About this item
The inspiring story of Brad Snyder's journey from the Naval Academy to Afghanistan, from being blinded by an IED explosion to winning Paralympic gold In Afghanistan, Lieutenant Brad Snyder had one of the world's most dangerous jobs: to find and destroy enemy bombs, as an elite US Navy Special Operations warrior. On September 7, 2011, the former Naval Academy captain of the swim team stepped on an improvised explosive device while helping save the lives of his patrol's Afghan counterparts. The subsequent explosion left Snyder permanently blind. Through unrelenting pain, hard work, and dedication, Snyder qualified for the US Paralympic Team and on September 7, 2012 - one year to the day after suffering his devastating injury - he won a gold medal in men's swimming for Team USA in London. Brad Snyder's journey from darkness to light embodies the courage of America's new "Greatest Generation" and serves as an inspiration to all of us.
About the Author
Brad Snyder is the author of the forthcoming book, The House of Truth: A Washington Political Salon and the Foundations of American Liberalism (Oxford University Press, Feb. 1, 2017) . The book tells the story of a Dupont Circle political salon where future Supreme Court justice Felix Frankfurter and up-and-coming journalist Walter Lippmann lived and Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and the sculptor Gutzon Borglum (Mount Rushmore) were regular guests. A University of Wisconsin law professor, Snyder teaches constitutional law, constitutional history, civil procedure, and sports law. He has published articles on constitutional history in the Vanderbilt Law Review, Notre Dame Law Review, Law & History Review, UC-Davis Law Review, and Boston College Law Review. Prior to teaching law, he worked as an associate at Williams & Connolly LLP and wrote two critically acclaimed books about baseball: A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood's Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports and Beyond the Shadow of the Senators: The Untold Story of the Homestead Grays and the Integration of Baseball.