Missy Franklin, Lt. Brad Snyder and Prince Harry lit the cauldron for the 2013 Warrior Games last weekend. (Army photo)
Lt. Brad Snyder, a former explosive ordnance disposal technician blinded by a blast in Afghanistan, lit the cauldron during the 2013 Warrior Games opening ceremony May 11.
At the 2012 Warrior Games, Snyder won four gold medals in swimming and three gold medals in track and field events. Later that year, he went on to win two gold and one silver medal in swimming at the 2012 London Paralympics just one year after the improvised explosive device blinded him in Afghanistan in September 2011.
“I am humbled by the opportunity to still be a part of something very near and dear to my heart,” Snyder said in a Defense Department release. “The Warrior Games have already had an impact on so many lives, and I am truly honored to represent the U.S. Navy in broadening the event.”
While lighting the Warrior Games flame, Snyder was joined by Missy Franklin, who won four gold medals in swimming at the London Olympics, and Prince Harry, who also visited Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia and Walter Reed National Medical Center Bethesda, Md., during his trip to America.
Snyder (center) said that he was “humbled by the opportunity” to light the cauldron at the Warrior Games with Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin (left) and Prince Harry. (Army photo)
