This year's Vesper Speaker

This year's Vesper speaker for the Persimmon Festival should be really interesting. The Vesper Service is Sunday evening, September 22nd, 7 p.m. at the Mitchell High School auditorium. The speaker will be Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Gade. Here is some information:

Daniel Gade is an instructor at the United States Military Academy.  He holds a PhD from the University of Georgia.  He has served as a platoon leader and a company commander, leading over 200 men in battle in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, where he was wounded in action twice and decorated for valor.  The second time he was wounded cost him his entire right leg.  Despite his disability, he remains on active duty in the US Army.  He has served as an Associate Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, as the Vice President of the West Point Class of 1997, and on several different governmental and non-profit boards and commissions.

Dan has not let his injuries slow him down: since 2007, he has competed in triathlons and cycling events, and was the second-place finisher in his category at the 2009 ParaTriathlon National Championships in New York City.  In 2010, he won his category at Ironman Arizona, completing the 2.4-mile swim, the 112-mile bike, and the 26.2 mile run with just one leg.  Parts of his inspirational story appear in three different books, and he has been interviewed on national television several times. 

Dan loves using his personal tragedies and triumphs to motivate, inspire, and challenge young men and women, business leaders, and audiences of all types to a life of living for others, doing the hard right over the easy wrong, and developing character now so that triumph in life’s inevitable hardships is possible.

Dan is the proud husband of an incredible wife and the dad of three amazing kids.