Army Sgt. Javier Torres knows all about fighting. Two years ago, he was in Iraq, fighting the enemy. But a bullet to his left leg began another kind of battle for the 22-year-old New York City native ? a fight for survival.
The shattered leg got him out of Iraq and into a room at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C., where he?s been undergoing treatment and rehab for the past several months.
So when the chance came for a night out, Torres and some 40 other recuperating Iraq veterans weren?t about to turn it down. There would be more fighting, but this is the kind Torres and his buddies would welcome: boxing in Baltimore.
This past Thursday, the soldiers were special guests at Michael?s 8th Avenue in Glen Burnie, and they got the full VIP treatment for the night?s action-packed, five-fight card.
“I heard about this, and it sounded like a blast,” Torres said.
Scott Wagner, the owner of Michael?s, describes himself as a dedicated patriot and always signs off from his weekly radio show on WJFK with a salute to our military men and women. And he wasn?t about to turn down an opportunity like this.
“It gives them time away from Walter Reed, and it gives a little something to the men and women who made it back,” Wagner said. “It shows them our appreciation.”
Army Maj. Wiseman, a frequent attendee of Ballroom Boxing at Michael?s, had approached Wagner about getting a discount on 10 tickets for some area veterans at Walter Reed. Wagner gave him 20 tickets. They were snatched up, so Wagner told the major to bring 40 soldiers, or as many as he could.
“Scott was great,” Wiseman said. “He even provided a charter bus for the round trip.”
The fun started way before the opening bell of the night?s first fight, as the soldiers were welcomed to Michael?s by a bevy of Miller Lite beauties handing out beads and whistles.
“Most the time, I?m in my room, hanging out, taking my medicine,” Staff Sgt. Vimas Vega said. “This is amazing.”
Despite being in a neck brace, the 30-year-old native of Brooklyn, N.Y., had no trouble putting on beads that matched his Marcus Allen throwback jersey.
A patient at Walter Reed since 2003, Vega had severely damaged three vertebrae after being thrown from the roof of an armored vehicle.
Until the first fight was under way, most of the vets? attention was spent on the cocktail waitresses and making sure their beer cups were filled. But all that changed when two heavyweight behemoths ? “Big” Phil Brown and “People?s Champion” Jonathan Felton ? entered the ring. Brown won with a thunderous KO punch in the second round, but Vega wasn?t impressed.
“That [guy] is big, but I?d fight him,” he said with a laugh.
The highlight so far? For Torres, the ring girls, no question about it. But all of that was overshadowed by the main event. Just before “Irish” Carson McCourry and Clinton Bonds squared off in a heavyweight showdown, the veterans got their turn in the ring.
And there were tears of joy for how happy they were to be home, tears of sorrow for their friends who never made it. “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Bless the U.S.A.” were sung, and there were salutes and hugs ? a lot of hugs. The crowd cheered.
“Who said men shouldn?t cry?” asked Army Spc. Martin Jackson, a 31-year-old Iraq veteran from Montgomery, Ala., who has been at Walter Reed for more than two years because of a shrapnel wound to his back.
“I had a really, really good time,” Vega said. “I love America, and I am so happy to be back home.”
