{"id":7968,"date":"2024-12-31T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7968"},"modified":"2024-12-31T15:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-31T15:30:00","slug":"veteran-ready-for-2025-wheelchair-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7968","title":{"rendered":"Veteran ready for 2025 Wheelchair Games"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2024-12-31T15:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<p>Hank Ebert joined the Navy in 1966 as a helicopter combat rescue airman. Based out of Japan and trained as a rescue combat swimmer, he spent two tours flying up and down the Vietnam coastline during the war. Shortly after returning home to Minnesota in September 1970, his life took a dramatic turn.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got in a motorcycle accident. Motorcycle versus car. That kind of changed my life a little bit,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n<p>Ebert\u2019s family took him directly to VA. Unfortunately, his injuries were so severe that he rolled out in a wheelchair.<\/p>\n<p>He went to college and, just before his last quarter, was offered a job from a Brainerd bait shop operator to serve as Minnesota Gov. Rudy Perpich\u2019s guide during the Governor\u2019s Fishing Opener of 1976.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cYeah, I\u2019m going to go fishing.\u201d<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cI was getting bored with college anyway and I thought, yeah, I\u2019m going to go fishing. I ended up fishing for 46 years. I\u2019ve caught a lot of fish, a lot of big fish,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>His years of perseverance as a guide landed him perhaps the biggest fish of them all. He was inducted into the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fishinghalloffamemn.com\/hall-of-famers\/11119-2\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame<\/a> in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While local fame comes from his angling expertise, he is a bit of a superstar in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games crowd, too. Ebert started competing in the games, co-presented yearly by VA and Paralyzed Veterans of America, in 1993.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe first game I went to I did five events and got five gold medals. I thought \u2018yeah, this is okay.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ebert has competed in over 20 games. One of his most memorable was 2006 in Anchorage, Alaska. Competing in the archery event, he split an arrow already in the target with another arrow. \u201cI was the first person to ever shoot a Robin Hood at the games,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cIt\u2019s just impressive what people will do.\u201d<\/h2>\n<p>If winning competitions hooked Hank, it\u2019s the inspiration he sees in other competitors that keeps him on the line.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are people here with their physical disabilities\u2026 I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d be here in the same situation. It\u2019s just impressive what people will do. People don\u2019t see each other for a year, then it\u2019s all hugs and kisses. It\u2019s just awesome,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Ebert, 77, is beginning to feel the games are getting to be more work, but the comeraderie with his fellow Veterans keeps him coming back. Being a great competitor doesn\u2019t hurt either. In the 2024 Games in New Orleans, he earned gold in archery and trap shoot, silver in discus and bronze in shotput.<\/p>\n<p>The National Veterans Wheelchair Games will be held in Minneapolis July 17-22, 2025. <a href=\"https:\/\/wheelchairgames.org\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn how you can be a volunteer or register to be an athlete<\/a>. To see pictures from the 2024 Games, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/veteransaffairs\/albums\/72177720319181193\/\" rel=\"noopener\">2024 National Veterans Wheelchair Games | Flickr<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/137239\/veteran-ready-for-2025-wheelchair-games\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Veteran Hank Ebert is a bit of a superstar in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games. He has been attending since 1993.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-health-care","category-prosthetics-rehabilitation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Veteran ready for 2025 Wheelchair Games - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Veteran Hank Ebert is a bit of a superstar in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games. 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