E
lizabeth Ortiz could see only her son’s legs, elevated and bandaged, a fixator with external pins holding his left leg in place. His foot was blackened and disfigured. Ortiz for a moment thought she entered the wrong room at Germany’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. She started to walk out, but turned back when she recognized his head, dirty and caked in sand. “Oh my goodness,” she said. “That is
Adam.” ***
Adam Jacquet grew up with three sisters in Chestertown, Md., a small pre- Revolutionary War community nestled along the Chester River. An introvert, he loved to read. He also excelled in taekwondo, mastering the bo staff. After being homeschooled through middle school, Jacquet enrolled at Gunston Day School in nearby Centreville, where he discovered lacrosse. His uncle, a teacher at Gunston who drove Jacquet to and from school, liked staying late to watch the Gunston Herons play. Intrigued, Jacquet joined the team as a senior. A short-stick defensive midfielder, he loved the game’s dynamic flow and wished he started playing sooner. “I was from Maryland, so I had to at some point in my life play lacrosse,” he said.
Academically, Jacquet got good marks. But as some of his classmates received college acceptance letters and others mapped out professional careers, he realized he had no plan. So Jacquet considered enlisting in the Marine Corps. He thought the experience would allow him to learn more about himself and his capabilities. Maybe after four years of service, he would have a better of idea what he wanted to study. If not, he thought, he could continue as a Marine. Either way, he wanted to know firsthand what happened psychologically to people in combat, a curiosity civilian life would not satisfy.
Those close to Jacquet weren’t thrilled. His teachers contended he would be better off going to college and then entering the Marine Corps as an officer. His parents disapproved for a different reason.
“I just was scared of losing him,” Ortiz said.
Jacquet applied to Navy, but didn’t get in. He wound up at Union, the small
laxmagazine.com November 2014 » LACROSSE MAGAZINE 39
Jacquet, who played in Shootout for Soldiers using a special prosthetic running blade (left), received a Purple Heart while hospitalized at Walter Reed (below). He was promoted to lance corporal in the field during his deployment to Afghanistan (bottom).
“I was from Maryland.
I had to at some point in my life
play lacrosse.” — Adam Jacquet
COURTESY OF ADAM JACQUET
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