Brad Snyder couldn’t fully appreciate his gold medal ceremony in London in 2012. At the time the swimmer didn’t have any sponsors, his family wasn’t able to attend, the sheer size of the stadium produced a cacophony that overwhelmed his senses, and 12 months prior he had been permanently blinded by an insurgent’s bomb in Afghanistan that ended his career as a Navy special operations officer.
So the American Paralympian and former Naval Academy swimmer found particular satisfaction at his performance in Rio this September. He had only trained for six months leading up to the London games, but this time a newfound focus and an intense training regimen earned him a silver medal and three golds, setting a new world record in the 100-meter freestyle. He developed a greater familiarity with his blindness during the previous four years, and his family’s attendance combined with growing international recognition allowed him to perceive his surroundings in Rio in “high-definition,” he says.
He’s also discovering a new sense of purpose for his life: transitioning from veteran to athlete, and athlete to advocate.
Snyder is one of thousands of wounded veterans who have had to struggle with building new lives after leaving the battlefield. While many veterans may not have gone on to achieve public success — Snyder released a book last month set to be made into a movie starring Joseph Gordon Levitt — they can certainly relate to the need to find a new sense of purpose.
For Snyder, 32, the sheer number of tragedies facing his community is overwhelming. A former master chief he worked with as an explosive ordnance disposal officer killed himself, as did another wartime colleague who commanded a unit of the Navy special operations forces, or SEALs. An active-duty ex-girlfriend committed suicide, and another former commander of his upon returning home became addicted to petty theft.
Aggravating the problem are repeated scandals at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which earlier this month endured reports of gross mismanagement at its suicide hotline.
“It is literally a deadly problem,” Snyder says of those whose lives have been risked by VA mismanagement. “People are literally losing their minds.”
Increased viewership in the Paralympic Games serves as some vindication for Snyder that Americans are becoming interested in how he and other permanently wounded are rebuilding their lives through sports, then using newfound notoriety for some kind of higher purpose or broader cause.
Contributions by veterans who participated in the games was on full display in the weeks following the final closing ceremonies in Rio, including special events throughout Washington, D.C., for the veteran members of the U.S. teams.
“At a time when we have fewer Americans serving, and fewer who are personally connected to those who serve on our behalf, you help us build bridges,” Department of Defense Secretary Ash Carter said at a ceremony for the visiting athletes earlier this month in the Pentagon’s central courtyard. “By competing for Team USA while you serve on Team DOD, you help us connect with our fellow citizens and communities who aren’t as connected as they once were to those who serve and sacrifice on their behalf.”
But it was the ceremony at the White House the same week that caught Snyder’s attention for his own future potential, particularly when President Barack Obama addressed the East Room, filled with athletes. He mentioned Tommie Smith and John Carlos, two sprinters who decided to raise black-gloved fists in support of black citizens’ advocacy at their Olympic medal ceremony during the height of the Civil Rights Movement.
“Their powerful silent protest in the 1968 Games was controversial, but it woke folks up and created greater opportunity for those that followed,” Obama said.
Snyder was inspired by the president’s enthusiasm.
“The sentiment that really struck me was one of talking about how championing diversity hits the real essence of what it means to be American,” Snyder says. “I felt very good about the fact that we were part of something that could illustrate a story of progress.”
Snyder doesn’t yet know specifically what issues he would like to focus on — whether to help veterans themselves or to try to bridge the divide between the general public and the less than 1 percent of the country that has served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — but he already recognizes when an opportunity is being squandered. He has previously criticized Colin Kaepernick, for example, for kneeling during the national anthem. The 49ers quarterback, whose form of protest has spread throughout the league, is drawing national attention, Snyder says, but he’s not doing all he could to effect change.
“I called out Colin Kaepernick for not doing the work to advocate,” Snyder says, adding that he, too, should be doing more to not only draw attention but focus that on specific reforms that need a prominent voice for support.
“I don’t have one issue. I have a dozen. What I’m trying to do first is serve as a good example of all of those things.”
More from U.S. News
With the Help of Disabled U.S. Veterans, the U.S. Paralympics Team Gets a Boost
Lack of International Data on Disability Issues Hampers Advocates
Jessica Long: Companies Should do More to Support the Paralympic Games
Blinded Veteran Brad Snyder Finds New Calling as Paralympian Gold Medalist originally appeared on usnews.com
