Whenever he’s in Oxford, North Branch’s Ray Brown likes to visit American Legion Post 108 on East Drahner Road. Sometimes it’s for an American Veterans meeting and sometimes to get a hamburger and drink and chat with other veterans.
On March 18, he stopped by the post to sign a few autographs with his meal.
Brown, a Marine veteran who served as a communications ‘pole climber? from 1968-1970 during the Vietnam Era, now has something in common with basketball legend Michael Jordan: his image is on a cereal box.
Brown’s autographs went onto boxes of Cheerios featuring his image along with those of other disabled athletes. The commemorative cereal boxes are part of a program between General Mills and Veterans Canteen Service to annually honor 12-15 athletes who have earned gold medals in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games. The boxes will be sold exclusively at military markets and at VCS retail stores across the country.
He lost the use of his legs through muscular dystrophy in the mid-1990s.
The box was issued in 2008, when Brown and the other athletes earned gold medals at the 28th Annual National Veterans Wheelchair Games in July 2008 in Omaha, Neb. There, Brown won gold medals in the javelin, discus and air rifle and silver in weight lifting and shot put. Brown and the other disabled athletes were the second group of athletes to be featured on a Cheerios box.
‘It’s an honor because you make a lot of friendships and acquaintances through wheelchair sports and especially through the National Veterans Wheelchair Games,? Brown said of his first cereal box appearance. He has traveled to VA hospitals in Saginaw, Ann Arbor and Detroit and will also sign autographs at the VCS national convention in St. Louis in May.
Brown noted disabled veterans are responsible for wheelchair sports.
‘Years ago when they were coming back from the war, instead of laying around on a hospital bed they’d go and play wheelchair basketball or another sports activity,? Brown explained. ‘It’s amazing to see where we’ve gone from where we were to where we are today in wheelchair sports.?
He has competed in the wheelchair games since 2001 and has earned 42 medals. Each year, about 750 athletes from America (including Puerto Rico) and Great Britain compete. He has also earned three special awards including Best All-Around Male Athlete at the 2008 Ohio Wheelchair Games and Best All-Around Male Masters Athlete at the 2008 Michigan Wheelchair Games.
Besides being the U.S. Wheelchair Sports record holder in the javelin and discus, Brown competed in the 2008 Endeavor Games in Edmond, Okla., and narrowly missed qualifying for the 2008 Paralympic Games in China.
Since being diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy, the 59-year-old Brown has been active in sports. He first played basketball but then gravitated towards stationary-position sports that were easier on his shoulders. He played hoops for the Flint Flying Eagles, which in both 1999 and 2000 won the Michigan Wheelchair Basketball State Championship. He also earned top honors in 2000 at the Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America Division II Bowling Tournament. In 2000, former Detroit Tigers manager Sparky Anderson inducted Brown into the Michigan Athletes with Disabilities Hall of Fame.
‘You can do anything you want to do,? Brown said, referring to the disabled playing sports. ‘There have been leaps and strides in modalities that are out there to make it available for you to compete.?
Gerald Ingles, past commander of Post 108, described Brown as a good friend and an American Veterans officer whose work has been invaluable. ‘We’ve been able to donate $1,000 to the Wheelchair Olympics to help them compete,? he said.
Brown might be picking up more medals to add to his collection, as he’ll serve as co-captain of the Ann Arbor VA Wheelchair Team (Michigan’s team for disabled veterans) at the 29th Annual National Veterans Wheelchair Games July 13-18 in Spokane, Wash.