The Riverdale Baptist girls basketball team took a trip to Germany and came back with a greater appreciation for what servicemen and women go through.
Photo courtesy of Riverdale Baptist
knows what it's like. So does her coach, Sam Caldwell. They know about sacrifice, and commitment, and selflessness. They know about giving and what genuine appreciation is all about.
Prather, the 6-foot-2 senior forward from nationally ranked
Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.) who's bound for Miami on a basketball scholarship, bounced around the country as the daughter of a naval captain.
Caldwell, the Crusaders' coach, was an intelligence officer deployed with special forces and did four combat tours, two consecutive in Iraq.
They both know about sacrifice.
It's why there was no issue making a special trip spending Thanksgiving week at Ramstein Air Base, in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany visiting American soldiers.
They sat and ate with service people not much older than them. They played against the women's base team. Before they left, the Riverdale girls' program, which already had an immense appreciation for the U.S. armed forces, came away with the gift of an even deeper, visceral admiration for the men and women who put their lives in harm's way to protect America.
"I wanted to expose the girls to a different culture and see firsthand what our military is about," Caldwell said. "None of the girls had actually been overseas before. This was their first trip. Quite frankly, it was the first time for a few of the girls even being out of Maryland."
Sam Caldwell during one of his four deployments.
Photo courtesy of Riverdale Baptist
It was an epic trip. The Riverdale contingent included 17 athletes and 13 parents. There are deep roots involved with the Riverdale program and the military. Prather's father is a Naval Academy graduate and Stan King, Caldwell's assistant coach, is a retired army colonel.
Prather was very aware that Ramstein was the last stop for American soldiers before they are deployed to Iraq. Her mother is retired army; she has an uncle still in the Navy.
"To me, it's a spiritual thing," said the Crusaders' star forward. "My father brought me around the ships and bases growing up. But this was a different culture I was seeing for the first time. Being in a military family, you do learn to appreciate things. We've been living in Waldorf, Maryland, for the last four years and it's the longest place we've ever stayed since I think I was 2 years old. I think the best part of the trip was talking to everyone and their words of advice and encouragement to us."
So it wasn't too far of a stretch to get everyone on board to go.
"I think the girls really enjoyed playing the Ramstein base team and having an opportunity to talk with them about the jobs that they do at the base and what the military is doing for them in their lives," Caldwell said. "All of our kids have an appreciation for the military and the sacrifices they all make every day. Talking about it is one thing, seeing it firsthand is another. Eating and interacting with them was a great experience. They were asking the girls questions and our girls were genuinely interested in them."
Riverdale Baptist head coach Sam Caldwell.
File photo by James Conrad
Caldwell himself was wounded in Iraq, suffering a bomb injury from a suicide bomber. He came back intact, but suffered nerve damage on the left side of his head from being projected through the air from the blast. To this day, he has very little feeling on the left side of his head. He's doing everything possible to prevent having neck surgery. He already underwent extensive surgery on his left shoulder that required more than a year of rehab.
He couldn't even raise his left hand to scratch his face. These are things he doesn't talk about too often. He tries to cover up what he's been through and seen.
"I haven't shared a whole lot of stuff with the girls," Caldwell said. "But on occasion I do, and I know the girls have a great appreciation for the sacrifices I made and what their families have made. I know the girls all benefited from the trip. They didn't want to leave when it was time to go. I was glad they had that feeling. Staff Sgt. Alton Mercy was a gracious host for our gym time and in coordinating everything for us. We were moving 30 people at a time. The whole experience was a real gift."
It brought Caldwell back to a few people he'll always remember. Cpt. Maria Ortiz, someone Caldwell went to grad school with, lost her life in Baghdad and became the first nurse to be killed since Vietnam. Another soldier, Sgt. William Redd, was killed the same night Caldwell was wounded.
"I'm always thinking about those two," Caldwell said. "They'll always be with me. They made the ultimate sacrifice and though I'm a Navy guy, we're really all on the same team when the bullets are flying. I think about Maria and William all of the time. I think this trip made the girls see things very differently being so close to it. I think it's something they'll never forget."
