New owner takes the wheel at Clinton’s Chevrolet dealership » PAGE A8 Lenawee County’s 4-H youth showcase their abilities at the fair » PAGES B1-B5
Made-in-Michigan products are a highlight of downtown gift shop » PAGE A7
THE LENAWEE VOICE
ADRIAN, MICHIGAN
AUGUST 2024
LOCAL NEWS FOR ADRIAN AND LENAWEE COUNTY
FREE
‘Biggest blessing in my life’ Future of Winter Street riverfront now rests in city’s hands » PAGE A3
The present and future of public transportation in Lenawee County » PAGE A5
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Husband-and-wife team opening new doors for music students » PAGE C1
Adrian High School grad Saul Bosquez embraces life after amputation as a member of USA Patriots softball team By Kate Mitchell The Lenawee Voice
ADRIAN — When Saul Bosquez joined the Army in 2006, it wasn’t exactly a lifelong dream. It was more like a last resort. After graduating from Adrian High School in 2003, he went to college but it wasn’t turning out the way he’d hoped. Bosquez had worked some summer jobs in factories and didn’t think he’d fit there either, and in Lenawee County, other options for work were limited. So he enlisted, changing the course of his life forever. Six months into his first deployment in 2007, he was hit by a roadside bomb that resulted in the loss of his left leg below the knee. “I was an athlete, a soldier,” Bosquez said. “And I literally had my legs taken out from under me.” After his injury, he was taken to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to recover, a process that took about a year and a half. He was fitted for a prosthetic a few months after his injury and, within six months of losing his leg, he was walking without a limp. But there were more struggles to overcome. While losing a limb is very physically traumatic, it was the mental and emotional part that gave Bosquez the most trouble. “Physically,” he said. “I could have been out of Walter Reed in about six months. The physical part was the easy part. Trying to figure out what’s next was harder.” He hadn’t realized, before his injury, that he didn’t know any amputees. While Bosquez knew something like this was a possibility when he enlisted, he didn’t think he would need to live with it himself. He wasn’t sure where to look to find other people who had been through what he had gone through. It was a struggle that concerned his loved ones, too. “It was very traumatic because he was my ‘baby,’ even at 22 years old,” Janet Dillard, Bosquez’s mom, said. “I couldn’t get to Walter Reed fast enough because I had to see him.” A year after he was released from the hospital, things took a turn for the better
Saul Bosquez is pictured during the USA Patriots softball team’s alumni camp at Adrian College in 2022. The USA Patriots are a team made up entirely of athletes — mainly combat veterans — who have had a limb amputated. In addition to traveling the country playing games against able-bodied teams, the USA Patriots host two camps for kids every year. PHOTO BY JENN R. PRICE PHOTOGRAPHY
when Bosquez got a call inviting him to try out for a slow-pitch softball team. At first, he was skeptical. As a lifelong athlete, slow-pitch softball had never been high on his list of things to do, especially with his background in baseball. But he decided to give it a try anyway, going to a camp at the University of Arizona in 2011. That led to him joining a team made up of amputees, the majority of whom are combat veterans, and starting him on a years-long journey of traveling the country, playing softball and inspiring
Petition drive is underway to repeal point-of-sale inspection ordinance » PAGE A4
the people who come out to watch the team play. The team — USA Patriots — is the only one made up of all amputees and they play against able-bodied teams (“There just aren’t that many amputees,” said Bosquez, “and there aren’t that many who play softball”) but they incorporate their identity as amputees when playing these games too. The team invites local children who are missing limbs to serve as bat boy or bat girl for their games.
See USA PATRIOTS, page A15
Adrian School of Massage settles into new home on north side of town » PAGE A9