No Man Left Behind

Ben Baltz, 11 Years Old, Is Carried Across The Finish Line by
Marine Private First Class Matthew Morgan, 19 years old
(Photo taken by Kim Baltz)

I heard about this story on the radio yesterday.  It touched me--not just because I love doing triathlons--but because it's the type of "feel-good", inspirational story that we need more of these days.  I later stumbled across the story on the net and felt like I had to share it!

Here's the gist of what happened:

Ben Baltz is 11 years old and he's also a bone cancer survivor.  The cancer took one of his legs.  On Sunday, he was competing in a triathlon in Pensacola, Florida (the Sea Turtle Tri).  Ben completed the swim and bike portions without any problems, but during the run, a screw in his prosthetic leg came loose and fell off.  Ben fell down as well.

Pfc. Matthew Morgan, a United States Marine (from San Diego) who was volunteering at the event came over to help.  Ben struggled to fix his prosthetic leg but realized he couldn't do it on his own.  At that point in time, Mathew picked Ben up and said: "Hey, you're going to be taken home by the Marines today."

Other Marines who were volunteering lined up into a column of twos and they all ran to the finish together.

I loved this quote from Pfc. Morgan: "He was going to finish the race no matter what, but I told him to jump on and we finished the race together," Morgan said."

You can read the full story here.

The Marine Volunteers from the Camp Pendleton Triathlon

The story reminded me of the many Marines that volunteer at the Camp Pendleton Triathlon that our family does every year.  I've always admired them and this story and made me more grateful for their efforts as well as the efforts of all of the other volunteers of the many races that I've done (especially all the volunteers from the St. George Ironman!).

I love the challenge of doing these races, but I love even more the inspiration that people like Ben Baltz--as he conquers the challenges in his life--and Pfc. Matthew Morgan--as he reminds us of that quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln--give us:

"No man stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child."

Semper Fi!