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wwTwfha.caeeebrBootoeekca.hcncoemow/nsT.ecaommM/maarrcchharb October 2, 2015 5
ESPYs honor retired Army Master Sgt. King
by George A. Smith
AFN Broadcast Center Public Affairs to you, it’s what you do about it.” U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Rob Harnden
What King has shown people is losing your
When retired Master Sgt. Cedric King came Retired Master Sgt. Cedric King speaks with American Forces
to watch the professional athletes arrive on the legs doesn’t mean you’ve lost everything. He Network about what it means to be a challenged athlete.
Red Carpet of ESPN’s Excellence in Sports puts on his artificial limbs and runs.
Performance Awards (ESPYS) in Los Angeles,
California, little did he know he would be join- “I’ve completed the Boston Marathon twice,
ing the stars on the crimson ribbon of honor. finished the New York Marathon and I finished
my first Iron Man Half-Marathon,” said King.
It all started when the American Forces
Network’s (AFN’s) Air Force Staff Sgt. Rob ESPN honored athletes such as King in its
Harnden and Marisa Gaona saw King in his award ceremony, not just on the Red Carpet.
dress blues watching the stars arrive on the The Best Male Athlete with a Disability Award
Red Carpet. It was easy to pick King out from went to Triathlon competitor Krige Schabort.
the crowd. He was the only one in his Army The Best Female Athlete with a Disability
Service Uniform, with a chest full of ribbons Award went to swimmer Becca Meyers.
and in a wheelchair.
Athletes walking down the Red Carpet ac-
After AFN interviewed Master Sgt. King, knowledged King too. They shook his hand.
two Los Angeles TV stations came over to in- They posed for photos. They thanked him for
terview the former Soldier and the ESPN staff service and sacrifice. But the star athletes were
gave him a place of honor on the Red Carpet. honoring far more than just King. He was the
visible, unofficial representative of his uni-
King, formerly with the 82nd Airborne Divi- formed brothers and sisters who have served, or
sion, an infantryman and Airborne Ranger, lost still serve.
his legs to an improvised explosive device dur-
ing his third deployment while on patrol July Scores of athletes, such as former boxers
25, 2012 in Afghanistan. Laila Ali and Evander Holyfield, took time on
camera to give AFN messages of support for
“Today we are coming out and supporting all U.S. military personnel now serving their coun-
of the ‘challenged athletes’ doing great things,” try. But it was a former Soldier whose thoughts
said King. “Coming back from the battlefield resonated just as strongly.
and showing people it’s not about what happens
“Life dealt me a bad hand of cards,” said
Master Sgt. King, “but it doesn’t give you an
excuse to play a bad game.”
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