DRAPER, Utah – Paragliders are not uncommon near the point of the mountain, but the folks who took to the skies Saturday morning were a special bunch.
Experienced paragliders assisted a group of disabled veterans in making paragliding flights Saturday, and the effort was a way to thank the veterans for their services and give them a chance to have some fun as a group.
Mike Semanoff leads Inspiration RX and was a member of the 82nd Airborne.
“I saw a lot of my buddies end up going to war and some didn't come back, some of them came back wounded, and I didn't really get a chance to be there with them there,” he said. “But now that people are coming back I wanted to be able to be there for them now.”
Gordon Ewell was one of the veterans who took part, and he said it was a good experience.
“It represents hope,” he said. “For myself, for instance, I never would have thought I could paraglide, even before I was injured over in Iraq.”
Inspiration RX is a skydiving demonstration team that hosts multiple “Wings of Inspiration” activities throughout the year for veterans, many of whom were awarded Purple Hearts.
