By Tiffany Green
DODGE CITY — Jack Compton of League City, Texas, knows what veterans go through when they are injured. He was once there, training to go to war, when he broke his back.
Compton is riding across the country on his custom made bicycle to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project.
Compton sustained compression fractures in three vertebrae in his lower back with spinal intrusion and a head wound to the left eye and temporal region from shrapnel during a training exercise. After a year of recuperating and relearning things like walking, he went to college and returned to serve his country though a civilian job with the Army Corps of Engineers.
Compton started riding in events for service members about two years ago. Part of his recovery was cycling and he did it often.
“Cycling has been a big part of my mental and physical recovery,” Compton said.
He became involved with the Wounded Warrior Project to give back to young soldiers returning home injured.
The Wounded Warrior Project began a few years ago when a group of veterans were watching the evening news and were moved by the difficult stories of the first wounded veterans arriving from Afghanistan and Iraq.
The project provides needed items for service men and women returning from a tour of duty.
“Basically, if you are injured in the field, you are stripped of everything except your dog tags,” Compton said. “The Wounded Warrior Project was founded by a fellow who started taking backpacks with needed items to the hospital.”
The first fundraiser for the WWP was a bike ride that raised one million dollars.
“My goal is 5.5 million dollars,” he said. “We talked to the large oil companies and government contractors located in Houston and asked them to give back since they are making money from all this. We have gotten some really good sponsors right now.”
Compton started his ride on August 12 in Houston and is hoping to arrive in New York City on September 11 at the World Trade Center Memorial. The trip’s total is about 1,600 miles.
“It’s tough,” he said. “We left Houston were it is flat and now we are riding up and down the hills of Alabama. It is not easy, but I just think there is nobody shooting at us. We live under a blanket of freedom provided by our soldiers. My kids can walk to school and can be safe because of what soldiers are doing.”
Compton rides rain or shine, covering about 62 miles per day and never rides in the car.
“I ride the bike the whole time,” he said.
He has with him two friends. Chuck Gerteis and Sharon Tummins take turns riding with Compton, one riding in the morning and the other in the afternoon. While one is in the care, they go to the next location and look for a hotel or campsite for the three.
Compton said he has enjoyed riding in the South.
“We meet a lot of veterans,” he said. “There’s a lot of service men here in the South and they really take pride in it. The hospitality and support has been really nice.”
To find out more about Compton, visit his blog at www.TXPeddler.blogspot.com.
‰ Tiffany Green can be reached by e-mail at tgreen@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 220.
