The Story from APM

From the Battlefield to the Fairway

Monday, August 04 2008

From the Battlefield to the Fairway

Sean Lewis golfing - larger >>

Sean Lewis and Michael Bradley became friends at boot camp. They were deployed together to Iraq - Mike was a medic, and Sean was working as a bodyguard.

One day at camp, Mike felt a huge mortar hit and went running towards the site. Two soldiers had been killed. The survivor was Sean, Mike's friend. He'd lost a leg and was bleeding from three major arteries.

Back in the States, almost a year to the day of the incident, Mike and Sean met up at Walter Reed. Mike was working there and being treated for PTSD and a brain injury. Sean was learning to live with one leg. The friends picked up where they left off. They soon found themselves golfing together. Both men find that golf not only strengthens their friendship, it is also helping in their rehabilitation.

• Find out more about the golf program 
• Field audio recording for this program provided by Jamie Squire
• The image of Sean in silhouette was provided by the Salute Military Golf Association. The image was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
  

Pre-Olympic Ceremony

Gianna Horak

Gianna Horak has gone to Beijing to participate in the pre-Olympics ceremonies. Gianna is with the Los Angeles Children's Chorus, but Gianna's story is about more than singing with the choir. Gianna was adopted from China when she was 8 months old and brought to the United States where she was then diagnosed as deaf. This will be Gianna's first trip back to China since being adopted.

• See a photo of Gianna from around the time she was adopted