FEBRUARY 7, 2025 – “Who do you play for? The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!” That memorable line from the movie Miracle on Ice, which captures the spirit of the 1980 Winter Olympics Gold Medal Match between the United States and the Soviet Union, is making a comeback. Service members who make up Team U.S. competing in the first Winter Invictus Games in Vancouver Feb 8-16th caught the fever while training at Lake Placid last month. “While training, we toured the Olympic facilities, including the hockey rink where the U.S. beat the USSR. We watched Miracle on Ice as a team, so we’ve adopted the slogan,” said Team U.S. Co-Captain retired Air Force Colonel Jacquelyn Marty.
The team is together in Tacoma, Washington, for one last training session, and Team U.S. Co-Captain, retired Army Master Sgt. Ivan Morera is taking this opportunity to help his teammates gel but look beyond the competition. “It’s not just a competition but building relationships with these other service members who are also going through a recovery journey. Sharing our stories so we learn from each other on how we deal with our recovery is important. We might exchange ideas and learn how to do things more efficiently by getting to know our fellow competitors, who are all service members. I tell them that building relationships is a key part of our journey.”
The journey to these inaugural Winter Invictus Games is a long but different road for every member of Team U.S. as they are all wounded, injured, or ill, overcoming into their new normal. Adaptive Sports have been their calling card to recovery, and they are about to take the world stage at Whistler in Vancouver. Marty’s journey began after a horrific car accident in 2015. She suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury, and the Air Force pilot credits her then five-year-old son with helping to save her. “He was in the backseat in his car seat and had the little wings protecting his head. Although I don’t remember anything about the accident, he was my hero, and he was able to tell the people who approached our car what our names were, where we were from, and where we were going. He was able to unlock our cell phone and get a hold of my husband,” said Marty, who will compete in Alpine ski, skeleton, indoor rowing, and swimming.
Morera, an Army Green Berret who just retired after 24 years of service, lost his left hand in August 2013 after a suicide bomber in Afghanistan caused his vehicle to crash. He returned to duty and is the first one-handed medic in U.S. military history. He shares his hard times in recovery as a testament to resiliency, especially in adaptive sports. “That’s how resiliency is built through hard times. As we say in special forces, It doesn’t matter how bad it sucks if the weather is bad when it’s freezing, when you’re wet, you’re tired, you have to continue the mission. That’s where resiliency is developed. We must keep going,” said Morera, who will compete in the skeleton, the biathlon, and seated volleyball.
As they continue to strengthen that team bond, they include their pride in representing the red, white, and blue differently. “This is more of a privilege, and I felt that being in uniform was more of a duty. I’m taking it seriously because this is our once-in-a-lifetime deal. I want us to make the best of it, have fun, and make our country proud,” said Marty.
“It’s an absolute honor for me to represent my country. Whether as a Green Beret or an adaptive military athlete, it’s an absolute honor. When I was a small boy, I watched the Olympics, and I was like, I want to do that when I grow up,” said Morera, who admits he wasn’t athletic before his injury, but adaptive sports changed all that.
The same holds for his co-captain, who credits adaptive sports with hope beyond the diagnosis. “That’s so true. You know you have people telling you what you can’t do, and the doctors are telling you all your new limitations. It seems like society is telling you all these things you can no longer do, but here are adaptive sports that show you what you can do! It’s a completely new take on everything and extremely liberating,” said Marty.
Morera says injuries or illness propelled his teammates to adaptive sports, bringing them to Winter Invictus. What they do with it can have lasting, far-reaching effects even more than individual recovery. “A big part of this is setting a positive example to my kids, just showing them what a no-quit attitude looks like. I want them to see that no matter the situation, it doesn’t define who you are. It’s your character and your integrity that defines you. It’s not because I have one hand but because of who I am: willing to fight through and overcome any obstacle. We are Team U.S., and we’re proud.”
Story by MaryTherese Griffin
Army Recovery Care Program