
| 2008-07-01 |
| When Capt. Ivan Castro joined the Army, he set goals: to jump out of planes, kick in doors and lead soldiers into combat. He achieved them all. Then the mortar round landed five feet away, blasting away his sight. "Once you're blind, you have to set new goals," Castro said. He set them higher. Not content with just staying in the Army, he is the only blind officer serving in the Special Forces - the small, elite units famed for dropping behind enemy lines on combat missions. "I am going to push the limits," said the 40-year-old executive officer at the 7th Special Forces Group's headquarters company in Fort Bragg. "I don't want to go to Fort Bragg and show up and sit in an office. I want to work every day and have a mission." Since the war began in Iraq, more than 100 troops have been blinded and 247 others have lost sight in one eye. Only two other blind officers serve in the active-duty Army: one a captain studying to be an instructor at West Point, the other an instructor at the Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. |
| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |
| #3 Zatoichi, the blind swordsman. If you've never seen any of the 26 Zatoichi movies, you are in for a treat. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-07-01 21:52 |
| #2 And the * Not to be confused with the many and fine LADIES of the Rantburg. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-07-01 20:49 |
| #1 Damn. This guy is hard core. |
| Posted by: Rambler in California 2008-07-01 16:54 |