On Friday, March 12 through Sunday, March 14, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki will lead the White House delegation to the opening weekend of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia. The delegation will attend the opening ceremony, meet with U.S. athletes, attend events and meet with other dignitaries and leaders from around the world.
The White House delegation to the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games:
· Eric K. Shinseki, secretary of Veterans Affairs
· David Jacobson, U.S. ambassador to Canada
· Lisa Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
· Kareem Dale, special assistant to the president for disability policy
· Jim Martinson, Vietnam Veteran, 1992 Paralympic gold medalist, downhill skiing
· Mike May, 1984 Paralympic bronze medalist, alpine skiing
· Bonnie St. John, 1984 Paralympic silver medalist and two-time bronze medalist, slalom and giant slalom
· Melissa Stockwell, Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran, 2008 summer Paralympic swimmer
The U.S. Paralympic Team is comprised of 50 athletes from 20 states. They will compete in five sports: alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, sled hockey and wheelchair curling. Five athletes are military Veterans. Three of these Veterans were introduced to adaptive winter sports at VA’s National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. In its 24th year, the clinic teaches adaptive alpine and Nordic skiing to more than 400 disabled Veterans annually. The five Veteran U.S. Paralympians are:
· Heath Calhoun (Grundy, Va.), alpine skiing – retired Army
· Chris Devlin-Young (Campton, N.H.), alpine skiing – retired Coast Guard
· Sean Halsted (Spokane, Wash.), cross country skiing – retired Air Force
· Patrick McDonald (Orangevale, Calif.), wheelchair curling – retired Army
· Andy Soule (Pearland, Texas), cross country skiing and biathlon – retired Army
More details on the Paralympics are available at www.usparalympics.org.
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