DATE: Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Army Captain Dan Whitten, 28, of Grimes, Iowa, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, based out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, died February 2, 2010, when enemy forces in Zabul, Afghanistan, attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. Whitten is survived by his wife, Starr Whitten, his mother, Jill Whitten, his father, Dan Whitten, and his sister, U.S. Army Captain Sarah Whitten.
I had the pleasure of meeting Dan’s parents… two years ago (My last Hemi Throwdown at Rebels) The theme was “honoring our heroes.” Each Wod was a hero WOD. I ended up finding out that Dan’s parents lived here locally and contacted them. I explained to them what we were doing and I literally think Senior Dan Whitten arrived at the gym, no kidding 5 min later to talk to me. I showed him our hero wall at the gym and where Dan’s bio and picture was located on the wall. It was probably one of the most memorable experiences I had when putting together a competition. I asked if he would speak about Dan in front of all the Rebel athletes and the friends and family that came to watch that day. He was more than happy to tell us all about Dan’s life that was full of achievements. It was an honor to have them there that day, I don’t think there was a dry eye in the crowd. They stayed to watch the hero WOD “Whitten” in his honor. I’ve never seen a group of athletes push that hard during a workout and I couldn’t of been happier that he was there to see it.
So today… when you are doing this workout… think of all the soldiers that died protecting us, push a little bit harder, cheer each other on, and finish strong no matter what scale you choose to tackle this beast of a workout. With that being said today we are honoring the hero….