Growing up in the same area as Pete Gray, the one-armed baseball player who played a year in the major leagues as an outfielder for the St. Louis Browns, I became an early believer in one's ability to overcome.

Whenever we think we're having a bad day, there are always examples of people with much greater physical challenges and obstacles in life to put our minor problems in proper perspective.Gray, who lost his right arm in a boyhood wagon accident and passed away in 2002, was especially inspirational for injured soldiers returning home from the battlefields of World War II. He became a symbol to many wounded veterans, often visiting hospitals to show how they can still achieve goals, even with a lost limb or other debilitating injury.We recently saw two separate news stories on how wounded warriors showed that same perseverance and spirit to overcome as Pete Gray did 80 years ago.Last week we learned how Charlie Linville, an Idaho native and veteran of Afghanistan, conquered his own personal mountain, literally, when he became the first combat-amputee veteran to climb 22,000-foot Mount Everest. It was the third attempt to reach the summit by the retired U.S. Marine Corps staff sergeant, who was sponsored by The Heroes Project, a nonprofit organization that helps wounded veterans.Linville lost his lower leg in 2011 when an explosive device detonated, leading to the amputation of his right foot. The bomb he stepped on didn't fully detonate, likely saving him from becoming a triple amputee.Earlier this year, Linville said in an interview he hoped his climb would inspire others around the world who face physical and emotional challenges, proving that anything's possible, no matter what they do in life.While recovering in his hospital bed five years ago, Linville made it his quest to conquer Everest.Last week he accomplished that mission.While Linville was our Person of the Week among disabled veterans, a good choice for Overcomers of the Year were the 500 participants who traveled to Orlando earlier this month for the Invictus Games, an international multi-sport event for wounded, ill and injured servicemen and women. The event was inspired by the Warrior Games, a similar event held in the United States.Invictus is Latin, meaning unconquered and undefeated.ESPN devoted more than 40 hours of live coverage of the Invictus Games held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World. England's Prince Harry, first lady Michelle Obama, and former President George W. Bush were among the dignitaries who attended the opening ceremony.It was Prince Harry, a military vet who served in Afghanistan, who provided the inspiration for the inaugural Invictus Games held in London in 2014. The mission then and still is to use the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and generate a wider understanding and respect for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women.Sgt. Elizabeth Marks, a medic from Arizona, provided a shining moment at this month's Games when she gave one of her four swimming gold medals back to Prince Harry. She asked that the medal be shipped to the British hospital that saved her life in 2014.On the eve of the first Invictus Games in London that year, Marks fell ill with a serious lung condition and had to be put into an induced coma.Marks said the medical staff making that decision saved her life.That kind of honor and selfless dedication is a common thread among Invictus participants. It elevates them all to a special place among us, not to promote self-aggrandizement but to show how many of our wounded warriors can become "unconquered and undefeated" - as overcomers in today's world.By Jim Zbick |

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