Post by 50yardfan on May 19, 2011 23:51:05 GMT -5
Rutledge to Honor Veteran Parents in Operation Appreciation
ALLEN, TX- His task is simple: to protect the quarterback.
No matter the opponent or the game plan, Allen Wrangler lineman Wondell Rutledge is entrusted with the duty of blocking for his quarterback and fighting off the much larger enemy trying to make that difficult. On Saturday, May 21st, he will fight on the front line for the Wranglers as the team honors others who do the same for our country. For Rutledge, Operation Appreciation will hit a little closer to home.
Rutledge's parents, Reginald and Karliss Rutledge both served in the United States Army. The first years of Rutledge's life were spent with his father on deployment in Germany. A few years later, Rutledge's mother would join her husband in the battlefield.
"I made up my mind at the age of six that I wanted to join the military," Karliss Rutledge said. "After conversing with Mr. Rutledge in 1986, he was okay with the idea because he bet me I could not run 300 yards without falling out of the physical training and that I could not make it in the military. Little did he know, it was on then."
Rutledge joined her husband and the two took turns on deployment. Wondell Rutledge remembers having to stay with his grandmother in second grade when both his parents were away on deployment. After some time, it was one or the other gone for six months at a time. Rutledge said becoming the man of the house and having parents deployed at such a young age was hard.
"I remember how the television screen would scroll the names of dead and injured soldiers at the bottom," he said. "I would try not to watch it but I would always find myself watching that channel to be sure nobody I knew was on there."
Reginald Rutledge retired from the Army in 1999. Karliss Rutledge's army career continued; she has been deployed to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Oman, Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, Bosnia, Hungary, Sarajevo, Germany and Korea. These days, Karliss Rutledge has the assistance of Bear, a retired bomb explosive and drug soldier dog. Bear did two trips in Iraq himself before becoming a retired service dog, retrained to assist Rutledge with an equilibrium injury she obtained while on duty in Iraq.
"I do not regret my service to our country," she said. "If I had to do it all over again. I would surely say, 'When' What are we waiting on''"
Karliss Rutledge added it be especially emotional to see her son give his all for something that took away his parents at times when he needed them as a child. She said that she is excited to finally get to be a part of it.
"What a face he used to make when I could not attend his games as a child," she said. "For once in 22 years, I get a chance to cheer, scream and say to others: that's my son. A chance to see the happiness in his face because he knows that I am in the stands and the Army is not a factor anymore."
Wondell Rutledge added that he is excited to play in front of his family in Operation Appreciation.
"I was brought up around the military atmosphere," he said. "I have friends in Iraq who have been shot and wounded. Lots of my friends and family in the military will be at the game. I was one of the ones who didn't join the military. It'll be good to show them where that decision has taken me."
The Wranglers are set to kickoff against the Amarillo Venom at Allen Event Center at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, May 21st. For tickets or more information, please call 972-912-3111.
ALLEN, TX- His task is simple: to protect the quarterback.
No matter the opponent or the game plan, Allen Wrangler lineman Wondell Rutledge is entrusted with the duty of blocking for his quarterback and fighting off the much larger enemy trying to make that difficult. On Saturday, May 21st, he will fight on the front line for the Wranglers as the team honors others who do the same for our country. For Rutledge, Operation Appreciation will hit a little closer to home.
Rutledge's parents, Reginald and Karliss Rutledge both served in the United States Army. The first years of Rutledge's life were spent with his father on deployment in Germany. A few years later, Rutledge's mother would join her husband in the battlefield.
"I made up my mind at the age of six that I wanted to join the military," Karliss Rutledge said. "After conversing with Mr. Rutledge in 1986, he was okay with the idea because he bet me I could not run 300 yards without falling out of the physical training and that I could not make it in the military. Little did he know, it was on then."
Rutledge joined her husband and the two took turns on deployment. Wondell Rutledge remembers having to stay with his grandmother in second grade when both his parents were away on deployment. After some time, it was one or the other gone for six months at a time. Rutledge said becoming the man of the house and having parents deployed at such a young age was hard.
"I remember how the television screen would scroll the names of dead and injured soldiers at the bottom," he said. "I would try not to watch it but I would always find myself watching that channel to be sure nobody I knew was on there."
Reginald Rutledge retired from the Army in 1999. Karliss Rutledge's army career continued; she has been deployed to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Oman, Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, Bosnia, Hungary, Sarajevo, Germany and Korea. These days, Karliss Rutledge has the assistance of Bear, a retired bomb explosive and drug soldier dog. Bear did two trips in Iraq himself before becoming a retired service dog, retrained to assist Rutledge with an equilibrium injury she obtained while on duty in Iraq.
"I do not regret my service to our country," she said. "If I had to do it all over again. I would surely say, 'When' What are we waiting on''"
Karliss Rutledge added it be especially emotional to see her son give his all for something that took away his parents at times when he needed them as a child. She said that she is excited to finally get to be a part of it.
"What a face he used to make when I could not attend his games as a child," she said. "For once in 22 years, I get a chance to cheer, scream and say to others: that's my son. A chance to see the happiness in his face because he knows that I am in the stands and the Army is not a factor anymore."
Wondell Rutledge added that he is excited to play in front of his family in Operation Appreciation.
"I was brought up around the military atmosphere," he said. "I have friends in Iraq who have been shot and wounded. Lots of my friends and family in the military will be at the game. I was one of the ones who didn't join the military. It'll be good to show them where that decision has taken me."
The Wranglers are set to kickoff against the Amarillo Venom at Allen Event Center at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, May 21st. For tickets or more information, please call 972-912-3111.