Troops who lost limbs in Iraq learn to surf the Pacific

PISMO BEACH, Calif. - Navy corpsman Derek McGinnis knew that losing his left leg to a suicide bomber wouldn't stop him from surfing again. As a child of 1970s California, riding waves felt like a birthright.

So he rallied nearly a dozen other wounded-in-action amputees he met while recovering in Texas and headed for one of California's last old-fashioned beach towns.

The roiling ocean was a second home to some. The closest others had come to riding a wave were B-movie inspired dreams. All were to learn from a champion surfer who himself had just one leg.

"I have a board and (have to) make sure I keep on using it," said McGinnis, a Navy petty officer and medic who began surfing at 10 in Northern California. "I said, 'Man, I've got to be able to do it. It's possible.'"

So there he stood one foggy August morning, wearing an ear-to-ear grin and a brand new wet suit.

Another on the beach was Tim Brumley, who had never handled a surfboard though he looked the part with his short-cropped, blond locks. The former paratrooper, who lost his leg in Afghanistan last year, had never even seen the Pacific save for a fleeting glimpse when he visited San Francisco as a kid.

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