Jim Souhan: A tortuous, rewarding transition for Paralympian

On an operation in Tikrit, Iraq, in 2003, Army Specialist Scott Winkler grabbed a load of ammunition off the back of a truck. One of the powerful bands that held the ammo in place snapped, catching his foot and yanking him violently to the ground.

"It was a hot zone, so we were in full battle rattle," Winkler said. "I landed, and I looked down, and my lower torso was totally turned around. To put it politely, my butt was up front."

Monday, Winkler took fifth in his division of the shot put at the Paralympic Games in Beijing. Weeks after the Closing Ceremonies concluded the 2008 Beijing Olympics, disabled athletes are competing with every ounce of pride and fervor of those who took the international stage in August, and with little of the recognition.

I met Winkler this spring in Chicago, at a summit for U.S. athletes. He acknowledged that his transition from paralyzed former soldier to proud American athlete was every bit as torturous as you might guess for someone once forced to look down at his own back pockets.

After the injury, the Army airlifted Winkler to Spain, then to Georgia. He developed lesions, probably because sand got into his wounds. He contracted diseases and infections caused by the kinds of surgeries required to put a human being back together.

"It took forever," Winkler said. "I stayed in the hospital for a very long time.

"It's expected. Nothing's perfect in this world."

Once he became weary of sitting around his house lamenting his condition, Winkler, a runner in high school, began playing wheelchair basketball. His teammates told him he was talented enough to attend the 2006 USOC Paralympic Military Sports Camp in Colorado Springs.

The organizers tried out Winkler in every sport imaginable, and to his surprise, he tested well in the shot put and discus. By the time he got home to Augusta, Ga., the organizers had called and invited him onto the Olympic team.

Winkler, 35, drives four hours to Birmingham, Ala., to train each week. Three times, Winkler has set a world record in the shot put.

He now belongs to a nonprofit organization called "Champions From Adversity." He has become a motivational speaker and a symbol of hope for the disabled people he encounters.

He has even visited the White House to be honored by the president.

"As a soldier, we never give up. We go and go and go. The self-motivational drive was always there, so I jumped on board and ran with it.

"When I put that uniform on, it's like I'm a soldier all over again. I stand proud. Well, now I sit proud. I love my country. I would die for my country as a soldier, and now I want to win for my country, as an athlete."

Winkler joined the military because of his admiration for his uncle, who fought in Vietnam and died because of his exposure to Agent Orange.

"I promised him I'd make it to China," Winkler said.

Winkler became the first Iraq veteran to make the U.S. Paralympic team. "Now all kinds of vets are joining up," Winkler said. "This gives you a purpose in life. It gives you a reason to get out of the house. When you're paralyzed, you need that."

"All of the medals I win, they're not for me," he said. "They're for the U.S. My goal in life is to inspire people with disabilities.

"I have a motto. I say, 'If you believe, you can achieve.' It's a great motto, and I've lived up to it so far."