Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Love | Staff Sgt. David Petty, an infantry noncommissioned officer assigned to Charlie...... read more read more
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska - "Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dodge." According to "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," these are the five Ds of Dodgeball. No military unit on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson knew this better on Nov. 29, 2014, than Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion (Airborne), 509th Infantry Regiment.
If the paratroopers didn’t play dodgeball that Saturday, some local families in need would have gone without holiday gifts and food, provided by the charity dodgeball tournament at Covenant Church in Eagle River, Alaska. In addition, four young girls who hadn’t been picked for teams wouldn’t have been able to play.
“Last year, when the youth group was making teams, there were girls who weren’t getting picked to play,” said Staff Sgt. Heath Beesley, weapons squad leader with 3rd Platoon, C Company. “We made a team at the last minute, and they got a chance to compete. This year there were more, so we needed more teams to get them in the game.”
“[Staff Sgt.] Beasley asked me one day, ‘Hey sir, do you want to play dodgeball?’” said 1st Lt. William Buckley, the platoon leader for C Company. “I was like, ‘Yes. Who doesn’t want to play dodgeball?’ They were telling me it was for charity so we held a formation and told everyone about it.”
The paratroopers formed three teams, which were dubbed Charlie’s Angels, because ‘Spartans’ was too scary. The teams consisted of six men each. The color-coded teams were each joined by two girls. While the Spartans were physically fit and trained in ground combat, they quickly found relying on their training only threw a wrench into their formula for dodgeball success.
“Our training consisted of, ‘Hey, do you want to play dodgeball? Okay, show up Saturday,’” Beesley said. “There’s no place to hide or get standoff distance. The aggressiveness we showed helped, but it’s different with no cover. Also, a lot of us are big guys, so that just makes us bigger targets.”
Still, though their competition was young and spry, the teams managed to clinch several victories and one of the three advanced into the final few rounds. And though they played hard, members of the team said it was never about winning for them.
“The guys pulled little Shelby in to play the face-off [one-on-one], and that made her week,” said Julie Beesley, wife of Staff Sgt. Beesley. “She was just sitting there saying, ‘They let me go!’ and the guys were saying, ‘She’s adorable, why not?’”
“I like seeing my guys be able to get outside and give back to the community,” Staff Sgt. Beesley said. “These kids get to interact with Soldiers and it lets them see that we’re not just a guy in a uniform, we’re out there playing dodgeball right next to them and having a good time.”
Portions of this event were also coordinated through Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson’s Honorary Commander Program and the 3/509th’s honorary commander, Todd Michero, lead pastor of the church, who is partnered with the commander of the 3/509th, Lt. Col. Matthew Hardman.
| Date Taken: | 11.29.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 12.08.2014 19:32 |
| Story ID: | 149719 |
| Location: | ANCHORAGE, AK, US |
| Web Views: | 160 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Balls of love: Paratroopers dodge victory but save the holidays, by SFC Daniel Love, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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