WEST POINT, N.Y., June 19, 2016 — Army Sgt. Davey Jones, an electronic warfare specialist with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington earned a gold medal in the men’s discus throw in his disability category during the track and field competition at the 2016 Department of Defense Warrior Games here June 16.

He said he had been looking forward to the competition, because he had thrown the discus and javelin in high school.

Jones said he was excited to make this year’s Warrior Games team after not making it last year. He competed at the Valor Games Southeast last year, and he earned gold medals in archery and rowing and a bronze medal in shot put.

“It’s great to be rewarded for all of your training,” Jones said. “It’s also great because I returned to duty, so I moved away from all of my friends. I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to get to see most of them again, so getting to come here, that’s the biggest thing for me -- spending time with my friends and getting to spend time with the coaches. The coaches have helped me become a lifelong athlete.”

Throughout the week, about 250 wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans representing teams from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, U.S. Special Operations Command and United Kingdom armed forces are competing in shooting, archery, cycling, track and field, swimming, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball at the Warrior Games.

Injury

Jones said he joined the military to serve his country and because of his grandfather, who left the Army as a lieutenant colonel.

“He was pretty much my hero growing up, and that was a pretty big part of it, but I joined the Marines, even though it’s generally an Army family,” he said. “I joined the Marines because it was the toughest, and they had better uniforms. I still miss the uniform, but I’m happy to be in the Army now, that’s for sure.”

Jones served in the Marine Corps for four years and decided he wanted to do something more, so he signed a Special Forces contract with the Army. During training, he repeatedly separated his shoulder and injured his feet, resulting in tendon issues, foot pain and lower leg pain most of the time.

Competing for Others

Jones said adaptive sports have helped him in his recovery, and he’s honored to represent the Army team and those who didn’t make it back from combat missions. He served in Iraq in 2003.

“I don’t take it lightly, and it’s a huge honor,” he said. “I think about the people who didn’t even make it back to the [Warrior Transition Battalion from combat], and I try to hold them in my heart and in my thoughts when I’m competing. I got to come back. I got to stay in the military. That’s huge, so I try to earn the life I have.”

Jones said he’s also honored to compete alongside his fellow wounded, ill and injured from the other service branches and the United Kingdom.