‘Miles of Hope’ for Wounded Warriors—And Bike Ride to Gettysburg

An Executives Without Borders fundraiser at the downtown Smith & Wollensky, April 5, benefited wounded warriors and featured Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, former U.S. Administrator to Iraq and current president and CEO of World T.E.A.M. Sports, and Sgt. Rusty Frost of the U.S. Air Force, a double amputee who served in Iraq.

Along with 400 others, Bremer and Frost will take part in “Face of America,” a 110-mile bicycle ride, starting April 16 at the steps of the U.S. Capitol and ending on the battlefield of Gettysburg, Pa., the next day. At least 80 of the riders will be military members who were wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan. (The first-day miles will take riders past the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington and over the Key Bridge to Georgetown and up Canal Road towards Frederick, Md.)

At the fundraiser, the upbeat Frost, who suffered through 30 surgeries and recovered at Walter Reed Hospital, said he loved bicycling across the country. “The best thing to do [for recovery] is to get out of the room, off your crutches,” he said. “I can’t lose any more feet.” Frost, who met his wife Catherine at Walter Reed (“I could not run away from her.”), said his vehicle was hit in Samarra, Iraq. His job? Ironically: Explosive Ordnance Disposal. And his opinion of the film, “The Hurt Locker”? “I laughed the whole time,” Frost said. “We’re professionals. There’s no time to be a lone wolf.”

Look for the bicyclists coming over Key Bridge at M Street early Saturday morning—and salute some real American heroes.