Gaming News

Harrah's treates vets to weekend tour

ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey -- As reported by The Press of Atlantic City: "Welcome to Atlantic City, Reno Roethle! Care to gamble? No?

"'I've got pretty bad luck,' the 21-year-old Army specialist said.

"He's a specialist in understatement, too. A bomb shattered Roethle's jaw in Iraq when it exploded under the vehicle he was driving through Sadr City, and 18 months later he's still not done with cosmetic surgeries.

"So it's hard to begrudge Roethle and fellow Walter Reed Army Medical Center outpatient Kris Mitchell - an Army staff sergeant who survived four explosions in three months in Kirkuk - their three-day whirlwind tour of the resort.

"Harrah's Resort volunteered to host the two soldiers after getting an imploring letter from another Walter Reed patient's mother, according to a statement from Alyce Parker, Harrah's vice president of community affairs. As many as 25 soldiers were expected to come but took early flights home for Christmas instead, according to Harrah's.

"Roethle and Mitchell spent Sunday afternoon watching football in a Harrah's lounge, sipping drinks with famous former quarterbacks. Neither man is much of a football fan, but former Eagle Jim McMahon and former New York Jet and Cherry Hill native Glenn Foley were friendly and inquisitive - model bar companions..."

copyrighted material written for and appeared exclusively in The Press of Atlantic City

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