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Don Drysdale's Bullpen xx-xx-xx (271) Jim Marshall's Determination
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Don Drysdale's Bullpen xx-xx-xx (271) Jim Marshall's Determination
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This is Don Drysdale. To be a champion athlete, you've got to have talent, luck and skill. But most important of all, you've got to have determination. Today I'll show you how that same determination saved the life of one of America's finest athletes. This program is a public service presentation of this station and your local army recruiter. If you're a young man or woman who's determined to do something for yourself, check out the great training and careers you can get in today's bicentennial army. Now, today's story. It's about an athlete who grew up in Columbus, Ohio. His father was a truck driver, and when this star was still a boy, he was as average as apple pie. But he remembers an event that happened when he was only seven or eight that changed his life forever. It took place in a hot August afternoon. The boy. Well, we'll call him James, was walking home from school. He stopped for a traffic signal and caught up with three boys who were a couple of years older than he was. They talked, and the older boys began to tease him about his bag of school books. What have you got in there? They asked. Well, he said, just my school stuff and tried to walk away. Instead, the older boys grabbed one of his books and began a game of keep away. James was frightened when he tried to get his book back. They began pushing him around and saying, well, if you want your book back, you're going to have to fight for it. He was no match for the bigger kids, so James ran home with tears in his eyes. When he got there, he told his story to his father and asked him to go back with him and get the book. His father refused. I'm not going back there with you, his father said. You got yourself into trouble. Now get yourself out. You go back there and get that book yourself. Fight them if you have to, even lose if you have to, but you go back there and face him. So, blinking back tears, James went right back up the street. He did get in a fight with the other boys, who were pretty surprised to see him return. But he won and got his schoolbook back. He never forgot that lesson, and he never gave up and ran away again. And it's a good thing he didn't, because a few years later, that same determination saved his life. And I'll tell you about that in just a moment after this word from today's army. It takes more than one person to make a winner. When I was pitching baseball, I knew there were a lot of people on and off the field backing me. Up. Well, it's the same in the combat arms of today's army. Armor, infantry, artillery. Tough young men working together, overcoming challenge to accomplish the mission. Go with the first team and join the people who've joined the army. Now back to our story. It's about an athlete named James who learned a dramatic lesson about never giving up. And that lesson saved his life in 1971. It was January 30th when he and 15 other men jumped into snowmobiles and and took off for a four day run around Yellowstone National Park. There were deep drifts in the mountains and it was an adventure they all looked forward to. That night a blizzard blew in with winds up to 100 miles an hour. The men were forced to abandon their snowmobiles and try to reach help. For hours they struggled through frozen drifts and the icy winds whipped at them. They walked for 14 hours, clearing a path for themselves through the snow. They were so exhausted that it was hopeless to go on. No one had the strength to fight the battle. They knew if they lay down in the snow, well, they were dead. But battling the blizzard was impossible. And James remembered his father's words. You got yourself into trouble, now get yourself out. He said, you know we can do it. And he kept trying. Finally, they found a bridge that gave them some shelter from the storm. To start a fire, James emptied his wallet. It was the only dry paper around. As the little blaze of tens and twenties crackled to life, the men smiled. Soon the kindling caught on and they were crowded around the warmth of the life giving fire. One of them had died in the storm. The next day a snowmobile found them and they were rescued. Only one thing had kept James alive and that was determination. Well, that man is Jim Marshall, one of the greatest defensive ends ever to play in the NFL. And this is Don Drysdale. Today's army has determination too. They're determined to teach you a skill with a future. So join the people who've joined the army. Until next time. So long everyone.