J. R. Salzman

Darrell "J.R." Salzman (born 1979) is a champion logroller and an Iraq War veteran. ESPN has called him "among the preeminent outdoors athletes" of the last decade.cite news
url=http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/news/story?page=jr_salzman_recovery_pg1
title=The Recovery of J.R. Salzman: The world champion logroller survived an attack in Iraq last winter — but the real fight has been the nine months since
author=Sam Eifling
date=October 1 2007
publisher=ESPN
accessdate=2007-11-12]

Salzman grew up in Hayward, Wisconsin. His sisters, Tina Bosworth and Crystal Salzman, are also top logrollers.cite news
url=http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=243066
title=Agile siblings roll to gold: Brother, sister rule the logs
author=Mark Stewart
date=July 11 2004
publisher=Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
accessdate=2007-11-12] He attended the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and is currently a student at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

ports career

Salzman was a competitor in logrolling and boom running, a sprint on floating logs, in all six seasons of ESPN's Great Outdoor Games, winning 14 medals (more than any other player). In 2005 he was awarded the Best Outdoor Sportsman ESPY.

Between 1998 and 2005, he won five medals at the Lumberjack World Championships in Hayward. He was disqualified in 2003 for stepping across a center line, although he thought he had won the gold.

Salzman used his logrolling skills as a stuntman in the film "Cheaper by the Dozen 2".cite news
url=http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-news_local.asp?id=BEBQKRI26DM
title=No looking back: Despite losing his right hand in Iraq, a UW-Stout student has no regrets about serving his country. Now he's set his sights on a teaching career and a return to logrolling.
author=Pamela Powers
date=September 16 2007
publisher=Eau Claire Leader-Telegram
accessdate=2007-11-13]

Injury in Iraq

Emotionally affected by the September 11, 2001 attacks, Salzman chose to join the National Guard, enlisting shortly after the two-year anniversary. He was able to compete in the Great Outdoors Games twice more before his unit was activated as part of the 34th Infantry Division in the fall of 2005. In the spring of 2006, he was deployed to Iraq.

In Iraq, Salzman was primarily assigned to convoy security duties. On December 19, 2006, while scouting for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the lead Humvee of a convoy traveling through Baghdad, his vehicle was struck by an Explosively Formed Penetrator. His right arm was severed below the elbow and his left hand was pulverized by the blast. He also suffereed a traumatic brain injury. As he is allergic to morphine he was transported to a field hospital before any anesthetic was given. The first thing he said to the medic, indicating that his legs were uninjured, was "at least I'll still be able to logroll."

He recovered at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and a nearby Fisher House, learning to use a prosthetic arm and recover his physical skills including fly fishing. His brain injury causes him short-term memory loss, and he is considered 100 percent physically disabled. Nevertheless, after returning to Hayward, he successfully attempted to logroll again, practicing with and without his prosthetic; "with" seemed to work better. Salzman intends to return to competition.

Personal life

Salzman married his girlfriend, Josie, during a road trip to New Orleans while he was on leave in the spring of 2006.

Salzman runs a milblog, "Lumberjack in a Desert", on which he has recounted his military life and his medical recovery. When he completes his education, he hopes to go into teaching. His sister, Tina Bosworth, is the principal at Elkhorn Area High School in Elkhorn, Wisconsin.

ee also

References

External links

* [http://www.jrsalzman.com/weblog/ Lumberjack in a Desert] - Salzman's blog