Wounded Oklahoma Veteran Competes In Warrior Games

One of Oklahoma's Own has stepped from the field of battle to the playing field. Specialist Quinton Picone is competing this week in the Warrior Games.

The week-long competition is for wounded service men and women and Specialist Picone is representing his hometown of Panola, as well as the Sooner state.

You can think of the Warrior Games as the Olympics for wounded service members. Five teams from the Army, Marines, Navy and Coast Guard, Air Force, and Special Operations compete in a variety of sports--from archery to cycling to wheelchair basketball.

Picone is one of those athletes. He's competing for the Army in swimming, field, and sitting volleyball.

It's quite the accomplishment when you consider he lost his legs below the knees and suffered brain injuries when he stepped on an IED in Afghanistan in 2011.

In an interview posted by the Department of Defense, Specialist Picone talked briefly about his hometown of Panola.

Read that interview here.

"I haven't been there in a while, I haven't been back home in a while to my hometown, but I still get support from everybody there," he said.

Sitting volleyball is the high profile sport for Specialist Picone. The Army team won the gold medal last year and their sights are set on repeating as champions.

The team even got the attention of England's Prince Harry. He visited the British and American sitting volleyball teams over the weekend and even sat in on a practice.

Specialist Picone said the Warrior Games are proof he's still the same man as before the injuries, and he's grateful to his family for being behind him through it all.

"Just for my mom and dad and sisters for supporting me and being with me through this hard time or when it was hard," Picone said.

Picone's sitting volleyball team has played two matches in the competition and won both of them.

The games are being played at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.