Rusty Dogs of War
our history
Rusty Dogs of War is a local 501c3 that is dedicated to helping Veterans Achieve at the highest levels of endurance sports.
I’m a medically disabled veteran and Infantry Officer and West Point Graduate who was discharged from Active Duty in 2019 after a Stryker accident (an 8 wheeled tank basically) demolished my spine in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan and taught me an unforgettable lesson in Newton’s Laws of Motion. (see spine photo)
While I was an aspiring triathlete at the time of my medical discharge with dreams of competing on Team USA and going for the gold for our glorious country, life had other plans for me. The unexpected medical discharge spiraled me into a pretty deep hole mentally and I honestly had given up on ever riding a bike again because of the pain and problems it brought me. Just shooing real straight I didn’t want to live for about 2.5 years and have thankfully turned the corner on that as I’m now moving forward even faster than before. Thankfully with the aid of Wounded Warrior Project in November 2019 I was introduced to my first Recumbent Trike and the rest is history.
The last 3 years I’ve been able to with the aid of ultra-cycling, therapy, a lot of support from family, friends and people just like you show that life doesn’t have to stop post injuries and discharge from the military and my dreams of competing for Team USA can once again become a reality (once I convince the ParaOlympic Committee that Recumbent Trikes are a legitimate platform of competition.
There are many other Veterans with similar stories who have a meaning to life again through adaptive endurance sports and that ability to take them from surviving to thriving is what our nonprofit is dedicated to do. We have many Veterans who have already been aided with donations of recumbent trikes, race fees, cycling kits, equipment, and the like. While the barrier to competition is usually knowledge, cost, and equipment we want to aide in that process in anyway we can and provide a team and family atmosphere focused on peer support and growth