What do Move United Warfighters and Ambassadors have in common with Star Wars? A recap of the 2022 Warfighters Sports Gala at The Plaza

Last year, The Warfighters sports Gala was aptly timed with the 20th anniversary of 9-11, which as you’ll find and read, many of the Move United Warfighters were called to duty because of, and/or served and deployed during the 9-11 era. I was one of those as I was just up the Hudson when the planes hit the towers and deployed overseas a couple times there after losing a limb on a deployment. However, during this year’s Gala, we were once again timed in concert with other monumental events—those being the conclusion of pride month, which honors the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. The Stonewall Uprising was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. Disturbing that the LGBTQ community was not only unable to congregate in fashions commensurate with their fellow humans, but opened themselves up to harsh treatment and discrimination when they did.

That being said, in the vein of inclusivity, disabled individuals are another segment of society that is often subject to discriminatory practices—in fact 1 in 4 disabled individuals experience discrimination daily. I’ve been fortunate that in this COVID bubble I’ve been in, the only discrimination that I’ve been privy to is my children hiding my leg from my bedside. However, there are some real palpable discriminatory practices the disabled community faces. And the community is not a small one-- roughly 1 in 10 people have a disability. This discrimination manifests in horrifying ways—for example:

·????We see higher truancy rates in school (90% of children with a disability do not attend school)

·????Hiring practices are skewed- ?1 in 3 employers say a disabled candidate cannot perform the job required

·????And the overall poverty rate is 47% (compared to a population norm of 12%)

These are detrimental statistics that Move United helps mitigate through the power of sport. Sport is a unifying?factor of schooling—if sports education is more inclusive, it is likely school attendance for disabled individuals would climb. And how often do sports and recreation come up in an interview as it is health promoting and a sign that as an employee, you have an outlet to relieve stress in a healthy way, and leverage fitness to add capacity? That being said, you can almost directly correlate sport to improving hiring statistics as well. That being said, the work Move United does for its Warfighters, and disabled at large is crucial to society!

As I moved to introduce the Move United Warfighters this year that would be giving testimonials, I provided the adage that many of us make the mistake of treating employees like family, and treating your family like employee as the reason to why I chose to introduce the Warfightes in the way that I had in years past as I often do to educate my employees-- leveraging the power of lessons I learn on Netflix or in the most recent Disney movie! With the Secretary of the Air Force, the honorable Mr. Kendall in attendance, and with the Space Force under the purview of the United States Air Force, it was only fitting that we leveraged a "Space" themed series to introduce our Warfighters. That being said, we chose a Star Wars framework-- as it seemed more fitting with dignitaries in that room than Space Balls!

For Eric Alva, given his poise, his legislative feats, political acumen and achievement as an adopted mentor and guardian just like the good Senator, it was only fitting to align Eric to Senator Organa!

Eric?Alva?(Staff Sergeant, U.S.?Marine Corps, retired)

Eric’s father, Fidelis, served in the Vietnam War, and his grandfather, also Fidelis, served in World War II and the Korean War.

Eric enlisted in the Marine Corps and his unit was among the first to cross the border into Iraq for the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Three hours into the ground war, near Basra, while stepping out of his vehicle,?Alva?triggered a landmine.

The explosion threw him 15 feet, and left him with a broken left leg, severely nerve-damaged broken right arm and a badly injured right leg that was later amputated. He was the first American wounded in the war, and the war’s first Purple Heart recipient.

Eric was also among the first warfighters Move United served from Operation Iraq Freedom, learning how to ski and scuba dive.

After 13 years of military service,?Alva?went back to college to finish his degree. On February 28, 2007, he joined Congressman Martin Meehan in introducing the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, a bill designed to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

With this step, he openly admitted to the military and the world that he is gay, and one that had served and proudly sacrificed for his country.?

Since the repeal,?Alva?now focuses on diversity in the workplace, In 2010, he authored a book about his experience:?Radical Courage: How One Marine's Sacrifice Helped Change America

Among Eric’s awards and recognitions for his service is the 2003 Heroes and Heritage Award from La Raza, the 2004 Hero’s Among Us award from People magazine, the 2004 Patriot Award from the city of San Antonio, and the 2008 Public Citizen Award from the National Association of Social Workers.?

Eric graduated with his Master’s in Social Work in 2009 and today works at The University of Texas at San Antonio.?He is a Move United Warfighter Ambassador?and a member of Move United’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leadership Committee.

Our next Warfighter flew on the Ghost as part of part of then Captain, and now retired General Syndulla’s crew, Grazeb Orrellios better known as Zeb (or Max). Like Zeb, Max likes to throw heavy things, and is a fearless friend and comrade! I also had to align Max with Zeb, as his battle buddy shares a name with one of my fellow Move United Board Member’s all-star son, Ezra Frech! Every time I see how Ezra is able to move as a single above the knee amputee, as the Paralympian he is, I think he must be using the force.?

Max?Rohn?(Hospital Corpsman, U.S. Navy, retired)

While serving in Iraq as a Navy Corpsman as part of a U.S. Marine Corps convoy,?Max?was injured when his Humvee was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.

He suffered injuries to his arm, legs, along with a traumatic brain injury.?Max?was sent to Walter Reed Military Medical Center and over 4 years underwent 15 operations on his right leg. Doctors were eventually forced to amputate the limb below the knee. He was awarded the Purple Heart.

Max?is an accomplished adaptive athlete and has won numerous medals at the international Invictus Games, including gold medals in the discus and shot put.?

Max?was also a member of the U.S. Paralympic Track and Field national team in 2013 for shot put. Today,?Max?snowboards and participates in other adaptive sports.

Max?studied bioengineering at Pennsylvania State University with the hopes of pursuing a career in prosthetic technology. He is a Move United Warfighter Ambassador.

And last but not least, for our final Warfighter, as a fierce Mama bear, and Queen to so many given her amazing feats of grit done with grace as a true royal, it was only fitting to align Sarah Evans with none other than Queen Amidala!

Captain?Sarah?Evans, U.S.?Air?Force (retired)

Sarah?was commissioned in the Air Force in 2008 after graduating from The Citadel. Her first assignment was to Malmstrom AFB, Great Falls, Montana, as the Financial Analyst for the 341st Security?Forces Group. She went on to become the Financial Services Officer for the base.?

Evans?then deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan with US?Forces Afghanistan in October 2011. While deployed, she served as the program manager for the Afghan Reintegration Program. She earned a Joint Service Achievement Medal for her service in Afghanistan.

In January 2012, doctors at Bagram?Air?Base, Afghanistan discovered a large mass in her left hip. She was medevac’d to San Antonio Military Medical Center where she was diagnosed with a high grade osteosarcoma, or Stage III bone cancer. This eventually led to the amputation of her left leg.?

Sarah?has participated in a wide range of summer and winter adaptive sports.?

She won a Warrior Games Bronze Medal for swimming and three Invictus Games medals for cycling, shot put and discus. She has also climbed Mt Kilimanjaro and completed the very difficult 26.2 mile Bataan Memorial Death March in New Mexico.?

Sarah?serves as a Move United Ambassador.

These represent just a few amazing examples of Warfighters who are benefactors of Move United-- an organization that provides another kind of freedom and independence, as we think to those themes on this holiday. There are tens of thousands who can not only thank their personal freedom, but some their lives and livelihood on account of this organization-- I've been blessed for the last decade to be a small part of the fabric of this organization, and look forward to continuing to be so though perhaps more behind the scenes for years to come!